TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE TO 7TH GRADER CLASSROOM FROM A COMMONWEALTH NATION
Shakespeare Week Reading for Exam Style Essay Structured Q/A
Afterward of watching the documentary of Patrick Stewart’s theatrical performance of Shylock’s monologue and reading the following extract adapted from the reading materials of BBC bitesize curriculum, then answer these exam-style structured brief and broad question:
Shylock challenges prejudice
Solario and Solanio are worrying about Antonio’s ships amid rumours they have sunk in bad weather. When Shylock enters, they cruelly laugh at him about his missing daughter.
Shylock has heard the rumour about Antonio’s ships and reacts by saying that Antonio should “look to his bond”. Shylock says he looks forward to getting Antonio’s pound of flesh as revenge for Antonio’s cruel mistreatment over the years.
Shylock gives a powerful speech about the mistreatment of Jewish people, in which he asks why they should be treated differently from others. “Hath not a Jew eyes?” he asks, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?”.
When Solario and Solanio leave, Shylock is joined by his Jewish friend Tubal, who gives more detail about Jessica’s disappearance, and the valuables she has taken with her. Shylock shows a more emotional side of himself as he mourns the loss of a ring taken by Jessica – it was a gift from his late wife.
Patrick Stewart performing as Shylock with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2011
“Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?”
Questions:
Shylock recites one of the greatest monologues of Shakespearean drama. The monologue is a dramatic speech in which an actor in a play or a film, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast programme.
Explain in a sentence the figure of speech used in this address. [2]
Examine the character sketch of Shylock with regards to the rhetorical significance of parallelism. [8]
b). In the view of the pictorial image of Venice being the setting of The Merchant of Venice, examine the juxtapositional impact of the theme, “romance in Belmont and trouble in Venice.” [4]
The Italian city of Venice in which Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is set
c) After watching the theatrical performance of the trial and court scene from ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and referencing the Folger Shakespeare Library extract, discuss in depth the trial of Antonio. [6]
GRATIANO
O Jew, an upright judge, a learnèd judge!
PORTIA, as Balthazar
Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh.
Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more
But just a pound of flesh. If thou tak’st more
Or less than a just pound, be it but so much
As makes it light or heavy in the substance
Or the division of the twentieth part
Of one poor scruple—nay, if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair,
Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.
GRATIANO
A second Daniel! A Daniel, Jew!
Now, infidel, I have you on the hip.
PORTIA, as Balthazar
Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.
SHYLOCK
Give me my principal and let me go.
BASSANIO
I have it ready for thee. Here it is.
PORTIA, as Balthazar
He hath refused it in the open court.
He shall have merely justice and his bond.
GRATIANO
A Daniel still, say I! A second Daniel!—
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
In Shakespeare’s Week Programme Later Worked Solution Handouts Materials Reading Resources Bequeathed To The Future Shakespearean Scholars
Worked Solution To The Question No b) Character Sketch of Shakespeare’s Shylock with Rhetorical Significance of the Effect of Parallelism
Shylock is a wolfish murderous tyrannous villain compared to a blood thirsty dog but also foils as the epitome of a dignified nobleman for his sole sufferance belonging to the member of a persecuted race.
As the antagonist of Shakespearean drama, ‘TheMerchant of Venice’, Shylock dominated the 18th and 19th centuries as melodramatic figure of horror and terror.
Shylock’s protective self-defensive mechanism of ironical humour wrought himself with the iron laden armour of shield against the injustices of sufferance against Antonio’s cruelty and bitterness inflicted in the past.
Shakespeare, however, was stuck in the fringes/margins/borderlines/gulf behind being a semite and anti-semite in Christian Elizabethan European England.
Modernistic interpretation of the antagonist Shylock projects and portrays modern world economic forum and/or international monetary fund during the Great Depression of the 1930s, juxtaposing the anti-semitism of Hitler’s Nazi-German holocaust during the Great World War II (1939-45).
Worked Solution To The Question No c) Romance in Belmont and Trouble in Venice
With the wooing of courtship the couple Bassanio and Portia exchanged rings and likewise, Nerissa and Gratiano too are engaged.
Romance surfeits towards the pinnacle while they promise their wedding vow that they will never part with.
