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Assalamualaikum again nice to have you here

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despite the rain and the thunderstorm outside We

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continue our journey into Shakespeare and

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Shakespeare's world. Last time we had a discussion

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about some Shakespearean ideas. We mentioned how

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Shakespeare, for example, wants to be careful when

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he depicts the English kings. He doesn't want to

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offend them. He doesn't want to be punished in a

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way or another like many people were punished at

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that time. However, that's not the whole story

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because sometimes Shakespeare implicitly,

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indirectly, he criticizes kings. He presents them

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as weak, as sometimes as strong, sometimes as

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weak, sometimes as clever, sometimes as not so

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clever, sometimes as villains, sometimes as evil.

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In a way, he presents the king to us as human

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beings with flaws, with weaknesses, and also with

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strengths. The king is no longer the figure, the

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godlike figure to be feared. Shakespeare changed

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this image and introduced us to someone who, a

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person, a king who is a person like us, who has,

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again, flaws, hopes, wishes, and fears. Let's see,

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before we begin today, talking about Shakespeare

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tragedies and some of his comedies, let's see two

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students here performing something from

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Shakespeare.

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Yeah, yeah, please.

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All the walls are staged, and all the men and

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women merely players. They have their exits and

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their entrances. And one man his time plays many

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parts, his acts being seven ages. At first, the

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infant, mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

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And then, the whiny schoolboy, with his statues

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and shiny morning face, creeping like a snail,

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unwillingly to school. And then, the lover,

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signing like fairness, with a wolf of paddock made

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to his Mistress's eyeglass. And then the soldier,

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full of strange oaths and bearded like the bard,

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jealous and honored, sudden and quick and curled,

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seeking the bubble, reputation, even in the cone

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of his mouth. And then the justice. In fair and

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billy with good cable lines, with eyes severe and

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beard of formal cut, full of wise souls and modern

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instances. And so he plays his part. The sixth age

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shifts into the lean and slippery pantaloon with

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spectacles on nose and pouch on side. His youthful

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holes will save the world too wild for his

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charming child. And his big manly voice turning

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again towards childish children pipes and whistles

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in his sound. Last scene of all, the end that ends

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this Strange, eventfully history, in sound

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childishness and mere oblivion. Sense teeth, sense

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eyes, sense taste, sense everything.

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Very good. I love this dissertation of all the

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world's stage. We mentioned this probably briefly

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before but Shakespeare was one of the most

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important poets and playwrights to present life as

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a stage. So this is all the world's stage. The

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whole world is a stage. And in Macbeth, we'll see

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how he talks about life being a tale told by an

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idiot. So very good. Probably you can do something

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like this, the rest of you. We have one more

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reading of For God's Sake. Go on. Do you want to

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stand on the chair? OK. For God's sake. Can you

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speak up? For God's sake, let us sit upon the

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ground until sad stories of the different kings,

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how some have been deposed, some slain in war,

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some hunted by the ghosts they have deposed, some

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poisoned by their wives, some sleeping killed or

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murdered. That's for within the hollow crown that

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rounds the mortal temples of a king, keeps dead

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his court. And their auntie said, scuffing his

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state and greening at his palm, allowing him to

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breathe, a little seen, to moralize, to be free,

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brave, and kill with lux, infusing him with self

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and vain conceit. As if this flesh, which walls

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about our life, we embrace impregnable and humored

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thus. Comes at the last and with a little pain.

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Bros throw his castle, castle wall, and for will

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kings and very well king. Cover your heads and

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mock not flesh and blood with solemn reverence.

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Throw away respect, tradition, firm and

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ceremonies, duty. For you have ought to stop me

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all this while. I love good friend like you. Feel

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want, taste free, need friends, subjective

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thoughts. How can you say to Very good. Very

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beautiful. Thank you. No, I'll keep it. Thank you.

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So again, we have this king portrayed by

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Shakespeare as weak, someone begging people to sit

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up on the ground and tell sad stories of the death

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of kings. We said that this is one of the kings

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that Shakespeare presents as maybe humble, maybe

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honest, maybe modest in a way. But remember when

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we discussed the text, the portrait itself, We

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said there could be something hiding behind where

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the king is not genuine, is not truthful in his

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begging because the language reveals someone who

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is still arrogant, someone who is still a king,

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someone who's distancing himself from the people,

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someone pointing the finger of accusation at the

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people themselves rather than at his own

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shortcomings. We have one more recitation. Come

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here please. For God's sake, go on. On your

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mobile, okay. Can you speak up? For God's sake,

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let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of

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the death of kings, how some have been exposed,

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some slain more. Some hunted by the ghosts they

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have deposed. Some poisoned by their wives. Some

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sleeping count. All murders for within the whole

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crown that round the mortal temples of a king.

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Keep this his court and the antique sites.

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Scoffing his state and grinning and running at his

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palm, allowing him a breath, a little sense, to

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marchize, be afraid, and kill with locks, infusing

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hell with self and vain consent, as if this flesh

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which walls about our life were breath,

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impregnable, and hammered thus, comes at the last

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of with a little pen, Portray through his castle,

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wall, and frail-willed king. Cover your head and

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muck nutty flesh and blood with salmon reverence.

