The play “The Merchant of Venice” was written in the 16th century. According to Venice2014.org, “The ideal Venetian woman was quiet, subservient and focused on the home- her role was to manage the home and family. She rarely ever left and was identified through her relationship to her male relatives. She was not a person in her own right, but rather someone’s wife, mother, daughter or sister. The most important aspect of a Venetian woman was her chastity, which meant not just virginity, but also modesty, ladylike behavior, and good manners and etiquette. The poetry of the time describes these characteristics in terms of beauty. Beautiful looks were considered to be a reflection of virtue and chastity.” During this time women were only seen in the shadows of their male family members. They were not allowed to attend school, vote, or act in theaters. In the play, The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare shows us that not only can a woman be beautiful, but she can also be powerful, capable of overcoming similar obstacles as men, and above all else intelligent.
William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice is a powerhouse. The basis of the play is that a merchant in Venice, Antonio must default on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Antonio’s friend Bassanio is desperately in need of money to court Portia, a wealthy heiress who lives in the city of Belmont. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan in order to travel in style to Portia’s estate. Antonio agrees, however, is unable to make the loan himself because his own money is all invested in a number of trade ships that are still at sea. Antonio and Bassanio travel to see Shylock to seek out the loan. Shylock is very reluctant due to the long-standing grudge against Antonio, who has made a habit of berating Shylock and other Jews. Antonio refuses to apologize for his behavior but Shylock agrees to lend him the money. However, Shylock makes one speculation, If Antonio does default on the loan he would owe Shylock one pound of his skin. While this and many other things are going on in the play the main character and heroine would be considered Portia, heiress of Belmont.
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Portia is the true heroine in this play because she is the only character that is not concerned about money. We can see this when she offers to give Antonio, a man she barely knows double the amount of the loan he owes to Shylock. Portia, “What, no more? Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond. Double six thousand, and then treble that, Before a friend of this description For never shall you lie by Portia’s side With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold To pay the petty debt twenty times over”. Even though Portia agrees to pay double the loan for her love Bassanio, she is still willing to do this to save lives and create peace. She breaks the mold of traditional gender roles that are placed on women of this time and also, Renaissance society in general. Shakespeare illustrates Portia having these admirable qualities that for centuries have gone unnoticed. Another female character we meet is Jessica who is Shylock’s daughter. Jessica ends up leaving her home to convert and marry a Christian, Lorenzo. Many people see Jessica as selfish, however, she is extremely brave for leaving her greedy father. In the first scene, Jessica refers to her home as, “house of hell”. Jessica is especially brave due to the time period, women in this time were meant to please their father’s. Jessica also shows strength for the willingness to convert to a different religion.
According to A Medium Corporation, “Jessica’s marriage is an almost completely unnecessary subplot. Why, then, was Jessica even included in the play?”. This is correct, Jessica is not one of the main characters in the play, however, Shakespeare put her in the play for a reason. Also according to The Medium Corporation, “As Stephanie Chidester notes, “Jessica’s behavior is not altogether surprising when one considers Shylock’s treatment of her. Shylock shows his daughter little affection or kindness ? she is his flesh and blood and therefore an extension of himself, not a person in her own right.”. Again, many people argue the Jessica was a selfish girl who stole her deceased mother’s ring and fathers money. However, given the circumstances, she could be another heroine in The Merchant of Venice. A final woman we meet in the play is Nerissa who is Portia’s handmaid. Nerissa also does not have a major role in this play, however, She joins Portia in dressing up as men to save Antonio’s life, playing the part of a law clerk. “When the audience first sees Nerissa, she is helping Portia categorize all of her suitors to analyze their good qualities if any. She is also the one who reminds Portia of Bassanio, the one, in her mind, most suited for marrying her mistress.” Nerissa could be defined as Portia’s backbone, she is her best friend and will do anything to support Portia. Another redeeming female quilty that can be seen throughout the play. Going back to Portia and her heroism, one major example of this would be the trial scene. Portia and Nerrisa dress up as men and play the part of Duke and law clerk. The duo follows behind their husbands and travels from Belmont to Venice to lend a helping hand in getting Antonio off the hook for his bond. Portia who fooled everyone in the courtroom even her husband took a huge risk by doing this because at this time women were not allowed in a courtroom. Portia’s speech was truly incredible and very inelegantly written. According to Literarydevices.net, “Portia insists on convincing him (Shylock) to be merciful as God is merciful toward us. You see that the idea of mercy in the passage has a close connection with the Christian idea of salvation.
