The Merchant of Venice presents a world in conflict in which the characters need to navigate between opposing and conflicting values. They need to attend to their romantic interests as well as their financial and legal obligations, to balance justice and mercy, to juggle their friends and their lovers. Each of the three trials in the play (the trial of the caskets, the trial of the contract of the pound of flesh and the trial of the rings) is an attempt to resolve these dilemmas. Each trial confronts a seemingly irresoluble conflict -- only to miraculously solve the problem. In the world of comedy, we can have our cake and eat it, too.
Choose ONE of the trials. What are the values at stake? How is the conflict resolved? What is this trial telling us the nature of these values? Are they really conflicting? Is there a strategy to resolve the problem? Or is it only in the never, never land of the play that we can ever hope to square the circle?
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