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Throw away respect, tradition, throne, and

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salmon's beauty. For you have but mistook me all

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this while. I live with a pride like you. Feel

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want. Taste grief. Need a friend subjected thus.

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How can you say to me I am a king? Thank you,

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really thank you. So we go back to Shakespeare

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today in class three. Remember we spoke about

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Shakespeare and his tragedies and comedies and

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hysteries. Generally again, a tragedy is a play in

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which the main character or major characters die

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at the end. The themes are serious themes of

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death, of destruction, of hope, of ambition. And

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the comedies, on the other hand, are plays where

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nobody dies. And then they live happily ever

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after. However, it doesn't mean the comedies are

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less important than the tragedies. Because the

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themes entered in comedies too can also be about

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love, about death, about power, about jealousy,

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about important themes, about identity, especially

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mistaken. identity. So sometimes Shakespeare would

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use a comedy because comedy generally makes people

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laugh at their own shortcomings with no one

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bleeding or getting hurt during the like really

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seriously getting hurt because sometimes there

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could be some chaos in the play but then things go

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back to normal. Shakespeare's four great tragedies

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are Hamlet, we already mentioned Hamlet, King

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Lear, Othello, and Macbeth. They're called the

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four great tragedies because they're the most

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famous of all tragedies. Now, the themes again are

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about identity, asking what it means to be a man,

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what it means to be a king, what it means to be a

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human being, questions about jealousy, family,

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ambition, and revenge. I can't basically say, for

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example, Hamlet is about revenge, because Hamlet

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is about many things, but revenge is there. The

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same with Othello. There is jealousy, but there's

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also revenge, and there's also racism, and there's

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also a family here. King Lear is family and

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revenge and many things about identity. So these

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issues that the tragedies discuss in Shakespeare

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are serious themes. are very important themes,

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usually including the king and the queen and the

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royal family.

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When we speak about the tragedies, we also speak

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about how in the play, man, the character, the

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king or the prince usually tries to go beyond the

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limits of what it means to be a human being.

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Remember when we spoke about Renaissance, we said

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in the Renaissance,

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The issue of what it means to be a man, humanism,

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was something important. And this is what it means

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to be a man. Nobody can, by the way, answer this,

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give a satisfactory answer to this question.

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Shakespeare asks this question so many times. Now

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in these plays, man tries to go beyond, not to be

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a human being, but to be a superman. And because

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man is not perfect, is anybody perfect here? Is

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anybody perfect there? No. For example, Macbeth

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kills the king so he can be the good king, right?

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Or Hamlet's uncle. But everybody fails because no

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one is perfect. Nobody succeeds in going beyond

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the limits of a human being. So mankind itself is

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not perfect. So what happens? Failure. Failure. In

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Macbeth, for example, in brief, I don't want to go

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in much detail here. Shakespeare's Macbeth is a

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play in which three witches, three witches like

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magicians or wizards come face to face with

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Macbeth and tell him three prophecies. They tell

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him the future. From these prophecies, Macbeth is

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told that he is going to be a king. He's not a

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king now. He's not a king. He will be a king. What

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does he do? He tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, he

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goes back and then, maybe I should kill the king.

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His wife was like, yeah, kill the king. And he

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kills the king. Now, does it end there? Again,

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remember how serious it is to hurt the king, to

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question the king, to kill the king at that time.

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He kills the king and everything goes upside down.

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And the king, he kills more people and more

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people, even his friends, even his kids and women

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are slaughtered because of Macbeth. Now, Macbeth,

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at some time, is told that his wife, Lady Macbeth,

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who supported him, dies. But he is at a moment

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when he has given up on life. He is just hopeless.

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Yes, he wants power. He's ambitious. But when his

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wife dies, he doesn't care that much. Maybe

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because, again, he has given up on hope. Or maybe

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because she pushed him to do this murder. And we

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come to this amazing part from Macbeth, when he

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again realizes that all his murders, all his

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crimes were useless. They're not going to make him

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a superman. And that's tomorrow and tomorrow and

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tomorrow. Very famous quote from Akbar. Creeps in

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this petty pace from day to day to the last

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syllable of recorded time out, out brief candle.

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Even light, even a candle, even the light of a

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candle is now something negative for him because

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he wants to live in darkness. Because he brought

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darkness upon himself. Because he killed the king

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and he destroyed the harmony. in the world. Out,

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out, brief candle. Life's but a walking shadow.

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Remember just now we said Shakespeare uses the

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metaphor of life as a stage? All the world's a

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stage. And here, life is a shadow. What's life?

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What's man? What do we want? It's a shadow. You

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kill and kill and kill and you lose people. But

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what do you achieve? Nothing. Except the cold

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grave. Lives but a walking shadow, a poor player.

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We go back to the metaphor of the stage. Poor

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player means... What does player mean here in this

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context? Exactly, an actor. Not a football player.

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It means an actor here. A poor player that struts

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and frets his hour up on the stage, going back to

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the stage. So how long do we live? It's only one

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hour. No matter what you do, how powerful, how

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strong, no matter how many crimes you commit, it's

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all one hour. That's life. That's life upon the

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stage. And then Nizhad, no more. It's a tale. It's

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a story. Tale. Again, a tale. Who's the narrator

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of the tale? An idiot. Imagine a story told to you

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by a crazy person, an insane person. Is it going

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to be? Probably you wouldn't believe it. Probably

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you're going to just be shocked, confused because

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things are not connected, are not related because

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the storyteller is incoherent, doesn't understand.