In fact, she alludes to Christian doctrine that mercy and forgiveness are godly characteristics, and seeking justice without showing mercy, Shylock could face damnation, because by doing this he would disobey the law of God.” At the end of the trail, Portia claimed that Shylock only agreed to take Antiono’s skin and nothing else, for example, blood. Which in fact did get Antonio off the hook for the bond. If it were not for her appearance at the trial and the unique manipulation of the terms set upon Antonio, it is a good chance Shylock would have received the initial agreement and Antonio would be dead. Portia did not just think about herself or her lover Bassino. She brought sympathy to both parties, something the opposite gender would not have done. This in itself shows strength and power something that the typical Renaissance woman was said not to have. When Portia and Bassanio first met she gifted him with a ring and told him to never give it away or lose it for this is a token of love and commitment. Many critics first take this as Portia being submissive because legally, in the 16th century, a marriage made a man master over his wife and her property. However, Portia had a leg up because she’s giving her soon-to-be husband more than he can possibly give her in return. At the end of the court scene, Bassanio still not knowing the lawyer was his wife asked what he could do for saving the life of his friend. She responded by saying she wanted his ring. Bassanio would not give it up at first but later gifted it back to her breaking his promise. Once again, Portia gains another leg up on her husband. Portia is the heiress of Belmont and when her father passed away he devised a puzzle of three caskets in his will. One of which was made of gold, another of silver, and the third one lead. Her sutors would come and pick one if they choose the right one Portia were to marry this man.
However, if the chose wrong they were to never marry again. In the play, there were a total of three suitors. The first suitor to try his luck was the Prince of Morocco, he chose the gold casket which had an inscription that said, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire”. This showed the Prince was a greedy man. The second suitor was Prince of Aargon who chose the silver casket which said, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire”. Aargon chose the silver casket because he was only in it for Portia’s riches. Bassino’s winds up picking the right casket, which was the lead one which had an inscription that said, “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath”. The lead casket was meant to have inner beauty because inside was a picture of Portia. Many people take this as Portia being weak and submissive by her father but she is doing this for the loyalty to him. Portia was able to joke out two of the other suitors and even while dealing with this hardship this shows that she is a very strong character. The Victorian time period was not one for women. Again, women could not go to school, vote, or even leave the home without a male relative, whether it be a father, brother or husband. Women could only leave to attend social events or church services, and even then, they traveled heavily veiled and in private gondolas from doorstep to doorstep. There are many debates if Shakespeare was a sexist or if his plays just mirrors the sexism of his time. Women could not even act in plays during this time. This means that during the trial scene when Portia and Nerissa dress up as men, during the play it was actually men dressing up as women who were dressing up as men. During this time women had no freedom. The play, The Merchant of Venice makes women seem more independent and outspoken.
Online Shopping Of Women Apparels In India
Introduction
The cutting edge for business today is E-commerce. E-commerce stands for electronic commerce. It means dealing in goods and services through the electronic media and internet. It relates to a website of the vendor, who sells products or services directly to the customers from portal using a digital shopping cart or digital shopping basket system and allows payment through credit card, debit card or EFT (Electronic fund transfer) payments. E-commerce or E-business involves carrying on a business with the help of the internet and by using the information technology like electronic data interchange (EDI). E-commerce has almost become the dominant online activity.
