Chapter 712: A Pound of Flesh Contract

Where does power come from?

Power comes when someone takes your orders and does what you say.

The mother told the child to wash hands before and after meals, and the child did so. This is her right, but when she asked her husband to go home on time, if the husband didn’t follow her instructions, or responded negatively, she lost that power.

The reason why marriage under theocracy is allowed is not to satisfy desires, but to restrict, suppress, and kill desires, and to expel the devil through the devil. In a word, a woman is still a devil, even if she is a wife and mother, it is a sin symbol of.

Worshiping Mary saves women, at least being a great mother is worthy of praise. This kind of compromise of Catholicism stems from the problem of sparse population after the Black Death and the Crusades.

Besides that, they brought home beautiful women from the dirty, chaotic, disease-infested streets, dressed them in beautiful clothes, gorgeous jewelry, and lived a "happy" life ever since.

The most obvious feature of Renaissance architecture is the abandonment of Gothic architectural style in the Middle Ages. Since then, architects have had the main decision-making power. They can choose columns and building shapes. Sculptors, decorators, painters And the task of the glazers was only to carry out the architect's orders, they did not ask the mistress who lived in the house what style she wanted.

This is a house, and it is also a cage. The Mediterranean sun is too harsh, which makes people's skin dark. Renaissance houses had many loggias, which later evolved into corridors or closed corridors. On the second floor, there are rows of windows that correspond to the arches below. The buildings on all sides surround the courtyard in the middle, forming a hollow cube. This can ensure that all the houses are private and safe, leading to the courtyard, the front facing the street is magnificent, and the houses facing the Grand Canal are also beautifully repaired on the side facing the canal.

Women at that time regarded whiteness as their beauty, and beauty was a powerful weapon. In order to maintain that whiteness, they were like canaries in a cage, wandering in the shadow of the loggia, and these luxurious buildings Together, it becomes a part of the rich businessman's show off, and satisfies the rich businessman's desire to show off his wealth.

They can't control the behavior of men. In order to get more money, Venetian merchants began to lend usury. In Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Shylock has two major crimes. One is being a usurer and greedy; Debtors, cold-blooded and ruthless.

Modern people should be used to this kind of person, isn't it natural to pay off debts? However, in the Bible, lending money to him should not be like charging interest to a moneylender. The Jews like to lend usury and charge interest. This has been their tradition for hundreds of years. If they have spare funds, they will use the money Release it to collect interest, and someone who needs money can naturally borrow it.

The Talmud said: Although money is not perfect, it does not corrupt things.

Who would be in awe of a rich and unkind person who lends money at usury? So what if he lives in a luxurious house? Marx's "French Civil War": "What brought the disaster to its climax was Shylock of Prussia holding a bill to extort food and pay for his 500,000 troops on French soil."

It was they who severely punished usury, and because the bankers who lent usury were mainly Jews, the Communist Party’s party program clearly stated that the state would support small businessmen by means of cheap rent, cancel land rent, and prohibit land speculation. Demands for the abolition of income not earned through work have a powerful appeal to the German people, eager to escape national humiliation and economic hardship. The German nation, which was originally in a weak position and was oppressed by the Jews who occupied the legal and moral commanding heights and repaid their debts, found a new hope of resisting oppression.

Even if the Jewish bankers have a lot of wealth in their hands, they cannot reverse their bad luck of being discriminated against and persecuted.

In the play about the Merchant of Venice, some people also argued that Shylock solved Antonio's urgent need after all, but they forgot to see how Charlotte asked Antonio for debts. He insisted on cutting off a pound of flesh from Antonio. A pound of flesh is not much for a person who loses weight, but for a man of normal physique, cutting off a pound of flesh on his chest with a knife is fatal enough.

In the Venetian court, Charlotte showed a fierce face, "The pound of meat I asked him for was bought at a great price. It belongs to me, and I must take it into my hand."

Traditionally, The Merchant of Venice is considered a comedy because it has a happy ending, such as the happy love between Bassanio and Portia, the recovery of Antonio's merchant ship, the confiscation of Shylock's property, the general public not being a jurist, They are used to judging by appearances, and it is definitely not a good person to cut off a pound of other people's flesh, but they don't know anything else.

Charlotte said, "He has humiliated me, robbed me of hundreds of thousands of dollars in business, laughed at my losses, ridiculed my surpluses, insulted my nation, sabotaged my business, alienated my friends, and incited my passions." Enemy; what is his reason? Just because I am a Jew, has not a Jew eyes? Has the Jew no senses, no feelings, no blood? If a Jew insults a Christian, what about the Christian? Showing his humility? Revenge!"

