The Role of Storytelling in the Human Experience Anonymous 12th Grade

Human experiences are inevitably complex as they are compacted with inconsistencies and paradoxes in human behavior and motivations. Storytelling serves as a vehicle where we may share these experiences. This idea is evident in William Shakespeare’s tragicomedy The Merchant of Venice (1605) and David Malouf’s historical novel Remembering Babylon (1993). Shakespeare’s text illustrates the inconsistent social construct of gender that ultimately results in complex experiences. Moreover, Shakespeare highlights the paradoxical human behaviors when confronted with race. Alternatively, the very construct of race is questioned in Malouf’s historical text where he instead offers that race is a non-linear construct due to acculturation. Thus, both texts significantly contribute to the understanding that inconsistencies within society are the root of varying and human experiences.

The Merchant of Venice reveals that complex human experiences are products of inconsistent fulfillments of gender roles. The Elizabethan gender construct was perceived to be clearly defined with men reigning superior over women. This contextual idea is realized, yet subverted, in the character of Portia. Portia’s unconventional power as a woman is encapsulated...