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told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying

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nothing. What does it mean? Nothing. You kill and

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you kill and kill. And at the end of the day, you

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don't achieve anything. And this is, again, a

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concern by Shakespeare at that time. People were

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asking these questions. What does it mean to be a

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man? What does it mean to go beyond the limit of

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man? It means nothing. Because it's a tale told by

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an idiot. because we have a poor player that

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spends one hour and then is heard no more. You've

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gone forever. Okay, beautiful story, beautiful

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play, Macbeth, one of the most beautifully written

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plays by Shakespeare. Probably you can go to

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YouTube and watch some productions of this. I'll

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leave the story here. I'm not going to spoil it

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for you.

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Now, generally, what happens in tragedies at the

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end is again death and destruction and chaos. So

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what does it mean here? It means that there is

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darkness, there's pessimism, there's hopelessness

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and helplessness, there's despair, there's

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sadness. Now, generally, even in tragedy,

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Shakespeare gives us some hope for the future.

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Remember Hamlet? How many people died in Hamlet?

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Almost everyone. Except his friend, Horatio, to

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tell the story. Remember? Shakespeare loves

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stories and storytelling. Horatio wanted to drink

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the poison. He said, no, don't tell my story. And

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then there is a new king. So even in tragedies

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where almost everybody dies, There is hope for the

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future. Someone to tell the story. Or there is

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usually a young person, a young king in

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particular, or young people. We have this in

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Macbeth, new king. We have this in Hamlet. We have

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this like in many other plays. However, there's

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one very dark, very bleak, very, very, very gloomy

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play by Shakespeare. One described by some critics

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as the most pessimistic, and the darkest. And this

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play is King Lear.

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There are many things to say here, but let's just

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focus on what we have to say in the book. King

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Lear, at the beginning of the play, he decides to

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give up his kingdom and his power to his

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daughters. But he says, OK, if you love me, Tell

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00:19:37,790 --> 00:19:40,570
me how much you love me and I'll give you that

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much you share. And to the daughters, General and

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Reagan, they say we love you the most, more than

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the waves and the stars and bigger than the sea

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and the oceans and we love you because you are the

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best in the world. But Cordelia, the honest, He

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says the truth. He says, I love you as much as any

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ordinary daughter loves her father. You're good to

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me and I love you. And he was like, go. He disowns

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her. He kicks her out. Long story short, at the

301
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end of the play, fast forward, we have King Lear

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in one of the last scenes. with his misunderstood

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daughter Cordelia dead, lifeless in his arms.

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That's how it ends. When he realizes he has been a

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fool all along. Remember in the play there is a

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fool character, a gesture. He's wiser than the

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king. That's again Shakespeare trying to say that

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sometimes a fool can be better than, wiser,

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00:20:51,390 --> 00:20:55,470
smarter than the king. And this is one of the last

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00:20:55,470 --> 00:21:00,470
scenes, very heartbreaking, very sad in so many

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00:21:00,470 --> 00:21:07,090
ways. No, no, no, no life. Why should a dog, a

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00:21:07,090 --> 00:21:11,950
horse, a rat have life? And thou, no breath at

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00:21:11,950 --> 00:21:17,570
all, thou will come no more. Never, never, never,

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00:21:18,250 --> 00:21:18,730
never.

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Can someone read? Try to depict the sadness here,

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00:21:27,270 --> 00:21:32,230
please. No, no, no life. Why should a dog, a

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00:21:32,230 --> 00:21:35,810
horse, a rat have life? And dog, no brain at all.

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00:21:36,170 --> 00:21:39,410
There's cow, no horn. Never, never, never, never,

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00:21:39,550 --> 00:21:43,620
never. You forgot one never, I guess. You

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00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:46,800
shouldn't be laughing. This is, this is sad. I

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00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,480
shouldn't be cracking jokes even. Speak up,

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00:21:49,580 --> 00:21:52,920
please. No, no, no. Like, why? Okay, no, no, no.

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00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,480
Can we get the sadness and the frustration and the

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pessimism and the hopelessness? Like, no, no. No

325
00:22:01,780 --> 00:22:07,440
life. Why should a rat, why should a dog, a horse,

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00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,360
a rat have life and thou no breath at all thou

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will come no more? Never, never, never, never.

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00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,780
You shouldn't be laughing. I'm not gonna act it

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00:22:26,780 --> 00:22:30,560
that good, but okay. Try. No, no, no life. Why

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00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:35,020
should a dog, a horse, a rat have a life? And

331
00:22:35,020 --> 00:22:38,060
thou, and thou, no breath at all. Thou come no

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00:22:38,060 --> 00:22:42,360
more. Never, never, never, never, never. Please.

333
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:49,020
No, no, no life. Why should a dog, a horse, a rat

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00:22:49,020 --> 00:22:53,650
have life? And thou, no breath at all. You forgot

335
00:22:53,650 --> 00:22:57,790
one never.