Michael Aldrich is the man who imagined web based shopping in 1979. With the expanding web proficiency, the possibility of internet showcasing is expanding in India. Elective names of internet shopping are: e-web-store, e-shop, e-store, Internet shop, web-shop, web-store, online store, and online storefront and virtual store. An online shop evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a brick-and-mortar retailer or shopping centre. The process is called business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping. The largest of these online retailing corporations are Flip kart, Amazon.in, and E-bay.in. Retail success is no longer all about physical stores. This is evident because of the increase in retailers now offering online store interfaces for consumers. With the growth of online shopping, come the concepts of satisfaction and loyalty for website which involved in providing services on the website and transacting online. The five dominant factors which influence consumer perceptions of online shopping are Information, Ease of use, Satisfaction, Security/Privacy, Proper utilization. Throughout the years, there has been a massive growth in the number of unique internet users globally. The advancement of internet and rapid increment in the internet access has facilitated the adoption of online shopping, where information search and purchase of products and services were conducted at virtual stores. Globally 875 million internet users have made purchases through online shopping. This statistics well-reflects the growth of e-commerce, or the sales of products and services over the internet. Further reported that among all purchases over the internet, apparel-related products which include clothing, accessories and shoes are one of top three products categories which have the highest information search and purchase intention by global online consumers. Consumer delight differs from customer satisfaction in one crucial way, its about exceeding a consumers expectations, or going above and beyond, rather than just simply providing a satisfactory experience that met expectations. The emotional reaction we experience when we see consumer delight in action makes us want to share what we’ve seen, a type of word-of-mouth marketing for the business at the centre of the action. In fact, many businesses use these examples of consumer delight in their marketing by implementing them into consumer testimonials and other marketing materials.
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Consumer delight can be created by the product itself, by accompanied standard services and by interaction with people at the front line. The interaction is the greatest source of opportunities to create delight as it can be personalized and tailored to the specific needs and wishes of the customer. During contacts with touch points in the company, more than just customer service can be delivered. The person at the front line can surprise by showing a sincere personal interest in the consumer, offer small attention that might please or find a solution specific to particular needs. Those front-line employees are able to develop a relationship between the consumer and brand. While we often think of quality consumer service in-store, digital retailers can create outstanding consumer experiences as well. Rapid responses from your customer care team, generous return policies, timely shipping and courteous staff are few of the qualities that transcend digital interactions.
Certain things to concentrate on:
- Shopping is 10th most popular online activity in India.
- Approximately 8 million Indians shopped online in 2012.
- Currently the online retail market stands at Rs.2,000 Cr which is likely to touch Rs.7,000 Cr by 2020.
- The online retail market is growing at an annual rate of 35%
- Online retail account for less than 1% of the total retail market in India.
Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular for variety of reasons. There are certainly outside factors such as increased prices of the products, difficulty in getting to traditional stores and hassles often associated with shopping malls and other traditional stores to contribute to the increased interest in online shopping.
Consumers can get full information about the product with its reviews being passed by the existing user. If one wants to buy a product women consumer is no longer limited to asking the friends and families because there are many products reviews on the web which gives opinions of the existing user of the product.
Online shopping sites contain wide variety of goods both high quality and mid quality keeping in mind the level of consumers
- There are no national and international barriers.
- In online shopping the consumer will be in a demanding position and suppliers will not be in a commanding position.
- There are enormous employment opportunities in online shopping.
While shopping online every customer desires convenience, speed, price benefits, product comparison facility etc. it is not that these features are not available in traditional shopping methods. But due to changes in life style, the notions of these features have changed among the buyers. Now individual are finding it difficult to shop from traditional channels due to their changed lifestyle. As a result of all these issues along with the technological advancements, a new mode of shopping i.e. online shopping also called as electronic shopping has emerged. The internet in the field of shopping, has brought sea changes in the mindset of customers with reference to convenience, speed, price, product information and service associated with online shopping.
The internet has provided marketers with a completely new way to create value for customers and build relationship with them in the form of online shopping. Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly without an intermediary service, buy goods or services from seller in real-time over the internet. One way of doing electronic commerce is online shopping. In online shopping electronically the sale or purchase of transaction takes place.
E-commerce is defined as a computer activity/exchange performed by a consumer via a computer-based interface, where the consumers computer is connected to and can interact with, a retailer’s digital storefront to purchase the product or service over the internet. An e-shop allows the customer to browse entire range of products or services offered by e-vendor, view pictures of the products, along with the complete description of the product specifications, including features and prices. Online stores with the help of “search” features e-shoppers can easily search out specific models, brands or items. An online shop is also referred to as, e-shop, e-store, internet shop, web shop, web store, online store, or virtual store. In present time almost all the big retailers are now offering their online shops. These are also know as e-tailers and their online retail shops are sometimes known as e-tail.
