The Merchant of Venice


The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock, with seemingly inevitable fatal consequences.
Although classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for the character Shylock and his famous demand for a "pound of flesh".
The play contains two famous speeches, that of Shylock, "Hath not a Jew eyes?" on the subject of humanity, and that of Portia on "the quality of mercy". Debate exists on whether the play is antisemitic, with Shylock's insistence on his legal right to the pound of flesh being in opposition to his seemingly universal plea for the rights of all people suffering discrimination.

Characters

  • Antonio – a prominent merchant of Venice in a melancholic mood and friend of Bassanio
  • Bassanio – Antonio's close friend; suitor to Portia; later the husband of Portia
  • Gratiano – friend of Antonio and Bassanio; in love with Nerissa; later the husband of Nerissa
  • Lorenzo – friend of Antonio and Bassanio; in love with Jessica; later the husband of Jessica
  • Portia – a rich heiress; later the wife of Bassanio
  • Nerissa – Portia's waiting maid – in love with Gratiano; later the wife of Gratiano; disguises herself as Portia's clerk
  • Balthazar – Portia's servant
  • Stephano – Portia's servant
  • Shylock – a Jew; moneylender; father of Jessica
  • Jessica – daughter of Shylock, later the wife of Lorenzo
  • Tubal – a Jew; friend of Shylock
  • Launcelot Gobbo – servant of Shylock; later a servant of Bassanio; son of Old Gobbo
  • Old Gobbo – blind father of Launcelot
  • Leonardo – servant to Bassanio
  • Duke of Venice – authority who presides over the case of Shylock's bond
  • Prince of Morocco – suitor to Portia
  • Prince of Arragon – suitor to Portia
  • Salarino and Salanio – friends of Antonio and Bassanio
  • Salerio – a messenger from Venice; friend of Antonio, Bassanio and others
  • Magnificoes of Venice, officers of the Court of Justice, gaolers, servants to Portia, and other attendants
  • Doctor Bellario, cousin of Portia, a character by reference who does not appear onstage