336
00:22:59,290 --> 00:23:04,880
You forgot two nevers? It's lesson. Now this is a

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king who committed a foolish mistake. Why would

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00:23:07,460 --> 00:23:09,820
you give up your... Why wouldn't you understand if

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00:23:09,820 --> 00:23:13,040
a king doesn't understand his daughters? In a way

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he deserves this but we feel sad, we feel sorry

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for him because again of the lifeless body of

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00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,620
Cordelia. See the emphasis on no, no, no, never,

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00:23:24,860 --> 00:23:30,180
never, never. How dark. Regression. The ending is

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00:23:30,180 --> 00:23:35,120
very depressing, very sad. The pessimism is

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00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,320
overwhelming there. Why should it unfair? Life is

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00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,880
unfair because you, the king, you are unfair. You

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00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,840
were unfair. You didn't treat your daughter

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00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,700
justly. Again, what does thou mean? Thou? The.

349
00:23:50,140 --> 00:23:54,820
Thou? That. Thou means? You. Thou. Thou. What does

350
00:23:54,820 --> 00:24:00,380
it mean? You. That. Thou means you. Thou, here

351
00:24:00,380 --> 00:24:07,120
thou well. You well. So far we had thou in Middle

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00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:13,240
English meaning you. And thee meaning also you but

353
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,840
for object. So shall I compare thee to a summer's

354
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:21,120
day? Shall I compare thee? And the second line

355
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:26,030
says thou art, you are. You are. You are. Yes

356
00:24:26,030 --> 00:24:32,070
please. I can't understand. He said that I'll give

357
00:24:32,070 --> 00:24:36,110
you how much you love me and I'll give you an

358
00:24:36,110 --> 00:24:38,650
equal amount. She said that I love you like a

359
00:24:38,650 --> 00:24:41,430
normal daughter that loves her father. He should

360
00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:46,370
have gave her what he sees that is fair not to get

361
00:24:46,370 --> 00:24:50,600
her out. And now he's being punished? But the

362
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,460
punishment is like when you take candy from

363
00:24:54,460 --> 00:24:56,800
somebody when you just don't give them extra

364
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,930
marks. But this is the punishment he has, so

365
00:24:59,930 --> 00:25:03,810
heartbreaking, because it includes death. Now,

366
00:25:04,290 --> 00:25:07,850
when we move from King Lear to Othello, again,

367
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remember, King Lear is said to be one of the

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00:25:11,210 --> 00:25:13,070
darkest, most pessimistic, because there's no

369
00:25:13,070 --> 00:25:17,290
hope. Everybody dies. Heartbreaking. Now, Othello,

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00:25:17,430 --> 00:25:21,490
in brief, is one of the major black characters in

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00:25:21,490 --> 00:25:23,750
Shakespeare. In all English literature, by the

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00:25:23,750 --> 00:25:28,020
way. He isn't the first. Black. He's originally

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00:25:28,020 --> 00:25:31,500
from Africa. And when we say he is a black

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00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:37,040
character here, it brings issues of race. Listen,

375
00:25:37,140 --> 00:25:40,420
we believe wholeheartedly that all people are

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00:25:40,420 --> 00:25:43,240
equal regardless of their color, of their origin,

377
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:45,840
of their race, of anything. We treat people as

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00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:50,610
human beings. The worst thing It's for anybody to

379
00:25:50,610 --> 00:25:52,950
be racist, to hate somebody, to dislike somebody

380
00:25:52,950 --> 00:25:55,550
because of their color, sometimes how they speak,

381
00:25:55,670 --> 00:26:00,510
where they are from, or their religion. And this

382
00:26:00,510 --> 00:26:03,990
is what literature teaches us. We learn about

383
00:26:03,990 --> 00:26:08,250
these experiences from literature. Now, Othello is

384
00:26:08,250 --> 00:26:11,110
a Christian. He becomes a Christian. And he's a

385
00:26:11,110 --> 00:26:15,350
leader in the army in Venice. And he marries the

386
00:26:15,350 --> 00:26:19,810
most beautiful white lady in Venice. He deserves

387
00:26:19,810 --> 00:26:22,570
this because he works hard for it. He's a strong

388
00:26:22,570 --> 00:26:27,490
fighter. But Iago, the villain, the antagonist,

389
00:26:27,590 --> 00:26:31,630
hates him mainly because of his color. And again,

390
00:26:31,730 --> 00:26:34,470
this is Shakespeare 400 years ago discussing

391
00:26:34,470 --> 00:26:35,530
racism.

392
00:26:37,510 --> 00:26:41,330
And because you treat somebody unfairly, unjustly,

393
00:26:41,490 --> 00:26:45,620
because of his color, We have one of the, again,

394
00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:50,400
really darkest tragedies of all. In Othello,

395
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,320
again, harmony is lost. And that's why harmony,

396
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,120
you know, because we should be treating each other

397
00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:00,940
equally. But because someone is mistreated only

398
00:27:00,940 --> 00:27:04,780
because of the color of his skin, and this causes

399
00:27:04,780 --> 00:27:09,540
a lot of destruction and death. He kills his wife,

400
00:27:09,900 --> 00:27:14,430
his Demona, Othello. Because he was jealous.

