Table of content Page Acknowledgement A.Introduction I The nationales for choosing the theme II The aims of the Thesis III The objectives of the Thesis IV The limitation of the Thesis V The methods of the study B.Content Chapter I : Background I.England in the renaissance 1,What is the Renaissance ? 2.England in the Renaissace 3.The humanism in the Renaissance 10 II.William Shakespeare 11 1.Life and Work 11 1.1.Life 11 1.2.Work 12 2.His"The Merchant of Venice" 16 2.1.The place of the play in Shakespeare's career 16 2.2.The sources of the play 17 2.3.The characters in the play 17 2.4.The story of the play 18 Chapter II: love, friendship, justice and commonsense in society, in literature and in shakespeare's plays I Love, friendship, justice and commonsense in society and in literature 21 II Love, friendship, justice and commonsense in the plays of Shakespeare 24 Chapter III: The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense in "the Merchant of Venice " by Shakespeare I Love 29 II Friendship 36 III Justice and commonsense 43 IV The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense 53 Conclusion 55 Referencebooks 56 Acknowledgement It is true that I could not finish my thesis without the help and encouragement from my teachers, my relatives and my friends because of my private limitted knowledge and some difficulties in literary language, the writing style of the author First of all, I would like to show my deep gratitude and faithful thanks to the directorial Board of the Foreign Language Department that awarded me the opportunity to this thesis Secondly, I am very grateful to my parents, my friends for their great advices, help and encouragement Thirdly, I want to show my deep gratitude to Mr Chris Staples, who lent me some useful materials and gave me interesting ideas Finally, I would like to express my special thanks to my supervisor- the teacher Tran Ngoc Tuong (MA) who helped me and supported me enthusiastically during my writing A Introduction I The rationales for choosing the theme I have a high - faluting and romantic soul I am really fond of literature Studying literature in native language is difficult but studying literature in foreign language, especially English is more difficult But this gives me a challange to study Shakespeare is a great writer His works are abundant, grand and deal with many matters of the Age, the destiny of the whole mankind He is also a very familiar author to the Vietnamese Many his plays have been produced into famous films and many famous actors want to play parts as Hamlet, Othello, Shylock etc Shakespeare is worthy of being a "great and old tree " which covers the whole of the Renaissance literary circles and shines forever later on During his indefatigable working, he left for people great plays such as "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet", "Othello" So, Shakespeare and his works became a secret to challenge me to discover With thesis , I will have a good chance to understand more about himself, his works, especially the great play "the Merchant of Venice" That is the reason why I choose this theme for my graduation thesis II The aims of the thesis Firstly, studying this thesis helps me understand more profoundly about English literature, especially about English literature in the Renaissance and about famous authors, their famous works as well as their writing style Secondly, studying this thesis helps me understand more Shakespeare's life and career, his outlook and his contribution to English literature and understand more about his great work " The Merchant of Venice ", especially about the theme "love, friendship , justice and commonsense " in this work Finally, studying this thesis helps me improve my English language, especially English literature language III The objectives of the study - "Love, friendship, justice and commonsense " in society and in literature -"Love, friendship, justice and commonsense " in Shakespeare's plays -"The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense" in " The Merchant of Venice " by Shakespeare IV The limitation of the thesis - Studying the background of the Renaissance, Shakespeare's life and work, the play "The Merchant of Venice" - Studying the theme "The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense" in the play "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare V The methods of the study - Studying materials dealing with the thesis - Analysis method (main method) - Synthetic method - Making the best use of the help of the supervisor Mr Tran Ngoc Tuong (MA), the lectures of Mr Chris Staples and friend's ideas VI The main content of the thesis Chapter I : Background I England in the Renaissance What is the Renaissance ? England in the Renaissance The humanism in the Renaissance II William Shakespeare Life and Work 1.1 life 1.2.work The Merchant of Venice 2.1 The place of the play in Shakespeare's career 2.2 The sources of the play 2.3 The characters in the play 2.4 The story of the play Chapter II : love, friendship, justice and commonsense in society, in literature and in shakespeare's plays I Love, friendship, justice and commonsense in society and in literature II Love, friendship, justice and commonsense in Shakespeare's plays Chapter III : "The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense" in the play "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare I Love II.Friendship III Justice and commonsense IV The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense Conclusion Reference books B Content Chapter I : Background I England in the Renaissance ( 15th to 17th centuries ) What is the Renaissance ? From 14th century to 17th century, a new ideological and cultural campaign rose up enthusiastically and drastically in Europe never