What is Consumer Delight?
The very favorable experience of the client of a business when they have received a good or service that significantly surpasses what they had initially anticipated. Consumer delight happens when you surprise a customer (or client) by exceeding expectations. When expectations are met, you have customer satisfaction. When expectations are exceeded, you achieve delight.
Customer satisfaction and consumer delight go hand in hand. However, customer satisfaction broadly speaking is meeting the customer requirements in the best possible way. Consumer delight is that extra mile you walk to satisfy your customer even further.
Why Does Consumer Delight Matter?
Well, here’s some food for thought: It costs six to seven times more to acquire new customers than to retain an existing one. Not to mention, 55% of consumers would pay more to guarantee better service. Who doesn’t love amazing service? People are willing to pay it!
Background
The e-commerce industry is growing rapidly every year with many savvy Indians taking to online shopping to search products or service, compare prices for them and to shop online. An increasing number of global companies are eyeing the rapidly growing e-commerce market in India as improvements in infrastructure are made and India’s economy grows.
As the world’s eleventh largest economy (and fourth-largest emerging economy after BRIC peers China, Brazil and Russia), India is starting to appear on e-business organizations lists of key international markets.
The online clothing industry is still in its infant stage. 2006 was marked as the year where many retailers chose to start selling their whole range online.
In total, online spending on clothing and footwear was only around 3% of the total for the category in 2006.
Online shopping has also been helped by the number of internet users climbing to 13.7 crores in June 2012.
Despite the substantial growth of online clothes shopping, it remains a relatively modest proportion of the overall market. It is calculated that the online fashion market represented just 10.2% of the clothing retail market in April 2012.
Advantages
1. Convenience
Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day and many consumers have internet access both at work and at home. Other establishment such as internet cafes and school provide internet access as well
2. Information And Reviews
Online stores must describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files, whereas in a physical retail stores, the actual product and the manufacturer’s packaging will be available for direct inspection.
Some online stores provide or link to supplement product information, such as instruction, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specification. Some provide background information, advice, or how-to-guides designed to help consumers decide which product to buy.
3. Price and Selection
One advantage of shopping online is being able quickly seek out deals for items or service provided by many different vendors (though some search engines do exist to help consumer locate products for sale in nearby stores). Search engines, online price comparison services and discovery shopping engines can be used to look up sellers of a particular product or service.
Disadvantages
1. Fraud and security concerns
Given the lack of ability to inspect merchants before purchase, consumers are at higher risk of fraud than face-to-face transactions, Merchants also risk fraudulent purchases using stolen credit cards or fraudulent repudiation of the online purchase. However, merchants face less risk from physical theft by using a warehouse instead of a retail storefront.
A number of resources offer advice on how consumers can protect themselves when using online retailer service. These include:
Sticking with known store, or attempting to find independent consumer reviews of their experiences also ensuring that there is comprehensive contact information on the website before using the service, and noting if the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as trust mark or a trust seal.
Timeline of Online Shopping
- In the year 1979 was the year of conception of online shopping being mark by invention of electronic shopping by “Michael Aldrich”
- In 1990, World Wide Web the first ever web browser was introduced by Tim Berners-Lee, with help of World Wide Web, e-commerce websites can be easily browsed.
- In 1995 was the year known for launch of Amazon.com, An online marketplace by “Jeff Bezos”
- In the same year, one more online marketplace launched was as Ebay.com which was earlier known as Auctionweb.
- In 1996, An Indian online marketplace, India Mart was launched.
- In 1999, An online marketplace for shoes and other apparels was launched by the of “Zappos”
- In the same year china launched Alibaba.com an online marketplace.
- In 2001, A business-to-business online shopping system was launched by “Costco”
- In 2002, E-bay online marketplace acquired PayPal an online payment system in $1.5 billion in stock.
- In the same year another business-to-business online marketplace, “Bossgoo” was launched.
- In 2007 another popular online marketplace of India, “Flip kart” was launched.
- In 2009 marked for acquisition of “Zappos.com” by Amazon.
- In 2013 china was declared as country with world’s largest e-commerce market.
