Is This Town Wit And Conduct?

The City In Early Modern Drama (Students Compare

The Representation Of The Town In The Merchant of Venice With That In The Later

Comedies, I.E., They May Write On Volpone And/ The Country Wife

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Merchant of Venice representation of the city

Most works of literature are majorly designed to represent and address specific issues in

society. The reader must read the story and critically analyze it to understand what is being

addressed. Upon examining the story, the reader can understand the story's themes, representing

what the author addresses throughout the story. Symbols can be used in works of literature to

describe or address specific issues in society. Therefore, it is essential to understand the meaning

of symbols that the author uses to picture what the author is talking about. This paper will

examine the representation of cities.

In most cases, cities are utilized by their inhabitants as centers of trade. In the novel

Merchant of Venice, the author portrays towns as places where various trade types can occur. In

the city of Venice, several types of trade take place. For instance, there is the trade of items like

luxury goods and spices. In addition, the people who dwell in Venice show interest in activities

of trade. For example, Antonio is being involved in acquiring a loan so that he can ship some

properties. On the other hand, there is a money lending trade that occurs in Venice.1 Antonio

goes to obtain a loan from Shylock. Shylock agrees to give Antonio the loan but he does not

attach interest to it, rather a pound of his flesh would be the collateral attached to the loan. This

illustrates that money lending is perceived as a trade, where the money lenders charge interest on

the loans they provide. They also secure their money with consideration of particular collateral.

Additionally, the author illustrates Antonio's relation with trade; he also shows the impact that

commerce has on understanding Antonio's identity. However, Antonio is involved in a search for

an identity beyond business and material things.

1
. Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Yale University Press, 2008.
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Cities involve interactions of many individuals; for this reason, there is always a need to

ensure a state of order. In the novel Merchant of Venice, cities are represented as centers where

legalism is a vital component. Antonio borrows a loan from Shylock, who does not charge him

any interest but demands a pound of his flesh as collateral. Antonio loses his ships at sea, and he

is not able to pay his debts to Shylock.2 On the other hand, Shylock is happy about Antonio's

loss, and he is thrilled to claim his collateral. However, according to the Law, Shylock’s request

for a pound of flesh from Antonio translates to murder. Portia disguises herself as a man and

comes to the aid of Antonio in settling the matter according to the Law. The case is decided in

favor of Antonio, and Shylock is accused of plotting to commit murder. In this case, the Law can

be perceived as a means that brings order to the city. It is involved in the settling of conflicts.

In the novel Merchant of Venice, cities represent places that can sustain great diversity of

people. For instance, Venice is portrayed as a place where different nationalities meet. Venice is

shown to be a meeting point for individuals from western European lands and eastern regions.

Jews expelled from England are not allowed to go back until the middle of the seventeenth

century. However, Venice is a center of trade; for this reason, Jews reside in Venice. On the

other hand, cities are represented as places that can accommodate people of a different faith.

Christians are living in the town, which can be portrayed by the author showing that Shylock and

Jesicca lived among the Christian population of Venice. Individuals of the Jewish faith also

reside in Venice.

The author of Merchant of Venice presents cities as representations of a particular

culture. This is brought forth by the contrast that is shown in the city of Venice and Belmont.
2
2. Al-Hilo, Mujtaba, and Basim Jubair Kadhim. "Ideological Cynicism: Post-Marxist Analysis
of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice." International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and
Translation 3, no. 7 (2020): 139-146.
 3

Venice is shown to have a culture of trade. Finances seem to be the interest of most people in the

city, which its inhabitants' conversations can reflect. At the beginning of the play, Antonio talks

to Salerio and Solanio; he states that he is sad. His sadness can be attributed to his fear of losing

his ships at sea.

On the other hand, Belmont's other city has been used to represent ideality; this city has a

different culture where finances are not the residents' priority. Love in this city is the most

critical aspect. The conversations of its residents can be characterized by humor. 3Additionally,

Belmont is portrayed as a culture of literary works like poems, music, and classical literature.

