comparing the character of jessica and portia

comparing the character of jessica and portia

In "The Merchant of Venice" Shakespeare used Portia and Jessica as his stereotypical characters through which he successfully conveyed greatness and challenged the perception of 17th century society. Shakespeare, by doing so, has "accomplished them with what they lacked." Quotation serves to emphasise Shakespeare's drama since the word `accomplished' implies that it is Shakespeare who created the two characters to appear as men's equals and that otherwise this equality would not be attainable within the society of the contemporary time. 
At the beginning of the play, Portia appears to have no real identity despite all her greatness and worth whereas Jessica, being a Jew appeared as a character with low self-esteem and emerges as having no commitment to her father's house. Shakespeare furthers this notion by enabling us to recognise Portia's wealth and status as he allows her to appear as very intelligent and bilingual. Portia speaks three languages, that of; French; Latin and Italian clearly emphasising her intelligence as well as ability. Shakespeare by allowing Portia to use rhetoric of law in Act 1 Scene 2 further prevail Portia's greatness. Portia's mention of `devise laws' and `decrees' convey her awareness of legal language and equally the legal sphere of life. However, it seems that at the beginning Shakespeare has given Portia potential but it remained impotent as she did not have the opportunity to use it. We therefore assume further that Shakespeare portrayed Portia's character to comprise of superficial nature; it emerges that Portia is controlled by her father and does thereby hold no control over her life. Her words to Nerissa; "I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse who I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter curb'd by the will of a dead father", clearly evoke her obedience but even more importantly demonstrate her lack of control over her own life. Shakespeare's use of the word `curb'd' imply means of restraints that in this context could provide the notion that Portia is restrained to her own will and thereby completely `bound by her father's will'. 
With regards to Jessica's character, Shakespeare endeavoured to generate a slightly different sympathy. Jessica is known to be Shylock's daughter, her character is assumed to be that of low self-esteem and without potential greatness., thus, Jessica is regarded as inferior to other Christians due to her Jewish origins and religion. This is partly manifest through Shakespeare's language and partly through plot's development. Jews in this play are regarded as dehumanised beings as becomes apparent from Antonio's speech that called Shylock a `dog'. Jessica, being biologically bound to her father, is also regarded as inferior to Christians, maybe providing the reason why she eloped with a Christian man in the end. None the less, her low self-esteem is drawn by her acceptance to be Lorenzo's "torch-bearer." Shakespeare provided a negative imagery by Lorenzo's speech. "Torch-bearer" insinuates the image of a slave and an owned individual which we assume Jessica becomes after her marriage ceremony. As opposed to Portia's respectful and obedient manner Jessica is conveyed as a rebellious and disobedient character. Due to the fact that Jessica eloped from her father, quoting that "Alack, what heinous sin is it in me to be ashamed to be my father's child but though I am a daughter to his blood I am not to his manners", it provokes a direct contrast to Portia's great, intelligent and respectful character. Even though the quotation provides us with a subtle hint that maybe Jessica is aware of what is moral and right she still willingly escapes with Lorenzo leaving her father impotent and consequently showing disrespect and emotionless. This could also serve as a paradigm of Jessica's selfish and cold character that parallels with that of her father's. 

Theme of Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening

The poem “stopping by the woods on a snowy evening” is written by Robert Frost. The poem is set in the woods and the speaker here is the stranger who stopped there, admiring what his eyes saw, the beautiful view. In the opening stanza, the poet wonders about owner of the woods and thinks he knows him. The stranger is in the woods and has a horse who thinks its weird that its owner has stopped in a place that does not have a farmhouse , but a place that is in between the woods and the frozen lake. The woods are cold, dark, silent, lifeless and deep. He is the only person there and can hear the “sweep of easy wind and downy flake”. The stranger wants to stay there but he cannot since he has to go back, to where he came from. There are many symbols in this poem that have acertain meaning to it. The woods represent journey in life, but since its winter the trees are bare that give a sad image. The horses’ bell brings back the stranger to reality and make him conscience of the surrounding. There is a conflict in a sense that the winter represents sadness but the snowflakes show happiness. The theme revolves aroun the poet’s philosophy, the stranger here is really sad and would love to stay in the woods where he is all alone (except the horse) away from the rest of the world. He has to decide whether he should just end there or get back to his responsibilities. We know this because he says “the woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep.” He has to decide between temptation and his responsibilities. In conclusion, the poet tries to tell us that everyone in life has their shares of ups and downs, and many are tempted to end their lives but then there are more important things in your life, like your responsibilities towards certain things.