before had humankinds witnessed Firstly , the " new wind " blew up in Italia in 14th century Then, it spread to the rest of Europe in 15th,16th,17th centuries The Italian called this movement "Renascita", the French called it "La Renaissance " This movement marked the transition from the Medieval world to the modern one in Western Europe The term "Renascita" or "Renaissance" means literally " Rebirth" "Renaissance" means not only " the revival of interest in the ancient culture of Greece and Rome "but also "the discovery of the world and humanbeings" More than that, it implies "the awakening of man's mind and capacity, of individual spirit and secularism 1.1 Renaissance : The revival of interest in the ancient culture of Greece and Rome Although people, in the Middle Ages, read and studied the Greek and Roman culture, The number of readers of this was very limitted among scholars and literary men Now, thanks to Patriarch's and Boccacio's enthusiasm in propagating the spirit of humanism in Greek and Roman culture, thanks to the extremely important invention of the printing machine, the number of ancient writers' readers increased greatly and the reading and studying of the Greek and Roman culture became an interest From 14th to17th centuries , the European were thirsty for seeking the relics of the ancient culture of Greece and Rome People emulated one another in learning Greek and Latin in order to read the ancient manuscripts The translation,the introduction and publication of the ancient philosophical and literary works of Greece attracted a great number of scholars, researchers and printers etc It is true that never before had ancient Greece and Rome been more paid attention to, interested in, exalted than in this period 1.2 Renaissance : The discovery of the world and humanbeings People began to think differently about the universe and the place of humanbeings within it Thanks to a great increase in the geographical and scientific knowledge In geographical field, Newton discovered "Law of gravity" and many other discoveries were also made These helped people know their position and fate in universe It became clear that the earth moved around the sun In the Middle Ages, men completely lost their value and position.The church of Rome taught them that they were symbols of evils and sins, they were slaves in this temporary world They lived temporarily and waited for a permanent life in paradise In the Renaissance, men were reborn They began to accept this world with a much more optimistic attitude They realized the meaningfulness of earthly life that was beautiful and interesting.They needed to enjoy it 1.3.Renaissance : The awakening of man's mind and capacity, of individual spirit and secularism Renaissance men were quite different from Middle Age ones who despised the materialistic and sexual desires Men of this period wanted to escapse from the strict, cramped and austere pattern of life in Middle Ages in order to come to new luxurious life, new economic, political and social life The power of church over men's minds was defeated They did not believe in God God was not the creator of the world, they praised life on the earth Their happiness, their life only existed on the earth, not on the heaven They believed in their ability, power of creation They could everything to achieve happiness People realised that it was the medieval feudalism and the church that had hindered their culture from development and had dispossessed them of their right to a proper life on earth and their right to creation.The progressive thinkers of Renaissance placed their interest in humanbeings They agreed with the ancient thinkers in evaluating and exalting the dignity of humanbeings They considered men to be the creator of the world This period called for giants, produced giants - giants in power of thought, passion, character in universality and learning In short, the Renaissance was the most progressive, greatest turning- point never before had mankinds seen That turning - point occured in all aspects of life: economy, politics, society, religion, ideology, technology and science, literature and art It was the period in which Renaissance literature and art became more beautiful England in the Renaissance England entered the Renaissance later than Italia and other countries in Western Europe because of two terribly destructive wars: the war of 100 years (1337- 1453) between England and France, the war of Roses (1455-1485) England started their economic recovery and development, cultural expansion from the end of 15th century on In 16th century, Capitalism began to develop in England as well as in other European countries However, it had some pecularities Wool production became the leading manufacture in England Landowners drove thousands of peasants out of their lands , turning these lands into pastures , or "enclosures " for sheep There was no work for the peasants and many of them became homeless beggars The government promulgated the law "no wandering" with very cruel punishment to turn wandering peasants into cheap workers in enterprises There were about 7200 drifters killed under the reign of the king Henry VIII (1509-1547) , the father of Queen Elizabeth I After the death of Henry VIII, his daughter Queen Elizabeth I enthroned England during her reign was considered to be great and glorious England grew prosperous and powerful , deserved to be called " the merry England " Positively, it was the period that England became No.1 powerful country in Europe It tried the best to expand its power England set up for colonization and exploitation, exploration, travel, a new way of life, new customs brought back by the sailors and merchants However, behind its prosperous face "the merry England", was a society undergoing the