Merchant of Venice Explaination For Icse Class 10

UNDERSTANDING
SHAKESPEARE:

THE

MERCHANT

OF

VENICE

UNDERSTANDING
SHAKESPEARE:

The Merchant
of Venice

Robert A. Albano

MERCURYE PRESS

Los Angeles

UNDERSTANDING SHAKESPEARE:
The Merchant of Venice

Robert A. Albano

First Printing: July 2012

All Rights Reserved 2012 by Robert A. Albano

No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic,
electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying,
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retrieval system, without the written permission of
the publisher.

MERCURYE PRESS

Los Angeles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . 11

Act I ............................................................. 21

Act II ............................................................. 53

Act III ............................................................. 79

Act IV ............................................................. 101

Act V ............................................................. 121

Final Comments ............................................. 131

Appendix: Il Pecorone .. 145

Books by Robert A. Albano

Middle English Historiography
Lectures on Early English Literature
Lectures on British Neoclassic Literature
Understanding Shakespeare's Tragedies
Understanding the Poetry of William Wordsworth

Understanding Shakespeare (series)
1. The Sonnets
2. Henry IV, Part I
3. Hamlet
4. Macbeth
5. Othello
6. Julius Caesar
7. Antony and Cleopatra
8. Much Ado about Nothing
9. A Midsummer Nights Dream
10. Twelfth Night
11. King Lear
12. The Merchant of Venice

NOTE: All act and scene divisions and lines
numbers referred to in this text are consistent with
those found in The Norton Shakespeare (Stephen
Greenblatt, editor).

INTRODUCTION

During the time that Shakespeare was
writing his comedies and tragedies, audiences never
knew quite what to expect from one of his plays.
With other playwrights the title usually provided a
strong indication of the contents, but not so with
Shakespeare. In Julius Caesar, for example,
Shakespeare inserts the assassination of his title
character before the play is even half way over.
The bard then proceeds to focus on the character of
Brutus, who becomes the actual central protagonist
of that play.
Shakespeare was inventive and creative in
all of his plays, and part of that invention involved
breaking the traditions and conventions that were
often strictly adhered to by other playwrights.
In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare
similarly plays with the concepts and conventions
regarding protagonists and antagonists; and like
Julius Caesar, the title character is not actually the
central figure of the play. In fact, Shakespeares
merchant, Antonio, is more of a plot device, a bit
part, rather than a major role in the work. But
unlike Julius Caesar, pinpointing the central figure
of Merchant of Venice is somewhat trickier.
The first half of Merchant bears some
similarity to Othello. In that tragedy the character
of Iago dominates the action and actually is the
Understanding Shakespeare

12

character to whom Shakespeare gives the best
speeches. Audiences are certainly far more
interested and intrigued by Iago than they are by
Othello. Yet Iago is the antagonist of the play, a
devious and clever villain who dominates the play
and manipulates the other characters in it. The
character of Othello becomes, in a sense, Iagos
puppet. Iago tugs on a string, and Othello is forced
to move whether he desires to do so or not. In
Merchant the villainous Shylock also intrigues the
audiences and similarly manipulates the character of
Antonio into taking action that runs contrary to his
own beliefs. And just as Iago wishes to destroy
Othello, Shylock desires to destroy Antonio.
But the second half of Merchant bears more
similarity to As You Like It. In that comedy the
wonderful female character named Rosalind takes
command of the play and of the other characters in
it. By disguising herself as a man, she sorts out the
problems for all of the characters in the play,
including herself: she creates order out of chaos.
Shakespeare had a great deal of respect for the
abilities and intelligence of women, and he certainly
reveals that respect through the character of
Rosalind. Indeed, many noted Shakespeare critics
often rank Rosalind as one of his greatest creations,
right alongside his greatest male characters, notably
Hamlet and Falstaff. And because Shakespeare is

13

noted and praised for creating outstanding
characters that were far more developed and
complex and realistic than any of those characters
created by his contemporaries, the character of
Rosalind is thereby particularly noteworthy. In
Merchant the character of Portia becomes the
commanding presence of the play and the one upon
whom the men of the piece must rely to sort out
their problems and to resolve all hostilities. And,
like Rosalind, Portia disguises herself as a man; for
the time of the English Renaissance was still
primarily a mans world despite being ruled by a
queen for nearly half a century. And like Rosalind,
Portia reveals that she is every bit as capable as any
man and more capable than most in functioning
in that mans world; yet she never for a moment
loses her own identity and charm as a woman.
Not surprisingly, because The Merchant of
Venice does have these similarities to both one
major tragedy and one major comedy, a number of
Shakespeare scholars classify the play as a
tragicomedy (tragic comedy). However, the play
was classified simply as a comedy in the First
Folio (a collection of Shakespeares plays published
in 1623). Shakespeare himself did not worry so
much about categorizing his plays. A play with a
happy ending, despite having serious or nearly
tragic scenes occurring before that ending, was still

14

a comedy. By definition, a tragedy, on the other
hand, demanded that the protagonist must
experience a tragic fall from his position of power
and respect at the end of the tale. And even a
Shakespeare tragedy could contain comic scenes
before that tragic ending took place. However,
todays reader should keep in mind that English
drama was back then in a state of constant change
and evolution. The rules and conventions
recognized and established in one decade could be
thrown out or turned upside down in the next
decade. Less than two decades before The
Merchant of Venice was first performed, another
fine English poet, Sir Philip Sidney, in his Defense
of Poesy (circa 1582) severely criticized the mixture
of tragedy and comedy (the mingling of kings and
clowns) in a play:

