Individual and Society Speech

Stimulus; Prepare a speech that responds to the question: ‘A fundamental tension in human experience is the conflict between the individual and society. To what extent does this statement reflect your understanding of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and ONE related text of your own choosing?’ --Social and personal ideologies are vital in shaping the ways individuals interact in their society. Human experiences involving conflict such as those of theological, ethical or moral difference, serve as drivers for tension in relationships. William Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and Raymond Carver’s short story ‘The Cathedral’ both explore the notions of how intimate relationships between characters are shaped and defined by their choices, actions and identity’s. Shakespeare ponders on the significance of racial and religious identity whilst Carver represents how an individual’s society impacts their beliefs and morals. Both composers examine the machinations of conflicting ideologies amongst individuals and their societies in their respective contexts. Conflict and fear of the unknown ‘other’ may create social, personal or ideological tension due a difference in moral or ethical values. The ‘Merchant of Venice’ explores this conflict and tension of the marginalized ‘other’ through the competing ideologies of Shylock and Antonio, who are pitted against one another as foils in the play, representing the extreme contrasts of their context. Antonio demonstrates his hatred of Shylock in numerous ways throughout the play, despite the fact that he expects Shylock to bankroll Bassanio so that he may pursue Portia. Shakespeare uses religious imagery in “The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose/ An evil soul producing holy witness/ Is like a villain with a smiling cheek” to dehumanize Shylock and all that he identifies with, as a heretic ‘usurer’ in an intolerant, Christian society. Both men represent the tension and conflict of different racial backgrounds converging in one context. Shakespeare uses an accusatory tone in Shylocks dialogue “For sufferance is the badge of my tribe/You call me…cut-throat dog/ And spit upon my Jewish gabardine” which further conveys the racial and social tension that has emerged as a result of conflicting theological ideologies represented in the character of Antonio, whose inherent Christian bias and hypocrisy, further represent the ideals of the Christian society in which Shylock is both entrenched in and a part of. 1 Raymond Carver’s short story ‘The Cathedral’ also explores conflict between the individual and society through the central narrator’s stereotypical assessment and jealousy of his wife’s friendship with Robert, ‘the blind man’. Carver demonstrates how common, personal and social ideologies that are both collective and individual, can marginalize others and create tension and conflict within relationships. The opening of the text “This blind man, an old friend of my wife’s, was on the way to spend the night” establishes Robert as less than human, defining him only by his physical disability. The repetition of ‘the blind man’ also serves as a driver of conflict between the protagonist and his wife. The narrator feels threatened by the intrusion of Robert into his domain “I wasn’t enthusiastic by his visit…and his being blind bothered me…a bind man in my house was it something I look forward to”. Carver’s protagonist clearly resents the intimate friendship between his wife and the blind man, who must physically touch her to establish elements of her character. The narrator reduces these simple acts of identification to his wife enjoying crude, sexual acts, “This man who first enjoyed her favors…” suggesting an improper bond, polluting and debasing the innocence of their friendship, as well as the dynamics of trust in his marriage. This discrimination serves as a driver of conflict between the relationship of the protagonist and his wife, with her dialogue establishing the importance of the friendship and her wishes for understanding and equal empathy from him “If you love me,” she said, “You can do this for me. If you don’t love me, ok. But, if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I’d make him feel comfortable” This tension is further increased through the wife’s constant rhetorical devices “What’s wrong with you?” and “Are you drunk?” The narrator’s attitude to the visit of ‘the blind man’ and the friendship between his wife clearly shows how conflict arises due to xenophobia or preconceived ideologies as a result of ignorance or personal bias. Tension between the contextual society and the individual manifest itself in the stereotypical beliefs of Carver’s narrator, whose intolerance and discriminative attitudes towards those with physical deformities are a reflection of the beliefs imposed by his collective society. Both ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and ‘The Cathedral’ explore the notion of the importance of personal and social ideologies on an individual’s character and attitudes in framing how they interact with their society. This notion extends to the drivers of tension being conflicting morals and ethics that dictate how humans experience their collective world and the individuals dissimilar to these values and identities. 2