The Merchant of Venice

1.What words and actions paint Shylock as a true villain in The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene
1?

Previous scenes with Shylock have left some rationale for his anger and presented him with some
redeeming qualities. In Act 1, Scene 3 he is scheming and hateful toward Antonio, but he also
details the grievances and abuses he has suffered at Antonio's hands. In Act 3, Scene 1 he may
seem more concerned about his loss of money than about the loss of his daughter, but he also
makes a passionate plea defending his own

humanity and pointing out that the Christians have no room to judge him harshly for wanting
revenge. On Shylock's day in court, however, he is intractable and his explanations for being there
and for wanting Antonio's flesh amount to him saying "It is my humor" and leaving it at that. There
is little balance to his malice as he will not hear pleas for mercy or reason. Instead, Shylock is seen
sharpening his knife on the bottom of his shoe in court before a verdict has even been reached. It
is a chilling action that reflects his overconfidence at the pending decision as well as his apparent
relish and anticipation for what he is about to do—kill a man with the law's approval in front of a
room full of people.

2.How do Gratiano and Bassanio potentially make matters worse for Antonio in The Merchant of
Venice, Act 4, Scene 1?

Gratiano and Bassanio's words and behavior in court show the kind of attitude and prejudice that
over the years has escalated Shylock's distaste to hatred and finally to murderous rage. They lack
any sort of empathy or understanding of Shylock's anger, which leads them to exacerbate it during
the court proceedings. Perhaps Shylock is truly too stubborn to relent in his quest for revenge on
Antonio, but when Bassanio calls Shylock an "unfeeling man" and Gratiano calls him a "damned,
inexcrable dog" these words hardly prime Shylock to hear or be open to pleas for mercy when
Portia and the duke deliver them. They fail to recognize that Shylock seeks Antonio's life for
leveling similar insults. All they are doing is reminding Shylock of the insults that have led him to
this place. For all the duke's pleas for mercy, for all Portia's pleas for mercy, none of these
characters show Shylock any mercy until after he has nearly killed Antonio. The insults and
hostility continue leading up to and throughout most of the trial, and this hostility only enables
Shylock to continue the cycle of his hostility.

3.What is the flaw in Portia's plea for Shylock to show Antonio mercy in The Merchant of Venice,
Act 4, Scene 1?

The flaw in Portia's plea for Shylock's mercy is the same flaw present in Antonio's previous
attempts to convince Shylock to change his mind: at no point do Antonio, Portia, the duke, or
anyone else tell Shylock that they have been wrong in their mistreatment of him or offer an
apology or amends. Portia's characterization of mercy as one of the highest ideals of humanity is
a correct one, and one directly in line with Christian doctrine. She confirms this when she says
mercy is "an attribute to God himself." However, according to Christian doctrine, God's mercy is
directly tied to human repentance, which means someone who has done wrong must
acknowledge that wrong and ask for forgiveness. "Mercy seasons justice," in Portia's words, but
such seasoning is tied to a confession of some sort. While Antonio laments his own broken state
in court, calling himself the weakest of the flock, he offers no direct acknowledgement of
wronging Shylock. While Portia pleads with Shylock for mercy, she offers no apology on Antonio's
—or society's—behalf. Even when the duke later shows Shylock mercy by not putting him to death
for plotting against Antonio, Shylock expresses some understanding that he has been wrong, but
the Christians do not make a similar display toward Shylock. Their refusal to acknowledge what
they have done reflects the anti-Semitism ingrained in Christian Venetian society. Christians are
the majority and have the right both legally and culturally to abuse Jews. This is so much a trait of
their society that they no longer recognize it.

4.How do Bassanio and Gratiano unknowingly damage their new marriages during the court
proceedings in The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1?

In lines 295 to 306 both Bassanio and Gratiano swear they would sacrifice their wives to spare
Antonio's life. Bassanio says, "Life itself, my wife, and all the world are not esteemed to me above
thy life. I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all here to this devil, to deliver you." The statement is
almost certainly an example of hyperbole, an extreme exaggeration to illustrate the depth of
Bassanio's love for Antonio. After all, offering up another person to be sacrificed to Shylock's rage
would not solve the problem at hand, only transfer it to someone else. If Portia were the target of
Shylock's malice, it is easy to imagine Bassanio declaring he would sacrifice his friend as dear as
life itself to save her. Gratiano echoes these sentiments, saying he wishes his wife were in heaven
(therefore dead) so she might invoke the powers of heaven to change Shylock's mind. Again this is
likely hyperbole. While Bassanio and Gratiano do not know their wives are present in the room,
they do make these announcements in a public forum, the content of which could get back to
Portia and Nerissa. However, since Portia is masquerading as Balthazar, the young doctor of law,
and Nerissa as Balthazar's clerk, both Portia and Nerissa hear their husbands' words directly and
each one makes a remark indicating her displeasure in an aside. Even if Portia and Nerissa
understand these statements are exaggerated, the words still indicate a division in their husbands'
loyalty. In the heat of conflict, Bassanio and Gratiano express not just extreme sympathy for
Antonio's cause but a desire to sell out their wives to express that sympathy. Such statements do
not create a solid foundation for a successful marriage.