fierce changes of the transition stage from Feudalism to Capitalism, was a society charged with severe class contradictions that were always ready to break out drastic wars The humanism in the Renaissance The humanism was the progressive ideology creating all spiritual values of the Renaissance Human life, the happiness of people and the beliefs in man's abilities became the main subjects in fine arts and literature of the period Humanism considered men the center of universe Broadly, humanism suggested any attitude which tended to exalt the human elements such as faithful, generous, tolerant, gentle or stressed the importance of human of interest as opposed to the supernatural, devine elements or as opposed to the grosser, animal elements such as jealous, hypocritical, flatulent, etc The works of humanists proclaimed the equality of the people regardless of their social origin, race, religion Humanism did away with the dark scholastic teaching of the Middle Ages The development of a new social order presented great possibilities for man's creative power That is the reason why the humanist outlook was marked with bright optimism , with belief in man's great abilities and his high mission Humanism recovered men's right to live , their role in universe It required to emancipate people from the slavery of Feudal church It fought against what, who fought against men It exalted man's noble qualities and required to give back earthly life, real mental and bodily life to men The humanists agreed with the ancient Greeks and Romans in asserting the dignity of humanbeings and the importance of the present life Humanism is the product of the transition stage from Feudalism to Capitalism and is a progressive philosophical ideological trend However, it has some limitations II William Shakespeare Life and Work 1.1 Life The greatest playwright and poet not only of England but also of the humankind, William Shakespeare, was born on April 23, 1564 in the small town of Stratford - Upon - Avon , about seventy - five miles from London Shakespeare grew up in the refinedly beautiful natural landscape with people's language , folk stories and songs These left fresh images in his later works Shakespeare is the third of Jonh Shakespeare who was the prosperous tradesman and merchant and a person of some important functions in the town His mother, Mary Arden, was a daughter of wealthy and distinguished family from Wilmecote His two elder sisters died in infancy but three brothers and two other sisters survived at least into childhood When Shakespeare was a seven year old boy, he went to Stratford grammar school where Latin and Greek were almost the only subjects Life itself, contact with everyone and his acqaintance with the rich English folklore gave him more than the scholastic methods used at school In those days , Stratford - upon - Avon was often visited by groups of travellers who was also actors It is quite possible that Shakespeare watched some plays performed by some such actors and was impressed by them Shakespeare left school early at the age of 14 as his family got into heavy debts On november 27, 1582 Shakespeare, then aged at eighteen, married Anna Hathaway a woman years older than himself They had three children, a daughter in 1583 and twins - a boy ( died at 11 ) and girl in 1585 At twenty one, he left Stratford - upon - Avon for London where he joined a theatrical company and worked as an actor and a playwright In the late 90s, a new theatre called " the Globe " was built on the bank of the Thames river Shakespeare became one of its owners The people of London liked it more than any other theatres It was the Globe in which most of Shakespeare's plays were staged at that time In 1613 , Shakespeare left London and returned to his native town of Stratford - Upon - Avon Three years later , on April 23 ,1616 , he died and was buried there 1.2 Work Shakespeare is the author of two long poems, a collection of 154 sonnets (14 line poems ), 37 plays including 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, 10 historical chronicles He has enriched the stage with matchless plays and towards the end of his life, with plays that defy all descriptions, strange plays that haunt the imagination like visions Next to God, a wise man once said, Shakespeare created most In thirty seven plays that are his chief legacy to the world and surely no-one ever left a richer!- human nature is displayed in all its astonishing variety His range is enormous : Kings and Queens, Priests, Princes and Merchants, Soldiers, Clowns and Drunkards, Murders, Pimps, Whores, Fairies, Monsters and Pale, Avenging ghosts " strut and fret their hour upon the stage " His contemporaries praised him as "the honey - tongued poet", "the swan on Avon river ", "the person waves the spear to cause a stir in the scene" Perhaps , the best epitaph for Shakespeare was written by his friend and rival, Ben Jonson , who said "He was not of an age but for all time" Although the precise date of many Shakespeare's plays is in doubt, his creative work is usually devided into three periods : 1.2.1- The first period (1590- 1600) 10 ... Shakespeare'' s life and work, the play "The Merchant of Venice" - Studying the theme "The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense" in the play "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare. .. victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice and commonsense" in " The Merchant of Venice " by Shakespeare IV The limitation of the thesis - Studying the background of the Renaissance, Shakespeare'' s... friendship, justice and commonsense" in the play "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare I Love II.Friendship III Justice and commonsense IV The victorious laugh of love, friendship, justice