Merchant of Venice

Revision Lecture

CONTEXT• William Shakespeare born in Stratford upon Avon in

1564• Joined an acting company called the Queen’s Men• Became leading member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men• Performed at the Globe Theatre from 1599• Became the King’s men when James I came to throne in

1603.• Begun writing plays in the 1580s and became prominent

Merchant of Venice:Tragi-comedy

• The Merchant of Venice was written between 1596 – 1598

• In England, Jews had been banished for the past 300 years, resulting in little knowledge of (them).

• Highly probably that many would have enjoyed the verbal insults and racist jokes against Shylock.

Venice

• Shakespeare never ever visited Venice, learnt a great deal about Venice from its travellers’ accounts.

• The Venetian Republic was renowned in Shakespeare’s day for its political independence, its relaxed morals, its tolerance of different nationalities and religions, and most of all, its great wealth. (exotic).

• First Jewish ghettos meant to quell the economic activities of the Jews.

Belmont

• Imaginary setting• Beautiful, rich, country estate – exotic.

The Venetian Ghetto

• Because of their central role in economic exchange (loans), Jews were seen as a necessary evil.

• In 1516, the Venetian authorities designed the ghetto nuovo: Jews to be relocated and sealed off.

• Not until 1797, did the wooded gates of the Venetian ghetto get torn down and burned.

• Anto-Semitism continues to persist till today.

Persecution• Anti-Semitism dates to ancient times, resulting in part from Jews’

refusal to acknowledge the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods and from their refusal to submit to Roman rule. 

• Blamed for the death of Christ, Jews suffered severe persecution over the centuries, including torture, loss of property, and forced conversion to Christianity

• During outbreaks of plague, Christians implicated Jews for spreading the disease. England decided to solve the “Jewish problem” once and for all by expelling Jews in 1290. 

A Pound of Flesh• Giovanni Fiorentino’s collection II Pecorone [ The

Simpleton ] in 1558. • A young man, Giannetto pursues a mysterious, intelligent

women in Belmonte, who has offered herself and her possession to the first man who ‘possesses’ her.

• Giannetto’s benefactor, Analdo borrows money from a Jew and fails to repay on time. Hence the ‘pound in flesh’ reference.

• But Shakespeare had in issue with the selection/bed trick of the suitor.

The Caskets

• Richard Robinson’s English version of the Gesta Romanorum

• A princess successfully chooses between the gold, silver and lead caskets in order to marry an emperor’s son.

Plot Breakdown

• The plot of MOV can be broken down into four separate subplots which weave in and out, before coming together at the end.

1. The deal between Antonio and Shylock (a pound of flesh)2. The love between Portia and Bassanio3. The elopement of Jessica with Lorenzo4. A trick Portia plays on Bassanio to test his love of her

Plot lines

• Climax Act 4, Portia thwarts Shylock’s attempts to gain revenge

• Conflict: Hostility between Shylock and the others• Tone: Overtones of tragedy and comedy. Tragic = bitter

confrontation between Shylock and others/ Comedy – Progressing romances

Act 1

• Antonio is introduced as benefactor to Bassanio• Portia’s test for suitors• The loan deal between A and Shylock 3s (3000 ducats, 3

months, pound of flesh)

Act 2All that glisters is not gold

• Prince Morocco and Prince Arragon try their luck with the caskets.

• Jessica is revealed to be in love with the Christian, Lorenzo

• The betrayal of Shylock by Jessica’s elopement and theft: “own flesh and blood” (3.1.17)

• News of Antonio’s galleon being wrecked

Act 3“A Pound of flesh (and more?)”

• Shylock enacts his the terms of his debts• Bassanio chooses lead for the caskets and receives the

ring from Portia• Antonio is in prison.• Portia and Nerissa plan to disguise themselves as men.

Act 4: Mercy (i-less?)The quality of mercy is not strain’d,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven (4.1.180-193)

• The trial • Portia disguised as a lawyer, defeats Shylock in a witty move on

legality of his claims to spill blood: “if thou dost shed One drop of Christian blood”

• Duke grants Shylock his life but splits his wealth between Antonio and the state.