However, a gloomy and melancholy picture is visualized with Solario’s depressing news aftermath of Lorenzo and Jessica’s gathering—–that Antonio’s vessels of shipments unfortunately drowned and sank.
Meanwhile Portia persuades Bassanio to rescue Antonio with a ransom of double the 8000 ducats from the stony adversary and inhuman wretch—–Shylock in Venice.
Worked Solution to the Question No d) The Court and Trial Scene
The trial and the court scene is often the most quoteworthy textual references in Shakespearean studies because of the unexpected plots and twists. Here in Act 4 from ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ Shylock is the epitome of the stony adversary and inhuman wretch and the Jew as resonated in the echoes of the Duke.
Shylock is adamant of his bond-forfeiture of Antonio’s pound of flesh.
However, the ‘Daniel is come to Judgement’, Portia in disguise of the counsellor Balthazar from Padua offers recompense of double the amount which the Jewish antagonist Shylock waves off and casts aside.
William Shakespeare allegorizes the trope of Judaism; whilst satirizing the dramatia personae of Shylock, contrasting traditional medieval Catholic Christian merchant as represented by the character of Antonio
Ironically hypocrisy has been personified in the New Testament contemporizing literary trope of Judaism in the context of materialism, money-lending, legalism, the pound of flesh contract and/or bond, contrasting the authenticity of honesty, morality and integrity prevailing in Christian spirited souls.
In the nick of time, Portia’s interruption salvages the life of the Christian spirited Antonio as result of the novel discovery that the bond elicits pound of flesh without shedding of blood.
Antonio, thus thanks in ironical sarcasm of Shylock’s own words——– “A second Daniel! ——— I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me the word.”
Finally Shylock forfeits Judaism and wealth of fortunes for the sake of compassion and mercy by being spiritually converted to Christianity.
References
The following quizlet has been prepared in consultation with references:from Save My Exams, Revision World and Spark Notes
I didn’t expect to feel unsafe. That’s the hardest part to admit.
The person I was speaking with—a renowned sexologist, celebrated for their kink-aware, trauma-informed approach—had built a public reputation on consent, care, and empowerment. I had admired their work from afar. So when they asked about my medical condition in passing, I answered honestly. I was vulnerable, but I trusted the space.
What followed was not care. It was emotional domination disguised as engagement. The conversation veered into territory that felt coercive, destabilizing, and eerily reminiscent of a D/s dynamic—without negotiation, without safety, and without consent. I was misgendered after clearly stating my pronouns. My health condition was weaponized against me. They insisted on being the one to send the Zoom link, failed to ask if I wanted the session recorded, and never offered me control over the space.
And then—to top it all off, so to speak—it felt like they were playing cat and mouse with me. Like I was the tied-up sub and they were a literal psychopath hiding in plain sight. The dynamic was not therapeutic. It was predatory.
I left feeling retraumatized.
And I’m not alone.
We live in a time when boundaries are under siege—from political rhetoric that dehumanizes queer and trans bodies, to therapeutic and spiritual spaces that promise safety but sometimes deliver harm. The rise of authoritarianism isn’t just happening in governments—it’s happening in micro-interactions, in the misuse of power by those who should know better.
This is why instinct matters.
Instinct is not paranoia. It’s not drama. It’s the body’s wisdom speaking before the mind can rationalize. When something feels off—when a conversation leaves you feeling smaller, silenced, or emotionally cornered—that’s your signal. And it doesn’t matter how many degrees someone has, how many books they’ve published, or how many panels they’ve spoken on. Anyone can violate a boundary.
And anyone can choose not to listen when you say “no.”
As queer folx, as neurodivergent beings, as survivors, we are often taught to override our instincts in favor of politeness, professionalism, or perceived authority. But politeness won’t protect us. Only truth will.
So here’s mine: I was harmed. And I’m speaking up not to shame, but to protect.
If you’ve felt something similar—if your instincts whispered “this isn’t safe” and you doubted yourself—you’re not alone. You’re not overreacting. You’re remembering what safety feels like.
And that memory is sacred.
Let’s build spaces where instinct is honored, boundaries are respected, and care is more than a performance. Let’s haunt the canon with our truth.