Venice has a culture of people involving themselves in trade to get rich; however, the people of

Belmont are wealthy, their wealth can be attributed to the acquisition of inheritance. Portia, who

lives in Belmont, is a rich lady; her wealth comes from her father. The differences in different

cultures in the city can also be gender role differences in Venice and Belmont. The author has

represented Venice as a patriarchal community. Belmont, on the other hand, is portrayed as a

feminine society. Both cities show various ways of gender discrimination, which represents two

different cultures. For instance, Portia and Nerissa, who live in Belmont, state that men do not

value serious relationships, which explains why they lose their rings or why they give the rings

to other women. Bassanio and Graciano, who are from Venice, defend themselves, saying that

men are generally right and women do not have the right to speak to them in the manner that

Portia and Nerissa did. Venice is portrayed as a place where the people are after accumulating

wealth, and they do not show mercy for one another. This can be illustrated by the attitude of
. Barbosa Castañeda, Carlos Javier, and Germán Raúl Chaparro. "Literature as a
3

Resource in Teaching the History of Economic Thought: Economic Analysis of The Merchant of

Venice." Sociedad y Economía 35 (2018): 143-157.

 4

Shylock to have revenge on Antonio, who he claims humiliated him. He does not show mercy;

he is determined to have Antonio killed. On the other hand, Belmont is portrayed as a place with

a culture of compassion. Portia seeks to do what is right in defending Antonio, which is an act of

mercy.

Representation of the city in The Country wife

In the novel Country wife, a particular culture is associated with people who live in the

city. Pinchwife, who is an older man, is concerned about getting a wife from the city. 4This is

because the author portrays the city as a place with a culture of sophistication, sex, and sin. For

this reason, Pinchwife decides to marry a woman from the country he thinks will not cheat on

him. His action portrays a distinction between the culture of the city and that of the country. In

the novel, people from the country are perceived as uneducated and straightforward. In this

reference, people in the town can be argued to be educated and modern. Which contrasts with the

people in the city. In addition, some characters think country life to be innocent and simple

compared to life in the town, which is exciting and indulgent. According to the decision of the

pinchwife to marry a woman from the country shows his perception that a good wife has to be

illiterate and ignorant. Pinchwife insists that if his country wife loves him, she must hate the city.

In this case, he understands that the city is associated with things like sexuality, hedonism, and

deviance; according to him, these things are not available in the country; he thinks that the

country's people are simple. The people in the country are also viewed as individuals who

practice purity. All these show country's culture, which is different from the way of life for the

people who live in the city. The representation of the town in the country's wife is similar to the

4
.García, Laura Martínez. "Staging male vulnerability on the Restoration Stage." El Genio
Maligno: revista de humanidades y ciencias sociales 21 (2017): 1.
 5

model in the novel Merchant of Venice. The towns in both stories are portrayed to have distinct

cultures which differ from other cities or places.

Cities have been shown to represent discrimination. For instance, there exists gender

discrimination in the novel the Country wife. Women are demonstrated as subjects of

possessiveness and affection for the city life. 5They are also shown as corrupt. Although men can

be victims of these things, women are portrayed as the real victims of the above aspects. In

addition, women are portrayed as victims of cruel people and self-defeating individuals.

According to the Pinchwife, his wife is simple and stupid to visit the city. Pinchwife denies his

wife the opportunity of going to the town with the argument that if she goes, young men in the

town may fall in love with her. Pinchwife tells his wife that a particular man had seen her in the

theater and fallen in love with her. As a punishment, he locks her wife in her room punishment.

These activities are similar to the representation of cities as places of discrimination which is

identical to city representation in the novel Merchant of Venice.

Cities are represented as places of love. For instance, in the novel the country wife,

Harcourt, is shown to visit Alithea, he falls in love with her, and he starts to court her. Pinchwife

tells his wife that if she loves him, she must hate the town. This illustrates that he is in love with

her. He acts jealously if he is questioned about his wife by men who seem interested in her.

