From The Merchant of Venice, illustrate the theme of friendship and loyalty.

byapproachesof friendship and loyalty in several different ways,
some more obvious than others.exemplify both loyalty and disloyalty.

The most
obvious example of loyalty and friendship is that of , who risks his money and even body to help
his friend . He models a form of loyalty which includes self-sacrifice and is a model of the
Christian virtue of non-sexual forms of love.is also a positive example of loyalty, using
bravery and intelligence to help her beloved and his friend.

is a more
controversial character, but one could say that he is ultimately admirable in the way he remains
loyal to his religious tradition as long as possible despite the pressures on him to convert to
Christianity and compromise with the oppressive power of the Christian religion. Although
Shylock is, to a certain degree, a villain in the...