Act 5

For this group, we were asked to:

1) Determine if the ending is a let down?

However, this is not asking for a personal opinion. It is asking to determine if the conclusion of the play is both plausible and reasonable with the rest of the story. Thus, it is important to look at specific examples from the text.

General thoughts:

· When Portia tells Antonio of his ships, it seems like Portia was looking for a reason not to pay Antonio

· Antonio never learns his lesson or has an epiphany because at the end of the play, his flesh is saved, and he gets back all his money

· Concerning the ring: The ring never really seemed to have a significance. Thus, when it was at the end of the play, it did not make sense to include it to the extent that it did.

· Portia and Narrisa are confusing because they get mad at the men for letting their rings go, but then confess to being the men. Then when they confess to being men, Antonio and Bassanio get mad at being tricked only to get happy shortly after.

· Play seems to end to simple. The trail was well detailed, but the conclusion of the play seemed to elementary

Is the ending a let down:

Yes. With the conclusion of the trail, there should have been a continuum of events that resulted from the decision. But, the ideas and problems presented at the end seemed new and unimportant ( the ring, deception, Lorenzo/Jessica). The ending was a let down because it had no influential ending with an all encompassing resolution. Since the chain of events were unrealistic, all members of the group thought the ending was not plausible.