About the AuthorKandy Fontaine (aka Alex S. Johnson) is a queer writer, editor, and literary agitator whose work spans poetry, fiction, memoir, and radical cultural critique. As the founder and editor of Riot Pink, Kandy curates voices that haunt the canon—centering queer, neurodivergent, and trauma-informed perspectives in defiance of literary gatekeeping. Their work appears in Neurospicy!, Nocturnicorn Books, and across underground zines and performance spaces. Kandy is also co-host of The Smol Bear N Pickles Show, where they explore the intersections of art, identity, and resistance with fellow visionary Alea Celeste Williams.
Kandy believes in the power of radical empathy, messy truth, and literature as a tool for survival and transformation.
1. Tell us about yourself. How did you start writing poetry?
I was born in Ukraine, in the city of Sumy. Many years later, fate brought me to the city of Kazan. During my school years, I started a diary—it was very fashionable at the time—and began writing down my innermost thoughts in it, for some reason, in verse. Over time, independent works began to appear. And on the insistence of my classmates, I sent my poems to the chief editor of the youth magazine “Yunost” (Youth), Andrey Dementyev. He replied to me personally and recommended that I join a literary association, which I did. So, unexpectedly for me, my path into serious literature began.
2. What message do you want to convey with your poetry?
The message is one: to live in love and peace. Only through repentance can peace come, but it is a very long and thorny road. And only those who walk it can master it.
3. Do you believe that the new generation reads and is interested in literature?
Of course, I believe. How can one create without faith? Every book, every work needs its own thoughtful reader.
And in poetry?
I am the creator and director of the International Music and Poetry Festival “Handshake of Republics” (RR-Fest), the International RR-Fest Telebridge, the International Youth Music and Poetry Competition-Festival “On the Fairytale Shore of the Kazanka River” based on the works of Olga Levadnaya, the International Forum-Battle “Tournament of Poets and AI. RR-Fest”, the organizer of the International Scientific and Creative Seminar “Quantum Transition: Artificial Intelligence in Education, Art, and Medicine. RR-Fest”, and the coordinator of the International Literary Festival in Russia “Woman in Literature” (Mexico). A great many young people participate in all these projects. I can state with full responsibility that young people engage in new projects with great enthusiasm. The Tournament of Poets and AI showed amazing results. We can admire and even be proud of our youth.
4. How do you feel when you see your poems published on several foreign websites?
First and foremost, a great sense of responsibility. In these far-from-easy times, I represent Russian culture. I feel a thrill that, despite everything, the mystery of poetry’s birth does not cease… And I am an inseparable part of this miracle!
5. Would you like to share with our readers a phrase that changed your life?
“Live the life of a true Poet!” — that’s what my teacher, the outstanding poet of Tatar and Russian literature, Rustem Kutuy, once told me.
6. What are your future plans?
I have many plans. But I also have dreams: to publish the books “On the Edge of Night” in Russian, English, and Spanish, and “I Sing of the Secret” in Russian, English, and Chinese, as a token of gratitude to my faithful poet friends who lovingly translated my poems. I very much hope that my poems will be translated into Greek someday!
Thank you very much! 🙏
EVA Petropoulou Lianou 🇬🇷
Olga Levadnaya, Russian visionary poet, world-famous public figure, Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, laureate of more than 20 republican, all-Russian, international literary awards, member of republican, Russian and international literary unions, author of 17 books of poetry and prose published in Russian, English, Tatar, Turkish, translated into 14 languages, author of more than 500 publications in magazines, anthologies in Russia and abroad, participant in numerous festivals, conferences, readings, member of the Assembly of the Peoples of the World, Ambassador of Peace, European Poetry, poetry of International Literature ACC Shanghai Huifeng (Shanghai, Huifeng), Department of Arts and Cultures.
Plenipotentiary Representative for Culture in Russia of the Republic of Birland (Africa), literary consultant of the Academy of Literature, Science, Technology of Shanxi, the Zhongshan Poets’ Community (China), honorary founding member of the World Day of K. Cavafy (Greece, Egypt), coordinator of the International Literary Festival in Russia “Woman in Literature” (Mexico), creator and director of the International Music and Poetry Festival “Handshake of the Republics”, the Forum-Battle “Tournament of Poets and AI. RR”, the International TeleBridge RR, the International Youth Music and Poetry Competition-Festival “On the Fairytale Shore of Kazanka” based on the works of Olga Levadnaya, artistic director of the Kazan Poetic Theater “Dialogue”.
