English -II

The Merchant of Venice- Play

Standard –VIII 15-06-2021

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor,
widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is
often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. His extant works, including some collaborations,
consist of around38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, of which the
authorship of some is uncertain. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are
performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway,
with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a
successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age
49, where he died three years later.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies
and histories and these works remain regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres. He then
wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some
of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances,
and collaborated with other playwrights.

Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, John
Heminges and Henry Condell, two friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare, published the First Folio, a
collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as Shakespeare’s.
It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as “not of an age, but
for all time”. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his work has been repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new
movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied,
performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

Characters in the Play

 Shylock

A Jewish moneylender in Venice. Angered by his mistreatment at the hands of Venice’s Christians,
particularly Antonio, Shylock schemes to eke out his revenge by ruthlessly demanding as payment a
pound of Antonio’s flesh. Although seen by the rest of the play’s characters as an inhuman monster,
Shylock at times diverges from stereotype and reveals himself to be quite human. These contradictions,
and his eloquent expressions of hatred, have earned Shylock a place as one of Shakespeare’s most
memorable characters.

 Portia

A wealthy heiress from Belmont. Portia’s beauty is matched only by her intelligence. Bound by a clause
in her father’s will that forces her to marry whichever suitor chooses correctly among three caskets,
Portia is nonetheless able to marry her true love, Bassanio. Far and away the most clever of the play’s
characters, it is Portia, in the disguise of a young law clerk, who saves Antonio from Shylock’s knife.

 Antonio

The merchant whose love for his friend Bassanio prompts him to sign Shylock’s contract and almost
lose his life. Antonio is something of a mercurial figure, often inexplicably melancholy and, as Shylock
points out, possessed of an incorrigible dislike of Jews. Nonetheless, Antonio is beloved of his friends
and proves merciful to Shylock, albeit with conditions.

 Bassanio

A gentleman of Venice, and a kinsman and dear friend to Antonio. Bassanio’s love for the wealthy
Portia leads him to borrow money from Shylock with Antonio as his guarantor. An ineffectual
businessman, Bassanio proves himself a worthy suitor, correctly identifying the casket that contains
Portia’s portrait.

 Gratiano

A friend of Bassanio’s who accompanies him to Belmont. A coarse and garrulous young man, Gratiano
is Shylock’s most vocal and insulting critic during the trial. While Bassanio courts Portia, Gratiano falls
in love with and eventually weds Portia’s lady-in-waiting, Nerissa.

 Jessica

Although she is Shylock’s daughter, Jessica hates life in her father’s house, and elopes with the young
Christian gentleman, Lorenzo. The fate of her soul is often in doubt: the play’s characters wonder if her
marriage can overcome the fact that she was born a Jew, and we wonder if her sale of a ring given to her
father by her mother is excessively callous.

 Lorenzo

A friend of Bassanio and Antonio, Lorenzo is in love with Shylock’s daughter, Jessica. He schemes to
help Jessica escape from her father’s house, and he eventually elopes with her to Belmont.
 Nerissa

Portia’s lady-in-waiting and confidante. She marries Gratiano and escorts Portia on Portia’s trip to
Venice by disguising herself as her law clerk.

 Launcelot Gobbo

Bassanio’s servant. A comical, clownish figure who is especially adept at making puns, Launcelot
leaves Shylock’s service in order to work for Bassanio.

 The prince of Morocco

A Moorish prince who seeks Portia’s hand in marriage. The prince of Morocco asks Portia to ignore his
dark countenance and seeks to win her by picking one of the three caskets. Certain that the caskets
reflect Portia’s beauty and stature, the prince of Morocco picks the gold chest, which proves to be
incorrect.

 The prince of Arragon

An arrogant Spanish nobleman who also attempts to win Portia’s hand by picking a casket. Like the
prince of Morocco, however, the prince of Arragon chooses unwisely. He picks the silver casket, which
gives him a message calling him an idiot instead of Portia’s hand.

 Salarino

A Venetian gentleman, and friend to Antonio, Bassanio, and Lorenzo. Salarino escorts the newlyweds
Jessica and Lorenzo to Belmont, and returns with Bassanio and Gratiano for Antonio’s trial. He is often
almost indistinguishable from his companion Solanio.

 Solanio

A Venetian gentleman, and frequent counterpart to Salarino.

 The duke of Venice

The ruler of Venice, who presides over Antonio’s trial. Although a powerful man, the duke’s state is
built on respect for the law, and he is unable to help Antonio.

 Old Gobbo

Launcelot’s father, also a servant in Venice.

 Tubal

A Jew in Venice, and one of Shylock’s friends.

