Merchant of Venice ( parter = Elizabeth )

1.)   The play opens with Antonio, the merchant, admitting that he is sad, but not knowing why.  Think of times when you’ve been sad.  Have you always understood exactly why, or has your sadness sometimes seemed strange to you?  Explain. Usually when I'm sad I never really understood why. Such as when I'm trying to sleep late at night I feel really depressed and usually overthink. But then I think, there's nothing in my life that's actually making me feel like that. I basically just put myself down about being sad about nothing. My sadness aren't usually " strange " because I get sad very fast and when I get sad I overthink which makes the issue worse. But sometimes my sadness are strange because I get sad and I also feel sad during random times.
2.)   In Shakespeare’s time, lending money for interest was called “usury” and was generally considered immoral.  How have attitudes changed since then? I feel like this hasn't change. People take money really serious and money is important to them. Without money in this society you won't be able to provide for you're family or be successful. Money is also very hard to gain, you have to work very hard for it. You can't just lend money to people because what if they don't pay you back? You are loosing money in you're pocket.
3.)   Think of the recent banking crisis and the state of today’s economy.  Do you think it’s all right to lend someone a large amount of money based on their word and reputation even though they may not have any concrete evidence of being able to pay you back? I think this is right because if they are really poor I would lend them large amounts to help them get back on their feet. Sometimes when you do things you do it for the thought of it and you never do consider getting payed back because you did it from you're heart. The other person that recieves the money has to be reasonable and can't always count on you to pay them.
4.)   This play includes romantic love stories and also ethnic and religious conflict.  How well do you expect these elements to blend?In society these days we already have conflict between love and religion. Even in our governments we have controversial arguments about what is right and what is wrong. So in this play it would make sense to clash.