    Plot summary

Bassanio, a young Venetian of noble rank, wishes to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress of Belmont, Portia. Having squandered his estate, he needs 3,000 ducats to subsidise his expenditures as a suitor. Bassanio approaches his friend Antonio, a wealthy merchant of Venice, who has previously and repeatedly bailed him out. Antonio agrees, but has no liquid cash as his ships and merchandise are busy at sea to Tripolis, the Indies, Mexico and England – he promises to cover a bond if Bassanio can find a lender, so Bassanio turns to the Jewish moneylender Shylock and names Antonio as the loan's guarantor.
Antonio has already antagonized Shylock through his outspoken antisemitism and because Antonio's habit of lending money without interest forces Shylock to charge lower rates. Shylock is at first reluctant to grant the loan, citing abuse he has suffered at Antonio's hand. He finally agrees to lend the sum to Bassanio without interest upon one condition: if Antonio were unable to repay it at the specified date, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Bassanio does not want Antonio to accept such a risky condition; Antonio is surprised by what he sees as the moneylender's generosity, and he signs the contract. With money in hand, Bassanio leaves for Belmont with his friend Gratiano, who has asked to accompany him. Gratiano is a likeable young man, but he is often flippant, overly talkative, and tactless. Bassanio warns his companion to exercise self-control, and the two leave for Belmont.
Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia is awash with suitors. Her father left a will stipulating that each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets, made of gold, silver and lead respectively. Whoever picks the right casket wins Portia's hand. The first suitor, the Prince of Morocco, chooses the gold casket, interpreting its slogan, "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire", as referring to Portia. The second suitor, the conceited Prince of Aragon, chooses the silver casket, which proclaims, "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves", as he believes he is full of merit. Both suitors leave empty-handed, having rejected the lead casket because of the baseness of its material and the uninviting nature of its slogan, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath". The last suitor is Bassanio, whom Portia wishes to succeed, having met him before. As Bassanio ponders his choice, members of Portia's household sing a song that says that "fancy" is "It is engendered in the eye, / With gazing fed"; Bassanio chooses the lead casket and wins Portia's hand.
In Venice, news arrives that Antonio's ships have been lost at sea, leaving him unable to repay his bond to Shylock. Shylock, angered by his daughter Jessica's elopement with the Christian Lorenzo and her conversion, becomes more determined to exact revenge on the Christians. Jessica had taken with her a considerable portion of Shylock's wealth, including a turquoise ring given to him by his late wife, Leah. Shylock subsequently has Antonio summoned before the court.
At Belmont, Bassanio receives a letter telling him that Antonio has been unable to repay the loan from Shylock. Portia and Bassanio marry, as do Gratiano and Portia's handmaid Nerissa. Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life by offering the money to Shylock. Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Portia's cousin, Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua.
The climax of the play is set in the court of the Duke of Venice. Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan. He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unable to nullify a contract, refers the case to a visitor. He identifies himself as Balthazar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario. The doctor is Portia in disguise, and the law clerk who accompanies her is Nerissa, also disguised as a man. As Balthazar, Portia in a famous speech repeatedly asks Shylock to show mercy, advising him that mercy "is twice blest: / It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." However, Shylock adamantly refuses any compensations and insists on the pound of flesh.
As the court grants Shylock his bond and Antonio prepares for Shylock's knife, Portia deftly appropriates Shylock's argument for "specific performance". She says that the contract allows Shylock to remove only the flesh, not the blood, of Antonio. Thus, if Shylock were to shed any drop of Antonio's blood, his "lands and goods" would be forfeited under Venetian laws. She tells him that he must cut precisely one pound of flesh, no more, no less; she advises him that "if the scale do turn / But in the estimation of a hair, / Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate."
Defeated, Shylock consents to accept Bassanio's offer of money for the defaulted bond: first his offer to pay "the bond thrice", which Portia rebuffs, telling him to take his bond, and then merely the principal; but Portia also prevents him from doing this, on the ground that he has already refused it "in the open court". She cites a law under which Shylock, as a Jew and therefore an "alien", having attempted to take the life of a citizen, has forfeited his property, half to the government and half to Antonio, leaving his life at the mercy of the Duke. The Duke spares Shylock's life and says he may remit the forfeiture. Portia says the Duke may waive the state's share, but not Antonio's. Antonio says he is content that the state waive its claim to half Shylock's wealth if he can have his one-half share "in use" until Shylock's death, when the principal would be given to Lorenzo and Jessica. Antonio also asks that "for this favour" Shylock convert to Christianity and bequeath his entire estate to Lorenzo and Jessica. The Duke then threatens to recant his pardon of Shylock's life unless he accepts these conditions. Shylock, re-threatened with death, accepts with the words, "I am content."
Bassanio, unaware that the lawyer is his disguised wife, offers a gift in gratitude for the supposed legal assistance. Initially declining, Portia eventually requests his ring and Antonio's gloves. Antonio gives his gloves without hesitation, while Bassanio parts with the ring only after Antonio's persuasion, having earlier vowed to his wife never to lose, sell, or give it away. Nerissa, disguised as the lawyer's clerk, similarly obtains her own husband Gratiano's ring, as he fails to recognize her.
At Belmont, Portia and Nerissa playfully taunt and feign accusations against their husbands before revealing their true identities as the lawyer and clerk. Following reconciliations among the characters, Portia informs Antonio that three of his ships were not lost at sea and have safely returned.

Earlier sources

The forfeit of a merchant's deadly bond after standing surety for a friend's loan was a common tale in England in the late 16th century. In addition, the test of the suitors at Belmont, the merchant's rescue from the "pound of flesh" penalty by his friend's new wife disguised as a lawyer, and her demand for the betrothal ring in payment are all elements present in the 14th-century tale Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino, which was published in Milan in 1558. Elements of the trial scene are also found in The Orator by Alexandre Sylvane, published in translation in 1596. The story of the three caskets can be found in Gesta Romanorum, a collection of tales probably compiled at the end of the 13th century.