 Doctor Bellario
 A wealthy Paduan lawyer and Portia’s cousin. Doctor Bellario never appears in the play, but he gives
Portia’s servant the letters of introduction needed for her to make her appearance in court.

 Balthasar

Portia’s servant, whom she dispatches to get the appropriate materials from Doctor Bellario.

Plot of the Play.

 Bassanio wants to marry a woman called Portia but he can't afford to pay for his clothes and travel to
Belmont to see her, so he asks his friend Antonio if he can borrow some money.

 Antonio has no money to lend his friend so he asks Shylock for a loan instead. Shylock agrees to give
him the money, but states that if Antonio doesn't pay him back on time he must give a 'pound of his own
flesh'.

 Portia's father set up a 'lottery' in his will, that means anyone who wants to marry his daughter has to
pass a test first. Portia and Nerissa watch as several suitors try to win her love, through picking one of
three caskets: gold, silver or lead - but they all fail.

 Shylock’s daughter, Jessica, escapes from his house so that she can marry Lorenzo with help from
Lancelet Gobbo. Lorenzo is a Christian and a friend of Bassanio’s.

 Bassanio arrives in Belmont, with his friend Gratiano, and correctly chooses the lead casket, winning
Portia’s hand in marriage. Portia is delighted.

 Antonio’s ships are lost at sea, meaning he has no way to repay Shylock and will have to face him in
court. He writes to Bassanio, who leaves Belmont with Portia's money to try and help his friend.

 Portia follows Bassanio to the court, in disguise as a male lawyer. She asks Shylock to be merciful but
he is determined to take a pound of Antonio's flesh and have his revenge.

 In front of the Venetian court, Portia examines the original contract between Shylock and Antonio. She
tells the court Shylock can only take a pound of flesh if he spills no blood and Shylock admits this isn't
possible.

 Shylock is punished by the court for attempting to kill a Venetian citizen. All of his wealth is seized and
he is forced to convert to Christianity.

 Bassanio returns to Belmont, where Portia reveals that she was the lawyer in disguise. They are reunited,
along with two other couples. Antonio receives the positive news that three of his ships made it safely
back to Venice.

Themes in the Play

Appearance and Reality

This theme is best depicted in the lottery of the caskets, a test of character. There are three caskets- gold, silver
and lead; one of which contains Portia’s portrait. The suitors have to choose the one with Portia’s portrait to win
her. The Prince of Morocco attracted by the outward appearance selects the golden casket. The Prince of
Arragon misled by his ego, selects the silver one. Their judgments are based on outward appearances, hence
they fail. Bassanio on the other hand, guided by true love and sincerity, chooses correctly the lead casket.

Mercy

The theme of mercy is displayed in the trial scene where Portia pleads with Shylock to have mercy on Antonio.
But Shylock remains adamant on his demand for nothing but justice. However, against all the odds, Portia does
manage to bring about some mercy in Venice. When Shylock faces execution for his crimes, Portia persuades
the Duke to pardon him. She then persuades Antonio to exercise mercy by not taking all of Shylock's money
from him. Here, Portia's presence turns the proceedings away from violence and toward forgiveness. Portia
does, therefore, succeed in transmitting some of her idealism into Venice.

Prejudice

Throughout the play, and as of Act 3, Scene 4, Launcelot Gobbo is still trying to reconcile his affection for
Jessica with his belief that all Jews are devils. This theme continually recurs in the clown scenes, and it seems
as though Shakespeare is deliberately making fun of the Christian's attitudes toward the Jews.

The function of a clown is to misunderstand people and undermine their assumptions by asking simple, obvious
questions. By highlighting the confusion of biblical texts, and raising pragmatic questions about the conversion
of Jews, Launcelot, in his clownish ways, demonstrates the absurdities and complications that arise from the
automatic damnation of a religious faith.

Act 1 scene 1- Summary

Antonio, a merchant, is in a melancholic state of mind and unable to find a reason for his depression. His
friends Salerio and Solanio attempt to cheer him up by telling him that he is only worried about his ships
returning safely to port. Antonio, however, denies that he is worried about his ships and remains depressed. His
two friends leave after Bassanio, Graziano and Lorenzo arrive. Graziano and Lorenzo remark that Antonio does
not look well before exiting, leaving Bassanio alone with Antonio.

Bassanio informs Antonio that he has been prodigal with his money and that he currently has accumulated
substantial debts. Bassanio reveals that he has come up with a plan to pay off his obligations by marrying
Portia, a wealthy heiress in Belmont. However, in order to woo Portia, Bassanio needs to borrow enough money
so that he can act like a true nobleman. Antonio tells him that all his money is invested in ships at sea, but offers
to borrow money for him.