Show how Shakespeare employs tensions and oppositions to present conflicting principals and prejudices of the time.
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Show how Shakespeare employs tensions and oppositions to present conflicting principals and prejudices of the time 'The Merchant of Venice' can be seen as a series of tense oppositions. Shakespeare writes about many conflicting issues that were controversial at the time, but does not enforce any opinion on the audience, inviting them to form their own conclusions. The contrasts in 'The Merchant of Venice' are important because they incite the audience to consider moral issues such as prejudice, discrimination and bigotry. Shakespeare creates the characters with the intention of relating them to the common person; the sins and discrepancies in their lives are typical of the everyday goings on in Venice at the time. I will consider love and hate, comedy and tragedy, justice and mercy, expectations versus reality and finally men against women. All of the oppositions are linked to the concerns of Shakespeare's audience. This means that Judaism,...