401
00:27:15,110 --> 00:27:18,950
Because Iago made him think that she was cheating

402
00:27:18,950 --> 00:27:22,370
on him. And then Iago kills his wife. And then

403
00:27:22,370 --> 00:27:25,490
he's killed himself. And then Othello dies at the

404
00:27:25,490 --> 00:27:29,750
end. So he says, chaos has come again. You know

405
00:27:29,750 --> 00:27:35,180
chaos? Chaos, destruction. It is said that there's

406
00:27:35,180 --> 00:27:36,900
the Big Bang theory. I'm not sure if you studied

407
00:27:36,900 --> 00:27:39,580
this in school, Big Bang theory, how the world

408
00:27:39,580 --> 00:27:42,600
created by a Big Bang. And before the Big Bang,

409
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,260
there was chaos. There was nothing. And the theory

410
00:27:46,260 --> 00:27:49,280
says that the world is going to end in a Big Bang.

411
00:27:50,100 --> 00:27:54,920
So chaos has come again. Life has no meaning when

412
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,420
someone is mistreated because of his religion or

413
00:27:58,420 --> 00:28:03,170
something. So why does Iago hate Othello? Because

414
00:28:03,170 --> 00:28:07,210
only because, yes, he took up the position, but he

415
00:28:07,210 --> 00:28:10,270
deserves it because he is a black man who married

416
00:28:10,270 --> 00:28:14,030
the white beautiful lady, Desdemona. And Iago is

417
00:28:14,030 --> 00:28:19,010
said to be the scariest character in Shakespeare.

418
00:28:22,330 --> 00:28:25,670
Now, we move from Othello to The Merchant of

419
00:28:25,670 --> 00:28:27,270
Venice. Now, listen, The Merchant of Venice is not

420
00:28:27,270 --> 00:28:30,520
a tragedy. I'll tell you in brief what it is

421
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,680
about. But when I speak about Othello and speak

422
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,500
about race, because Othello is an outsider, you

423
00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:40,120
know outsider? We speak about Europe, all white,

424
00:28:40,340 --> 00:28:44,240
all Christian, all European, right? Now Othello is

425
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,460
an intruder, is an outsider. Now in the merchant

426
00:28:47,460 --> 00:28:52,120
of Venice, there is also an outsider and his name

427
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:53,960
is Shylock.

428
00:28:56,150 --> 00:28:59,070
The Merchant of Venice. I'll briefly tell you what

429
00:28:59,070 --> 00:29:00,950
what goes on in The Merchant of Venice and

430
00:29:00,950 --> 00:29:03,210
probably read this and stop and comment next

431
00:29:03,210 --> 00:29:06,770
class. Now The Merchant of Venice is a story about

432
00:29:06,770 --> 00:29:11,090
Antonio and his friend Bassanio. Bassanio wants to

433
00:29:11,090 --> 00:29:15,020
marry Portia. Bassanio doesn't have the money. He

434
00:29:15,020 --> 00:29:17,740
goes to the merchant of Venice, Antonio, to give

435
00:29:17,740 --> 00:29:21,280
him money. But he doesn't have much money now

436
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,240
because all his money is at sea doing, you know,

437
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,780
abroad business and trade. So where does he go?

438
00:29:31,660 --> 00:29:36,730
Where does he go to lend, to borrow money? He goes

439
00:29:36,730 --> 00:29:41,730
to Shylock. Who's Shylock? A Jewish money lender,

440
00:29:42,010 --> 00:29:46,510
a Jewish guy, again an outsider. So there is also

441
00:29:46,510 --> 00:29:50,070
another issue, theme of humanity and race here.

442
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,780
And then Shylock says okay okay Antonio you want

443
00:29:54,780 --> 00:29:58,500
me to give you money Antonio you always insult me

444
00:29:58,500 --> 00:30:02,500
you always spit on my face you always tell people

445
00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:06,120
not to take money from me Antonio now you want the

446
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,100
money I will give you the money Antonio because I

447
00:30:09,100 --> 00:30:14,720
am good now Shylock is a money lender he gives you

448
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,890
money and you return the money with extra this is

449
00:30:18,890 --> 00:30:22,670
called interest you know extra money when you

450
00:30:22,670 --> 00:30:27,650
borrow money from from like a bank now and he says

451
00:30:27,650 --> 00:30:31,130
okay let's sign a contract in the contract he says

452
00:30:31,130 --> 00:30:34,190
I want to give you the money if you don't pay it

453
00:30:34,190 --> 00:30:37,630
back in some time I think two months I will take a

454
00:30:37,630 --> 00:30:43,280
pound of flesh A pound of flesh, a piece of your

455
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,180
body, of your flesh. Pound is like half a kilo.

456
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,900
That's a lot, right? And then Anthony was like,

457
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,840
what? He said, don't worry. This is Mary's fault.

