A selfless act is good but good is not an act done for recognition. To Nathan, part of friendship is giving of oneself without receiving. The Templar shows his selflessness when Nathan offers the Templar riches for rescuing his daughter from a fire, but the Templar declines any praise with anti-Semitic insults, "Permit what, Jew?" (211). The Templar's refusal, although harsh, seemed to affirm the goodness Nathan saw in the young man, "A modest greatness would hide behind the monstrous, mer

Human nature is not bound by the mind but is shown through the heart in friendship. In Act I, Scene III, Nathan speaks to his friend, the dervish, who is surprised on Nathan's indifference toward his position, "Why, could I not have come to be a fellow in the State whose friendship you'd not want?" To which Nathan replies, "No, if your heart is dervish still, I'll risk it. For your office of State is but a robe" (186). In other words, there is no reason why a position or title should impose upon the goodness of the dervish's nature on which their friendship is based. Moreover, Nathan revealed to us his concern for the nature of his friend, the dervish, "You back into your desert. For I fear that being among men you might forget to be a man" (189). Being among men in a society, Nathan recognizes how easy it is to lose oneself and become clouded by the attractiveness of status, corruption of wealth, or religious intolerance.

Earlier in the play, it was said by Nathan, "No man needs must" (186); however, seems to contradict himself later in the play when he insists to the Templar, "We must, we must become good friends" (214). In the first statement, Nathan is claiming that men's actions are not obligatory; men should be free to act upon their nature. For instance, the Templar selflessly risked his life to save Nathan's daughter, Rachel, who was caught in a fire. The Templar acted upon his intuition for he knew not that the girl was Jewish nor was this a question when he performed this noble deed. Later, the Templar could not admit that he acted upon his human nature and instead, he used religious intolerance to veil the innate goodness within him. However, Nathan, who sought the truth within this man, was by no means fooled by the Templar's guise of anti-Semitic prejudice, "Only the shell is bitter, and the core is sweet and good" (211

Some common words found in the essay are:
Moreover Nathan, Templar Nathan, Furthermore Lessing, Permit Jew, Nathan Wise, III Nathan, Templar Saladin, Nathan Templars, Nathan Conjure, Rachel Friendship, human nature, seek goodness, social status, act nature, social status selfishness, unite fraternity, goodness mankind, friendship based, nature , fire templar, seek goodness mankind, friend dervish,
Approximate Word count = 1251
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)