5.What does Bassanio's decision to give his ring to Portia after the trial reveal about his feelings
for her in The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1?

When Bassanio decides to give Portia his ring after the trial, he does not know he is giving it to her.
Bassanio thinks he is giving the ring to a stranger named Balthazar, who has just saved his best
friend's life. To Bassanio's credit, he does resist Portia's initial request for the ring and remains firm
even when Portia berates him for insisting she take "some remembrance" then refusing her
request. In short Bassanio's loyalty and love for his wife is almost sufficient to allow him to pass
her test. Almost. It is clear Bassanio does love Portia, but when Antonio makes a simple statement
—"let him have the ring"—Bassanio relents immediately. Portia does not hear this part of their
exchange, but it is possible she can guess Antonio has prevailed on Bassanio to offer the ring. As
much as he loves Portia and values her good opinion, he still values Antonio's opinion and
affection more.

.6.What elements prevent the ending of Act 5, Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice from being
entirely happy?

The ending of The Merchant of Venice has many trappings of a comedy. Three couples—Lorenzo
and Jessica, Bassanio and Portia, and Gratiano and Nerissa—retire to their marital beds, seemingly
happy and content. Amends have been made for Bassanio and Gratiano parting with their wedding
rings—although the conflict is resolved so quickly it's possible the underlying problem of their
divided loyalties has yet to be truly resolved. The last line of the play is a bawdy joke from Gratiano
who says, Were the day come, I should wish it dark Till I were couching with the doctor's clerk.
Well, while I live, I'll fear no other thing So sore as keeping safe Nerissa's ring. He says that if it
were already day, he would be looking forward to night, when he would be back in bed with
Nerissa. But he references her alter ego in court, where she was disguised as the legal scholar's
clerk. His reference to "Nerissa's ring" uses a pun to refer to the ring he wears on his finger as well
as an Elizabethan slang term which used ring to refer to female genitalia. These elements are the
very definition of a happy ending. However, the play does not end so well for two main characters.
Antonio is now the odd man out in his social group. He has his life, and his fortune has been
restored by the arrival of his ships—previously believed lost. Yet Antonio is alone. He has no
partner of his own, and all his friends have left him to be with their wives. Anyone who has been
the only single person at a party filled with couples can relate to the loneliness Antonio must be
experiencing. He is the title character, the merchant of Venice, but he ends his story lacking the
love that makes life worthwhile. Antonio's enemy, Shylock, is in a still worse position. He is old,
widowed, and now childless because of Jessica's desertion. His fortune has been halved, and he
has been forced to abandon his faith and has therefore lost all his friends and his cultural identity.

7.How does Portia's deception about the rings in The Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Scene 1 give her
power that she has lacked through much of the play?

For a woman who runs an estate and has tremendous financial independence, Portia has little
control over her own life. When she is introduced in Act 1, Scene 2, she complains how her father
has deprived her of the chance to choose her own husband. Even though she ends up with the
husband she wants, this happens according to the means her father set up, not through her own
action. When Portia exercises social power, she does so through disguise or deception. She
exercises power over life and death during her appearance in court in Act 4, Scene 1, but she must
do so in the guise of a man. Despite her wealth, she would never be allowed to speak in such a
capacity as herself. When Bassanio gives away her ring, Portia learns she is not even the most
important person in her marriage: Antonio holds more sway over her husband than she does.
Portia takes control of her marriage by revealing the ring to Bassanio and scolding him harshly for
losing it. She raises the possibility that she could find another man if she wished by perpetrating
the ruse that she had an affair with the legal scholar Balthazar, her own alter ego. Lastly, she
reveals that she was Balthazar, which shows Antonio and Bassanio what a debt they owe to her as
well as demonstrating her intelligence and resourcefulness in outwitting a courtroom full of men.

8.Why do Jessica and Lorenzo compare themselves to tragic lovers from classical myths in The
Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Scene 1?

Jessica and Lorenzo enjoy a moonlit stroll and talk about how famous couples from classical
legends enjoyed the same moonlight while in the bloom of love. Lorenzo references the hero
Troilus, who was betrayed by his lover Cressida at Troy. Jessica mentions Thisbe, who caused her
lover to kill himself when he thought she had been eaten by a lion. Lorenzo cites Dido, a queen
who killed herself after the hero Aeneas abandoned her. Jessica mentions the sorceress Medea,
who was betrayed by the hero Jason. Whereas Bassanio and Portia in Act 3, Scene 2 wish to
associate themselves with the heroes of classical myths—including Jason and his quest for the
golden fleece—here Jessica and Lorenzo invoke these stories ironically—that is, meaning the
opposite of what they say. Unlike the doomed couples in these stories, Jessica and Lorenzo have
faced adversity and successfully overcome it. They are hopeful for the future and make jokes
about doomed lovers to distance themselves from those mythical lovers' negative fates.
© 2018-2020 dndsofthub All Rights Reserved