458
00:30:53,940 --> 00:30:58,120
It's just for fun. It's just for fun. And then he

459
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:04,200
signs. And then when the time comes, give me my

460
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,800
money back. He says, my ships were destroyed. I

461
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:11,930
lost all my money. Okay, give you my money. Let's

462
00:31:11,930 --> 00:31:13,910
go to court." And now everyone was like, Oh,

463
00:31:14,030 --> 00:31:17,070
Shiloh, you shouldn't wait for him. Forgive him,

464
00:31:17,210 --> 00:31:19,290
Shiloh. He said, why should I forgive him? He has

465
00:31:19,290 --> 00:31:22,930
always treated me like crap. He's always

466
00:31:22,930 --> 00:31:26,970
mistreated me. He insults me. He spits in me only

467
00:31:26,970 --> 00:31:30,850
because I am a Jew. And now that I have the right,

468
00:31:30,950 --> 00:31:35,610
the time to take revenge. Now he's saying no, and

469
00:31:35,610 --> 00:31:40,640
they go to the court. At this time, Bassanio and

470
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:44,280
his wife Portia know about the story, and Portia

471
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,760
dresses up as a man, as a lawyer. Remember, in

472
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,480
Shakespeare, women were not allowed to be on

473
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:56,460
stage. Only men. Because they didn't have a big

474
00:31:56,460 --> 00:31:59,380
role at that time. Women didn't have many rights.

475
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,160
So who plays women characters? A man, a beardless

476
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,390
man with a soft voice. So imagine this, how

477
00:32:07,390 --> 00:32:10,050
Shakespeare is doing this. So who's playing

478
00:32:10,050 --> 00:32:14,030
Portia? A man dressed up as Portia for the play.

479
00:32:15,030 --> 00:32:18,710
And now Portia dresses up as a man, as a lawyer.

480
00:32:18,730 --> 00:32:21,270
Not only a man, but a lawyer. Women were not

481
00:32:21,270 --> 00:32:23,910
allowed to be lawyers at that time, because many

482
00:32:23,910 --> 00:32:26,570
believed that women are less intelligent, less

483
00:32:26,570 --> 00:32:28,870
intellectual than men. And Shakespeare is changing

484
00:32:28,870 --> 00:32:32,870
this, is making fun of this concept. Because she

485
00:32:32,870 --> 00:32:36,450
comes to the court and she says, OK, wait. Oh,

486
00:32:36,790 --> 00:32:39,890
this contract is valid. It's correct. Is this your

487
00:32:39,890 --> 00:32:42,990
signature? Yeah. So yeah, give him the money. I

488
00:32:42,990 --> 00:32:45,430
don't have the money. And then she tries to beg

489
00:32:45,430 --> 00:32:48,910
Shylock. Shylock, please forgive him. We'll give

490
00:32:48,910 --> 00:32:50,750
you your money. He says, no, I'll give you double

491
00:32:50,750 --> 00:32:52,690
the amount, triple the amount. And Shylock says,

492
00:32:52,750 --> 00:32:57,630
no, I want a pound of flesh. She says, OK, go on,

493
00:32:57,930 --> 00:33:02,600
go on. And he starts sharpening the knife. And in

494
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:07,340
a very ugly scene, he doesn't use probably a brick

495
00:33:07,340 --> 00:33:12,000
or the wall. He uses his shoe to sharpen the

496
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,960
knife. Disgusting, ugly act of revenge. And when

497
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,440
he approaches Anthony just to take probably from

498
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:27,370
near his heart, Portia says, wait. Take the pound

499
00:33:27,370 --> 00:33:30,790
of flesh, not less, not more. And when you do,

500
00:33:31,230 --> 00:33:37,210
don't drop any blood, not even one tiny drop of

501
00:33:37,210 --> 00:33:41,850
blood. Is it possible? No, no. So he feels that,

502
00:33:42,070 --> 00:33:45,650
oh, I can't. And then he says, OK, OK, give me the

503
00:33:45,650 --> 00:33:48,270
triple amount. You just said no. Give me the

504
00:33:48,270 --> 00:33:50,870
double amount of money. He says no. OK, give me my

505
00:33:50,870 --> 00:33:55,400
money. You just said no. He says OK. God forgive

506
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,660
you Anthony and peace be upon you. They say wait a

507
00:33:57,660 --> 00:34:02,600
minute, wait a minute, come back. In Venice, if

508
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:06,380
someone, if an outsider tries to kill a Venetian,

509
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:12,800
his money has to be taken away and he has to

510
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,880
convert to Christianity. So at the end, Shylock,

511
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,300
like earlier, lost his daughter. She became a

512
00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:23,240
Christian. Now he lost all his money. And of

513
00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:25,740
course the good white Christian Antonio says,

514
00:34:25,860 --> 00:34:29,690
okay, I don't want my half. take it back and he

515
00:34:29,690 --> 00:34:33,530
loses most of his money he loses his right to take

516
00:34:33,530 --> 00:34:37,610
revenge and he becomes a christian he is forced to

517
00:34:37,610 --> 00:34:40,490
become a christian but for portia bassani and

518
00:34:40,490 --> 00:34:44,370
antonio they live happily ever after now in the

519
00:34:44,370 --> 00:34:47,110
past this was considered a comedy because the

520
00:34:47,110 --> 00:34:51,290
european white people are victorious but is it a

521
00:34:51,290 --> 00:34:54,250
comedy for shylock no Is it a comedy of a child?

