The Merchant of Venice as a

Tragi-comedy
Ans. ‘The Merchant of Venice’ cannot be called
purely a tragedy or a comedy. The great dramatist
mixed both the comic and the tragic elements
together in this play. That is why ‘The Merchant of
Venice’ is a unique play.
The bond story is the main plot that creates tragic
atmosphere in the whole play. There are three
other subsidiary plots that are very deftly (skillfully)
interwoven by the playwright (dramatist).
Whenever tension mounts (rises) in the play, some
relaxing scene from any of these subplots takes
place (occurs). The comic scenes provide both
entertainment and relief to the audience/reader. In
this way, the play has a well-knitted plot. Let’s
have some examples from the play to discuss the
play as a tragi-comedy.
Antonio’s woes make the general atmosphere in
the play gloomy and sad. He is not a cheerful
person. He remains sad even though he does not
know the reason for his sadness. Then he signs a
deadly bond to enable his close friend, Bassanio,
get a loan of three thousand ducats from the
greedy and cruel money lender Shylock. At that
time, he hoped that his ships would return with
great profit and he would easily repay Shylock’s
loan on time.
But it does not happen. He easily falls into the
death-trap created by Shylock to take his life.
Antonio is unable to pay the loan on time because
he gets reports that his ships are destroyed. The
tragic atmosphere is built up in the play by this
unfortunate incident. Antonio surrenders (feels
defeated) in front of his destiny. He becomes
hopeless in the Duke’s court because Shylock was
adamant to take his life. The tension reaches the
climax when Portia allows Shylock to cut one
pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. But at another
moment, there is some relief as Portia starts
pushing the Jew to the back-foot by her
intelligence and wisdom. At last, the Jew, Shylock,
is punished by the law of Venice. This is the main
plot that culminates with punishment to the wrong
doer and relaxation to the sufferer and his
companions. It also brings relief to the
audience/reader too.But still, there are some
incidents and some characters’ dialogues that
create much of tragic effect in the play. First,
Antonio’s sad mood sets the keynote of the play.
Then Portia talks about her father’s will which
limits her desire to choose a husband of her own
choice. After that, the conversation between
Shylock and Antonio is full of bitterness. This is the
time when Bassanio and Antoino were present in
Shylock’s house and asked him to get a loan of
three thousand ducats. Then Antonio’s ships are
reported to be wrecked in the sea. Shylock lodges
a complaint against Antonio in the Duke’s court.
Bassanio also reaches Venice after hearing the
sad news. Further, the atmosphere in the trial
scene remains tensed.
On the other hand, Shakespeare has also created
comic effects in the play. These scenes serve both
the purposes. They not only entertain the
audience/reader, but also relax the tension that
mounts in the play from time to time. Portia’s
description of her suitors is entertaining to the
reader. Launcelot’s playing pranks with his own
father Old Gobo, who is almost blind, is quite
entertaining. Then their conversation with
Bassanio is quite funny. Again Launcelot’s
conversation with Jessica is entertaining. The ring
episode also serves the same purpose. The happy
ending of the play is also a welcome to the
audience.
Thus the play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is neither a
pure tragedy nor is it a pure comedy.But the tragic
elements overshadow the comic elements in the
play. The reader does not forget about Shylock’s
punishment of forcing him to convert himself from
a Jew to a Christian.