Sparkish intends to marry Alithea, which is a gesture of love. On the other hand, Margery has

fallen in love with Horner, and therefore, she wants to trick her husband into meeting Horner.
6
Similarly, in the novel Merchant of Venice, the city is portrayed as a place of love. According to

5. Majeed, Asst Lect Wuod Adnan. "Rhetorical Analysis of Humor in William Wycherley’s The
5

Country Wife."

6. Majeed, Asst Lect Wuod Adnan. "Rhetorical Analysis of Humor in William Wycherley’s The
6

Country Wife."
 6

Portia's father's will, Portia has to marry. She is approached by several suitors who profess their

love for her and would like to marry her. Jessica, on the other hand, elopes from her father's

house and gets married. These activities illustrate the existence of love in the city.

The city in the novel, the country wife, represents the existence of conflicting interests.

For instance, Pinchwife wants his wife to hate the town; he doesn't want her to go to the city,

contrary to what she wishes. Margery falls in love with Horner; when she tells her husband that

Horner attempted to kiss her, Pinchwife advises his wife to write a letter to Horner telling him

that she is disgusted by him. However, she writes a letter in which she confessed his love for

Horner. All these show conflicting interests. The situation is similar to what happens in the novel

Merchant of Venice. Shylock felt that Antonio had humiliated him and he should die. For this

reason, he provides a loan to Antonio intending to kill him. However, Antonio was rescued by

the Law. The desire of Shylock to murder Antonio is observed to conflict with the provisions of

the Law, which do not support murder.

In the novel, the countrywoman, the city, is used to represent betrayal. This can be

observed through the habit of Horner, whose behavior is to have affairs with ladies who have

difficulties in their marriages. He goes to the extent of announcing that he is impotent to draw the

attention of most women. This habit shows betrayal to his fellow men, who sometimes entrust

their wives to him. 7However, his betray habits later create disgust for him among the town

ladies, who think of him as a filthy, beast, and toad. These ladies expose his duplicity of men and

also his hypocrisy. On the other hand, as a result of his betray activities, Horner begins to mock

men who entrust their wives to him. This representation of the city is different from how cities

7. Wycherley, William. The country wife. A&C Black, 2014.

7
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are portrayed in the novel Merchant of Venice. In the country wife, marriages are not respected,

and adultery, which plays a critical part in betrayal, occurs in most parts of the story. However,

in the cities in the Merchant of Venice, marriage seems to be honored, and instances of betrayal

are not rampant.

The use of symbolism in any work of literature provides more understanding to the

reader. In both stories, cities have been shown to portray several things that enable the reader to

understand things like the way of life in cities, goals and priorities of the people of the town.

From the representations of the city in both stories, a reader can gather comparisons on common

aspects in cities. The reader can also understand some of the differences that occur in various

cities.

Bibliography

Al-Hilo, Mujtaba, and Basim Jubair Kadhim. "Ideological Cynicism: Post-Marxist Analysis of

Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice." International Journal of Linguistics, Literature

and Translation 3, no. 7 (2020): 139-146.

https://publication.ijllt.org/id/publications/318817/ideological-cynicism-post-marxist-analysis-

of-shakespeares-the-merchant-of-venic
 8

Barbosa Castañeda, Carlos Javier, and Germán Raúl Chaparro. "Literature as a Resource in

Teaching the History of Economic Thought: Economic Analysis of The Merchant of

Venice." Sociedad y Economía 35 (2018): 143-157.

García, Laura Martínez. "Staging male vulnerability on the Restoration Stage." El Genio

Maligno: revista de humanidades y ciencias sociales 21 (2017): 1.

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=6678048

Majeed, Asst Lect Wuod Adnan. "Rhetorical Analysis of Humor in William Wycherley’s The

Country Wife."

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Abbas-Lutfi-Hussein/publication/

349176920_Rhetorical_Analysis_of_Humor_in_William_Wycherley's_The_Country_Wi

fe/links/6023f14a45851589399700f0/Rhetorical-Analysis-of-Humor-in-William-

Wycherleys-The-Country-Wife.pdf

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Yale University Press, 2008.

Wycherley, William. The country wife. A&C Black, 2014.