522
00:34:54,310 --> 00:34:58,250
It's not. He lost his daughter. He lost his

523
00:34:58,250 --> 00:35:00,790
religion. He lost most of his money. That's why

524
00:35:00,790 --> 00:35:05,330
now people consider this a dark comedy, tragic

525
00:35:05,330 --> 00:35:08,790
comedy, serious comedy, trouble comedy, whatever,

526
00:35:09,350 --> 00:35:13,350
because there are issues of race and anti-Semitism

527
00:35:13,350 --> 00:35:16,270
here. Now, in the middle of the play, when they

528
00:35:16,270 --> 00:35:19,770
were begging Shylock not to take the pound of

529
00:35:19,770 --> 00:35:23,380
flesh, He says this, one of the most beautiful

530
00:35:23,380 --> 00:35:27,720
things in Shakespeare. Maybe some of you can read

531
00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:30,680
it next time. They tell him, what do you want to

532
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,480
do with a pound of flesh for God's sake? What do

533
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,740
you want to do with the flesh? You can't eat it.

534
00:35:36,460 --> 00:35:38,020
And he says, I don't care. I want to feed it to

535
00:35:38,020 --> 00:35:41,890
the fish. I don't care. When he insulted me, when

536
00:35:41,890 --> 00:35:44,750
he spat on my face, when he told people not to

537
00:35:44,750 --> 00:35:47,010
take money from me, nobody interfered, nobody told

538
00:35:47,010 --> 00:35:49,550
him no. Don't do that, Antonio. Now that I have

539
00:35:49,550 --> 00:35:51,470
the chance to take revenge, you're telling me

540
00:35:51,470 --> 00:35:55,990
don't? So to bait fish with it, if it will feed

541
00:35:55,990 --> 00:36:01,080
nothing, it will feed my revenge. He hath

542
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,360
disgraced me and hindered me half a million,

543
00:36:03,540 --> 00:36:06,580
laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned

544
00:36:06,580 --> 00:36:09,620
my nation, my nation because he's a Jew, thwarted

545
00:36:09,620 --> 00:36:12,300
my bargains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies.

546
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,840
And what's his reason? I am a Jew. There's no

547
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,240
reason. It's not because I'm bad. It's because of

548
00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:22,260
my religion. Like Othello, it's because of his I

549
00:36:22,260 --> 00:36:27,210
am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes. What's had? Has.

550
00:36:28,110 --> 00:36:31,010
Has not as you see how beautiful it is. Has not as

551
00:36:31,010 --> 00:36:35,150
you eyes. Has not as you hands, organs,

552
00:36:35,390 --> 00:36:39,270
dimensions, senses, affections, passions, fit with

553
00:36:39,270 --> 00:36:42,310
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject

554
00:36:42,310 --> 00:36:46,130
to the same diseases, healed by the same means,

555
00:36:46,390 --> 00:36:49,650
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer.

556
00:36:49,910 --> 00:36:55,980
As a Christian, the answer is yes. The second

557
00:36:55,980 --> 00:37:01,000
part, if you prick us, if you injure us, do we not

558
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:06,840
bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? You tell

559
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,320
jokes, crack jokes, do we not laugh? If you poison

560
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:16,300
us, do we not die? We're humans. Again, shared

561
00:37:16,300 --> 00:37:20,160
humanity as a theme, Shakespeare. And if you wrong

562
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:24,050
us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in

563
00:37:24,050 --> 00:37:27,650
the rest, we will resemble you in that if a Jew

564
00:37:27,650 --> 00:37:29,910
wronged a Christian, what is the humility?

565
00:37:31,010 --> 00:37:33,710
Revenge. If a Christian wronged a Jew, what should

566
00:37:33,710 --> 00:37:36,810
his sufferance be by a Christian example? Why

567
00:37:36,810 --> 00:37:42,390
revenge? The villainy The villainy, you teach me,

568
00:37:42,570 --> 00:37:45,810
I will execute and execute, and it shall go hard,

569
00:37:46,250 --> 00:37:49,170
but I will better the instruction. I learned this

570
00:37:49,170 --> 00:37:53,030
bad deed, this bad deed. I learned this villainy

571
00:37:53,030 --> 00:37:57,610
from you, from Antonio. I will treat you the same.

572
00:37:58,150 --> 00:38:01,550
You made me the man I am. But I will better the

573
00:38:01,550 --> 00:38:05,190
instruction. I will better the instruction.

574
00:38:05,750 --> 00:38:09,050
Wonderful. Yes. In a way, many people accuse

575
00:38:09,050 --> 00:38:14,710
Shakespeare of being anti-Semitic. Did I write

576
00:38:14,710 --> 00:38:17,170
anti-Semitism here? Can you see the term, this

577
00:38:17,170 --> 00:38:22,710
term? Anti-Semitism. Semitic from Sam. The Jews

578
00:38:22,710 --> 00:38:26,790
and many Muslims are originally the son of Sam,

579
00:38:26,930 --> 00:38:31,870
son of Noah. So we are sematic, sematic, sematic,

580
00:38:31,930 --> 00:38:33,370
sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic,

581
00:38:33,370 --> 00:38:34,570
sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic,

582
00:38:34,710 --> 00:38:37,390
sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic,

583
00:38:37,410 --> 00:38:40,050
sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic,

584
00:38:40,050 --> 00:38:41,450
sematic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic,

585
00:38:41,450 --> 00:38:46,290
semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic,

586
00:38:46,430 --> 00:38:49,230
semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic,

587
00:38:49,230 --> 00:38:49,530
semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic,

588
00:38:49,530 --> 00:38:49,870
semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic,

589
00:38:49,870 --> 00:38:53,260
semiatic I would say many Jews support Israeli

590
00:38:53,260 --> 00:38:56,500
occupation and the disposition of Palestinians,

591
00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:01,340
but not all Jews are supportive of Israel. That's

592
00:39:01,340 --> 00:39:04,820
why we speak about the Zionist regime, the Zionist

593
00:39:04,820 --> 00:39:07,280
project, the Zionists, the Israelis. As

594
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:13,660
Palestinians, we don't hate Jews because they are

595
00:39:13,660 --> 00:39:16,700
Jews. We hate those people because they occupy us,

596
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,480
kill us, humiliate us, deprive us of our rights.

