1.) The play opens with Antonio, the merchant, admitting that he is sad, but not knowing why. Think of times when you’ve been sad. Have you always understood exactly why, or has your sadness sometimes seemed strange to you? Explain.
- There have been times where we have been sad but we haven't understood why. This brought us to some conclusions. Say if you walked pass a cemetery, you start to feel some type of way. Someone that was close to you, may have passed away and you're still feeling pretty depressed. Say if you're just casually walking through the park, and you see a ballon flying in the sky. You then have a flashback of when you were younger and you remember your favorite balloon fly away into the distance. We believe that our non-understandable sadness comes from past experience.
2.) In Shakespeare’s time, lending money for interest was called “usury” and was generally considered immoral. How have attitudes changed since then?
- In Shakespeare's time, lending money for interest (aka usury) was considered immoral. Attitudes against "usury" have changed since then. As of today banks are saying that if you decide to borrow money, you have to pay so much more than the money you borrowed. Society these days are concerned about their money; they're greedy for more. Back then people call "usury" immoral, but today we consider it normal.
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3.) Think of the recent banking crisis and the state of today’s economy. Do you think it’s all right to lend someone a large amount of money based on their word and reputation even though they may not have any concrete evidence of being able to pay you back?
- It's not proper to lend someone a large amount of money based on their word and reputation even though they may NOT have any concrete evidence of being able to pay you back. Not knowing what this person is going to do with your money and isn't sure of what his/her plan is, equals a big "no no". It's your money and you should know what you're using it on and what' s even worse is that they'll be unable to pay you back. If you're lending someone a large amount of money, be sure that they will pay you back, because if they don't pay you back, and you don't do anything about it, they will use you as their personal bank machine. In conclusion, when lending large amounts of money make sure you will get payed back.
4.) This play includes romantic love stories and also ethnic and religious conflict. How well do you expect these elements to blend?
- We think these elements would blend perfectly. Say there is a romantic love story about a couple and people say that they can't be together because one has different traditions and religion that they don't approve of. Or maybe there's these two people and one of them is unsure if he/she likes this person because of their ethnicity and religion. We don't think it's going to be a happy story but more like a depressing story.
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