Just when the dramatic conflict developed to the critical point, Portia appeared as a lawyer, and the plot took a turn. After she appeared on the stage, she did not directly pronounce the sentence, but tactfully persuaded her. But she has repeatedly announced that she will insist on a trial according to law, which is tantamount to encouraging Sherlock to insist on punishment. Shylock once again threw away morality and gave up a large amount of compensation, which meant that he cut off all his escape routes. Finally, Portia persuaded him to proceed from the minimum humanity and ask a surgeon when cutting the flesh, so as not to kill Antonio. Shylock's purpose is to avenge Antonio. The conflict between Shylock and Antonio is not only a matter of race and finance, but also a symbol of two completely different religions, lives and values. Shylock lived a temperate and miserly life, and he scorned the extravagance and waste of the Christian life. For Shylock, the definition of a good person is that the economic situation is enough to survive. He tried his best to limit his daughter Jessica's communication with the outside world, mercilessly abused and deducted servants, and even did not let people have enough food.

Antonio is willing to help others and hates usurers. He is willing to help others and hates usurers. If a friend is in trouble, of course he will help. Lorenzo is a friend of Antonio, but he eloped with Portia. This character lacks consideration and strategy in doing things. And more reckless and impulsive. Seems silly at times. However, he is blessed. Portia disguised herself as a man and pretended to be a lawyer to interrogate Charlotte. Because Charlotte couldn't control her emotions, she admitted in public that he wanted to "revenge", which was tantamount to expressing in public that she wanted to kill someone. It provided the basis for Portia to convict him of intentionally murdering the citizens of Venice.

The covenant does not allow you to take a drop of his blood, but only states "a pound of flesh"; so you can take a pound of flesh like Jonah, but when cutting the flesh, if a drop of Christian blood is shed, your Land property, according to the law of Venice, must be confiscated in its entirety. No more, no less, even if it is a tiny bit, the litigant must die.

Sherlock was astonished and asked to withdraw the original lawsuit, but Portia deprived Sherlock of all his property according to the law, confiscated half of it, and awarded the other half to the victim.

"No, take my life and property together, I don't want your forgiveness. You take away the pillars that support the house, that is, you tear down my house; you take away the foundation of my family, that is It cost me my life."

In fact, it's not that we don't like injustice, but we hope that we are on the side of the legal balance. How many people laugh when they see Charlotte's bad luck?

Charlotte had lost her daughter, and all the wealth she had lived on, and Christian had won big.

But people have overlooked one point, Charlotte can turn defeat into victory, as long as he exposes the identity of Lawyer Portia as a woman.

Men often do not return home for several years because of their business relationship. They generally do not return to land until they are around 40 years old. If they are born in a famous family, they will enter politics. Although Venetian women have no political status, they have social status. Compared with other countries at the same time, Venetian women had more opportunities to appear on formal occasions, and socializing became the most important job for women.

Is the courtroom a social occasion?

Every woman hopes to have a capable husband. However, most capable men do not have time. Venice has a kind of "serving knights". Give advice from a male perspective; dine with your wife, attend salon gatherings; play cards and chess with your wife, go to dances and theaters together. It was not until the madam went back to bed at night that she said goodbye and left.

It is this system that has allowed women to maintain their sweet and sexy image for centuries. Like a lovely goddess of love, it is very rare for a woman like Portia to elope, disguise herself as a man, and abandon all femininity to become a lawyer.

Athena, the goddess of order and wisdom, is not as often naked as Venus. She always wears military uniforms and looks majestic.

On March 1, 2005, as morning light hung over Venice, Pomona wore jeans instead of the gorgeous pannier dress.

After all, it's the 21st century, and a woman doesn't need to be a man to be a lawyer.

When she was ready and looked back to the bed, her new husband was still lying on the bed and soundly asleep, and it seemed that he could not enjoy a cup of Italian coffee with her.

"You've served me well, knight, and now it's my turn," she said, smiling, blowing him a kiss, and heading out the door.

Scarlett was right. Tomorrow is a new day. Although she didn't know where the spring water Hera used to wash away her age and restore her virginity, her spirit could be continuously refined.

There is a note written on gauze paper beside the bed. Ordinary couples are in pairs in Venice, but she wants to play hide-and-seek with him. In the mask, she is like the enforcer of the Inquisition who hunted down heresies and witches in the 15th century.

This person likes law and order, but she likes freedom and trouble. If he catches her, she doesn't know how she will be "punished". She will run away before he finds out!