597
00:39:21,790 --> 00:39:24,650
Even if the occupiers of Palestine are Muslims, we

598
00:39:24,650 --> 00:39:28,570
will fight them and resist them the same. So it's

599
00:39:28,570 --> 00:39:30,450
not a matter of Jews and Muslims. This is not a

600
00:39:30,450 --> 00:39:34,050
war between Jews and Muslims. It's, again, a

601
00:39:34,050 --> 00:39:36,930
legitimate fight. Palestinians occupied,

602
00:39:37,390 --> 00:39:39,930
oppressed, colonized against the colonizers who

603
00:39:39,930 --> 00:39:44,730
happen to be Jews. Okay? So in this play, is

604
00:39:44,730 --> 00:39:49,730
Shakespeare depicting Shylock as evil? As ugly?

605
00:39:49,850 --> 00:39:51,710
Probably yes. Some people say yes. Some people

606
00:39:51,710 --> 00:39:55,930
hate Shakespeare because he is anti-semitic. Or he

607
00:39:55,930 --> 00:39:59,130
is anti-feminist. Remember feminism? Feminism?

608
00:39:59,810 --> 00:40:03,190
Anti-feminist. Or because he's a racist. But some

609
00:40:03,190 --> 00:40:06,170
critics say no, no, no, no. Shakespeare wasn't

610
00:40:06,170 --> 00:40:10,330
being racist or anti-semitic. Or anti-feminist. He

611
00:40:10,330 --> 00:40:14,270
was reflecting a society that was racist, anti

612
00:40:14,270 --> 00:40:18,450
-feminist, and probably anti-semitic. So we can

613
00:40:18,450 --> 00:40:21,650
find solutions. We can find answers for this. We

614
00:40:21,650 --> 00:40:26,270
can look for answers. The Merchant of Venice is a

615
00:40:26,270 --> 00:40:29,410
play about shared humanity. about what it means to

616
00:40:29,410 --> 00:40:33,170
be a human being, about racism, about anti

617
00:40:33,170 --> 00:40:35,470
-Semitism. And Shakespeare, now these are

618
00:40:35,470 --> 00:40:38,070
important questions now here in the 20th, 21st

619
00:40:38,070 --> 00:40:42,430
centuries. But Shakespeare discussed this over 40,

620
00:40:42,590 --> 00:40:45,050
100 years ago. And this is how beautiful, how

621
00:40:45,050 --> 00:40:48,330
amazing Shakespeare is. If you have any question,

622
00:40:48,470 --> 00:40:50,690
please ask and we can continue the discussion next

623
00:40:50,690 --> 00:40:53,810
class. You want to say something? You want to add

624
00:40:53,810 --> 00:40:59,040
something? Do you want to read some of this? for

625
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,900
next time can you prepare two or three of you can

626
00:41:01,900 --> 00:41:06,520
you prepare doing this reading this here okay so

627
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:09,700
we'll start next class from again Shylock and his

628
00:41:09,700 --> 00:41:12,520
speech but before we do this do you notice

629
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:18,280
anything about the text okay

630
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:21,600
look at this this is tomorrow and tomorrow and

631
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:28,450
tomorrow okay and then there is No, no, no life.

632
00:41:29,510 --> 00:41:32,090
And then there is this. Do you notice something

633
00:41:32,090 --> 00:41:35,370
different between the anything?

634
00:41:38,150 --> 00:41:42,530
Oh, thank you very much. This is poetry. In

635
00:41:42,530 --> 00:41:47,210
poetry, we capitalize every line, the beginning of

636
00:41:47,210 --> 00:41:49,070
every line, the first letter from every line,

637
00:41:49,230 --> 00:41:51,590
capital, capital, capital. This is a rule in

638
00:41:51,590 --> 00:41:57,570
poetry. But here, this is what? It's a paragraph,

639
00:41:57,770 --> 00:41:59,970
it's prose, thank you. Remember Shakespeare's

640
00:41:59,970 --> 00:42:03,750
plays were mostly written in verse. But sometimes

641
00:42:03,750 --> 00:42:06,770
there are prose characters, characters who only

642
00:42:06,770 --> 00:42:10,890
speak prose. Shylock is one of them. Unimportant

643
00:42:10,890 --> 00:42:13,690
characters, messengers, you know, bad people

644
00:42:13,690 --> 00:42:17,830
usually speak prose. Not verse. We can talk

645
00:42:17,830 --> 00:42:20,810
probably more about this. Thank you very much. If

646
00:42:20,810 --> 00:42:22,030
you have a question, please do ask.