Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Portia and the Role of Women in Elizabethan Society. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper is based on a close reading of "The Merchant of Venice" and discusses the role of Portia, and why she is not a typical Elizabethan woman. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVPorElz.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
matters of love. Although Shylock dominates the play, it is Portia who balances him. However, the things that Portia accomplishes during the course of the play set her apart
from the women of her time, for the type of independence she displays was not characteristic of the women of Elizabethan England. Discussion "The Merchant of Venice" has two plots
running in parallel; one is the romance between Portia and Bassanio and the other is the matter of Shylock and the loan to Bassanio, for which Antonio is the surety.
It is the latter plotline that is more compelling, and the one that most of us remember when we think of the play. This may be due to
the inherently dramatic nature of the conflict-is Shylock really suggesting that he literally cut the Antonios chest open?-and to the fact that the romance is typical of other Shakespearean romances.
But the lawsuit and the gruesome penalty are something new. Bassanio needs money, and wants to borrow 3,000 ducats from Shylock. Antonio agrees to pay the money if Bassanio
cannot-a sort of 16th century co-signer, if you will. But Shylock says that he doesnt want money; if Antonio cannot pay "... let the forfeit / Be nominated for an
equal pound / Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken / In what part of your body pleaseth me" (I, iii, 148-150). Antonio agrees and the infamous
pact is sealed. It seems that there is little to worry about, for Antonio owns several ships and all are embarked on prosperous voyages, but one by one, they are
wrecked, and so, quite by accident, he cannot pay what he owes. And Shylock insists on his "pound of flesh." When Portia hears of this, she first offers to pay
...