• Shylock has to become a Christian• Bassanio gives Portia/Balthazar ring as payment

Act 5

• Lovers unite and Portia reveals the test of fidelity• Antonio ships are not ruined• Jessica and Lorenzo inherit Shylock’s wealth

Antonio the Generous• He is the MOV• "A stage where every man must play a part, /

And mine a sad one“• Shares a deep bond with Bassanio• Solanio on A: "I think he only loves the world

for him".• Generous yet vehemently anti-Jewish/Semite• It is he who demands that Shylock be converted

a Christian – the worst penalty.

"Say how I loved you,"

Antonio is his own worst enemy

• What make him sad?• My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, 

Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year: Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad. (1. 1. 45-48)

Antonio is his own worst enemy• If we fault Shylock for his viciously vengeful legalisms, we must first

fault Antonio for his contemptuous hauteur and overconfidence.• I am as like to call thee so again, 

To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too. If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not As to thy friends; for when did friendship take A breed for barren metal of his friend? But lend it rather to thine enemy, Who, if he break, thou mayst with better face Exact the penalty. (1. 3. 112-119)

Cruelty

Antonio is his own worst enemy

• What make him sad?• My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, 

Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year: Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad. (1. 1. 45-48)

Bassanio the romantic

• Carefree, humorous, romantic• Indebted to Antonio• Equally prejudiced against Shylock, calls

him a “villain”, “a cruel devil” • Helps in the elopement of Jessica with

Lorenzo by inviting Shylock to dinner.

"Good signors both, when shall we laugh?"

True love or nay?• Does Bassanio love Portia?• "In Belmont is a lady richly left, / And she is fair".• He calls her a ‘demi-god’, on seeing her portrait in the lead casket• He leaves Portia immediately to save Antonio: willing to sacrifice

“life itself, my wife and all the world to save him”• Yet, he gives an honest account of why he gave the ring away and

swears heartfelt and lifelong devotion to Portia - “by my soul” at the end of the play

Portia: The Ideal Woman?"the fairest creature northward born".• Quick-witted, wealthy, and beautiful, Portia

embodies the virtues that are typical of Shakespeare’s heroines

• A free spirit who effectively works within the rules. Think caskets and the trial.

• Deeply loves Bassanio: "Myself and what is mine, to you and yours / Is now converted".

• Courage and ingenuity in the trial proceedings

Portia the bigot?• Racial bigotry?• “If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather

he should shrive me [hear her confession, as if he were a priest] than wive me” (1. 2. 33).

•  “A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go. / Let all of his complexion choose me so” (2. 7. 72-73).

• Hypocrisy? Does mercy temper justice?• But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,It is an attribute to God himself;And earthly power doth then show likest God’sWhen mercy seasons justice. (4.1.180-193) 

Shylock : Bloodthirsty orge

• The play’s antagonist• Bloodthirsty, merciless, menacing,

money-minded.• Described as "villain with a smiling

cheek, cut-throat dog, bloody creditor, damned inexecrable dog".

• "The villainy you teach me I will execute".

• "Thou call'dst me dog ... But since I am a dog, beware my fangs".

Villain

Shylock: The persecuted• "suff'rance is the badge of all our tribe".• Are his actions a result of his character,

circumstances or persecution?• I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands,

organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? (3.1.23)

Victim

Themes

Self-Interest Versus (Christian) Love/Friendship

• “One half of me is yours, the other half is yours,Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours,

And so all yours.” • Evident in everyone (Charity) VS Shylock (Revenge)• Friendship often requires sacrifice• Yet, while the Christian characters may talk more about

mercy, love, and charity, they are not always consistent in how they display these qualities.

Mercy as divine?

• “The quality of mercy is not strained,• Context: Old testament (adherence to the letter of the law)

vs new testament (forgives, rather than punish)• Yet, mercy never manages to be as selfless or divine as

Portia represents it.

Cyclical nature of hatred/revenge

• Hatred and revenge only leads to a cyclical process, ending in ruin. (Shylock)

• Would pursuing justice have been the better discourse?• “The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.” 

Gender

• Women Can Be as Competent and Devious as Men - Portia

Appearances VS Reality

• “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.An evil soul producing holy witnessIs like a villain with a smiling cheek,A goodly apple rotten at the heart.

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” • MOV as a mirror for the audience