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Perhaps this is Shakespeare's error and not Shylock's.

While I see the "textual evidence," I don't believe Shakespeare intends Antonio to be homosexual. In his time, for a man to say he loved another man simply meant that he cared a lot about that man. ...

While I can see why we might pity Shylock for the way the Christians treat him, I do not believe he is an entirely pitiable character. He makes his money by usury, which in Shakespeare's day was...

When the creature finds the books in the woods, he reads them and develops a love for virtue. He also learns that name and wealth are the two most important things in life--and the two things he...

Romantic literature is by its very nature UNrealistic, so don't look for an exact scientific explanation of how the creature learns to talk and to read.

"the creature corrupts the knowlege that...

One dominant characteristic of Romantic fiction is its LACK of realistic detail. The whole notion of re-animating lifeless tissue is unrealistic.

Victor does not want to be a father; if he did,...

I agree that justice and mercy and malice are all knotted up here. Portia speaks so eloquently about the quality of mercy, but she doesn't follow her own advice. When Shylock says okay, just give...

1. War is Peace: War uses up the products of industry without ever distributing them to the people, so the high stays on top and the low stays on the bottom. Hence it maintains the status quo, so...

Winston first believes that this is the Golden Country that he has seen in his dreams. He later comes to realize that this is the Ministry of Love, where the lights are never turned off. The...

The proles are human because they are allowed to form their own opinions and their own connections, unlike Party members. They marry for love and give birth to children whom they love. They live...

The paperweight is a HUGE symbol in the novel!!

First, it is something from the past, something beautiful in a world without beauty. Second, it is useless now, since no paper is kept--everything...

The 1931 film was strangely edited. In the original, Victor says "At last I know what it feels like to be God!" when the creature comes to life. The studio decided that this was "too much" to put...

I see Victor as a monster--i.e., a person who madly drives ahead with his/her own selfish wished with no regard for others--because he creates a life with no mother and no childhood,a nd then he...

Gratiano is a long-winded boob. This speech occurs early in the play, doesn't it? He's asking Antonio why he is so glum. Rather than asking solicitously why his friend is unhappy, he makes a lot...

Twain uses a lot of ironic humor. One example occurs when Huck puts on a dress and goes to a home to find out the local gossip. The woman thinks she is SO clever in finding out that Huck is a boy...

Shylock doesn't really trick Antonio. But the request for a pound of flesh is so ludicrous that Antonio thinks Shylock is joking. So he goes along with the joke, thinking that the Jew is being kind...

I agree wih Virgil. The narrator is grieving his lost Lenore and also reading scary stories at midnight. So the sound frightens him. I think we can all relate: in the middle of a scary movie on...

I've read some commentary that suggests that Winston and O'Brien are in love. Personally I don't see it. Remember, there are different kinds of love. Winston makes NO mention of his father...

I like the Pardoner's Tale about the cocky men who are fooled by death. It has a message that applies to all people in all times.

I think the language is beautiful. Very poetic.

The novel shows the "evil" of the East vs. the innocence of the Midwest. It makes a powerful commentary on the nature of the country.

I don't...

London is a great Naturalist writer. He writes about what IS. Dogs are really wild animals; Buck shows this in his journey back to his wild roots. Cruelty is out there and very real. London's...

Try GradeSaver.com. It offers chapter summaries and analyses.

Better yet, reread the chapters. And as you read the rest of the book, take some notes so that you don't run into this situation...

The road is our life. We all have to make decisions in life that will lead us in one direction, and we can't go back and change our minds once we choose one path. Frost is saying that he took a...

Frost was a great writer of the ordinary--picking apples, walking down roads, mending fences, riding a sleigh. He uses these ordinary events to discuss life's larger issues. He uses plain language...

Peyton Farquhar is dead at the end of the story. He was hanged. That's it. The escape occurs entirely in his imagination during the two seconds between the officer stepping off the board and the...