ACT V

The Merchant of Venice

by William Shakespeare

Prepared by: Aisah Selip, Zakwan, Ainul (ppismp Bi (Sk-1

Dramatic
Issues
Devices

themes Character

Settings
 Themes and its
significance

Loyalty and Relationship

The value of vs
marriage friendship

mercy
Loyalty and the Value of
Marriage
Much of this scene involves Portia and
Nerissa teaching their husbands the value
of the marriage. The gifts of the rings serve
to represent the sanctity and holy promise
of the marriage. Thus, for Bassanio and
Gratiano to give away the rings is a (1)
violation of their marriage contract, (2) a
sign that they love Antonio more than their
wives. Since this cannot be allowed, Portia
uses her ring trick to force Bassanio to give
up Antonio. The joke that Portia creates is
when she says, "I'll have that doctor for my
bedfellow" (5.1.232), thus implying that
Bassanio needs to realize the ring is given
Relationship versus
Friendship
This scene shows that Bassanio need to
choose between Portia and Antonio
when Portia asked his ring whereabouts.
Since in the previous act, Bassanio gave
up the ring symbolizes their marriage
for Antonio, Portia emphasized that he
need to choose her instead of his friend,
Antonio until Bassanio agreed to never
do it again.
Pardon this fault, and by my soul I swear
I never an oath with thee. 5.1.247
With this, Bassanio finally chose his
marriage instead of his friendhip
Issues and its significance

Ring issues
 Ring Issues
Again, the ring issue shows that marriage is
very important and holy. Bassanio and
Gratianos act of giving away their ring
represents that they value Antonio more
than their wives.
Portia and Nerissa purposely fight over the
ring that symbolizes their love to remind
their husbands about the holiness of the
promises in their marriage.

This also reminds the audience/reader of

the play that one must one violet the sacred
promise of marriage and love.
Character and their
development

portia antonio

bassanio
 Portia
1. Great love towards her husband,
Bassanio
Her wise act of getting Bassanios
loyalty towards her shows that she
wanted Bassanio for her and her alone.
She even get Bassanio to say that he will
never break their promises again.
 Portia
2. A Wise woman
She has wisely use the ring trick to get
Bassanios loyalty from Bassanio. She even
defeated Antonio by handing him money
and ships at the end, essentially telling him
to return to Venice and forget about
Bassanio.

Antonio, youre welcome. An I have better

news in store for you. Than you expect:
unseal this letter soon.; There you shall find
three of your argosies are richly come to
harbour suddenly: you shall not know by
 Bassanio
1. Loves his wife more than his friend a.k.a
easy to manipulate
In previous act, Bassanio gave up the
ring that symbolizes his love to Portia for
his friend, Antonios sake after he insisted
him.
In Belmont, Portia got mad to him
because of his act and this had made him
regretted his action. He asked Portia to
understand his action; asking her to
understand to whom and why he gave away
that ring which is to defend his friend.
But at last, he chose apologize and swore to
 Antonio
1. Unhappy ending
Although he was freed from
Shylocks evil plan, he remained as an
outsider of the play, alone and removed
from the happy luxury of Belmont. At the
end, Antonio was emasculated by losing
Bassanio to Portia. The lowest level of
Antonios defeat is when Portia hands
him his money and ships at the end,
essentially telling him to return to Venice
and forget about Bassanio.
 Settings

place

time

mercy
 Time
Night: when Lorenzo and Jessica was
dating, Lorenzo mentioned, :The moon
shines bright, in such a night as this...
5.1.1-2

After that, theres nothing mentioned

about time changes; therefore, we can
conclude that the whole scene
happened at night.
 Place
Belmont; Portias house
Dramatic Devices
dramatic
symbol devices
 Symbol
Ring

The ring symbolizes the holy and sacred

promises in a marriage. It also
symbolizes loves between two couples.
The act of giving away the ring is a
violation towards the holiness of their
marriage.
References
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/merchant/themes.ht
ml

http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-merchant-of-venice/act-5-
scene-1

http://www.gradesaver.com/merchant-of-venice/study-
guide/summary-act-5

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/the-merchant-of-
venice/critical-essays/major-symbols-and-motifs

http://www.shmoop.com/merchant-of-venice/themes.html