But, besides these gross absurdities, how all
their plays be neither right tragedies nor right
comedies, mingling kings and clowns, not
because the matter so carrieth it, but thrust in
the clown by head and shoulders to play a part
in majestical matters, with neither decency nor
discretion; so as neither the admiration and
commiseration, nor the right sportfulness, is by
their mongrel tragi-comedy obtained. I know
Apuleius did somewhat so, but that is a thing
recounted with space of time, not represented
in one moment; and I know the ancients have
one or two examples of tragi-comedies, as

15

Plautus hath Amphytrio. But, if we mark them
well, we shall find that they never, or very
daintily, match hornpipes and funerals.

However, Shakespeare and other playwrights
quickly showed that Sidneys view was not entirely
correct. One could, if one were a great playwright,
quite elegantly and masterfully blend elements of
comedy and tragedy together to create a splendid
work of dramatic literature. A convention and
insight that may have been reasonable and
applicable to 1582 was no longer quite so relevant
in 1596. Sidney established a convention, and later
Shakespeare (among others) broke it.
These two aspects of The Merchant of
Venice the tragic and the comic are also the
result of the play having two central plots or
stories. Shakespeare is not generally regarded by
many critics as a creator of great stories because he
borrowed extensively from other tales and historical
events in that sense, he was not entirely original.
Rather these critics praise Shakespeare for (1) the
magnificence of his characterization and (2) the
beauty of his poetry. However, todays reader
should not be so quick to dismiss the genius that
underlies Shakespeares plots. Although
Shakespeare did indeed in many of his plays borrow
from other sources, he took separate and diverse
elements from those sources and weaved them

16

together in such a way as to create a new and
wholly original work of literature. Shakespeare
does not just insert a subplot that runs alternately
with his main plot. Rather, the characters of one
plot are also integral and vital to the other plot.
Shakespeares storytelling art involves the blending
of two (and sometimes even more than two) plots in
such a way that every scene and even every line
becomes vital to the meaning and understanding of
both plots and to the overall play. The result, then,
is an entirely new plot (as in the case of a tragedy
like King Lear) or at least a thoroughly revised plot
(as in the case of Merchant of Venice) that is most
assuredly creative in the sense of organization and
integration.
In The Merchant of Venice the two
connected plots or tales are, as critics refer to them,
(1) the winning-the-bride story and (2) the pound-
of-flesh story. However, for this particular play,
Shakespeare owes a great deal of debt to an Italian
collection of tales that appear in a book entitled Il
Pecorone (1378) by Giovanni Fiorentino. Both
the first and second plots appear together in that
collection (see the tale in the appendix). However,
the two plots in the fourteenth century book are far
less integrated and cohesive than they are in
Shakespeares play.

17

The first of the plots, the winning-the-bride
tale, is very much like an old folktale or fairytale.
In the source story, a suitor named Giannetto
attempts to win a beautiful woman as his bride by
passing a test. The test simply involves staying
awake all night. However, on his first two attempts
he fails the test because he is given a sleeping
potion. But on the third attempt a sympathetic maid
warns him not to drink the drugged wine, and so
Giannetto wins the bride.
Shakespeare went beyond this earliest
source and made the winning of the bride more
complicated by involving a choice of three caskets
or boxes, one of which contains a portrait of the
lady. The suitor must choose the correct casket
based on various clues; but, if he fails to choose
correctly, he must give up all hope of marriage to
anyone. There are several possible sources that
Shakespeare may have used for the use of caskets
(instead of the sleep test), and Shakespeare could
possibly have used more than one of these sources
when he created his play. The change, however,
was definitely an improvement over Fiorentinos
version because Shakespeare was thus able to
integrate the two parts of his play more completely
by intertwining thematic aspects of the plots.
Shakespeares play thus has greater overall unity
and integrity.

18

The folktale-like features of this part of the
play also cause some critics to categorize Merchant
as a romance. The term romance is used to
indicate those comedies by Shakespeare that share
certain qualities similar to medieval romances, such
as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which
included the use of magical or supernatural
elements as well as knightly adventures.
Shakespeares plays The Tempest and The Winters
Tale are often designated as romances; but this
category, like the one of tragicomedy, is actually
unnecessary. The simpler designation of comedy
was sufficient for Shakespeare, and it should be for
readers and critics as well.
The second part of the play, the pound-of-
flesh story, also comes originally from the book by
Giovanni Fiorentino. This story may also have
been derived from an earlier folktale source, but
Fiorentinos version inspired several authors who
came later as well as Shakespeare. Shakespeares
genius for both character and poetry, though, is
what sets his variation of the story apart from all of
the others. Like the female bride in Fiorentinos
book, Portia (the bride who must be won in the first
part of the play) assumes the role of a man and
becomes the clever lawyer who successfully rescues
the beleaguered merchant from the clutches of the
violent money-lender. However, Shakespeares

19

courtroom drama scene is longer and far more
riveting. In this scene Portia presents one of
Shakespeares greatest and most compelling
speeches a speech on the quality of mercy.
After the serious courtroom scene, the play
ends with a gentle prank played by the women upon
their husbands. But after having their laugh, the
women reveal their jest. And, like a good comedy
should, all ends happily for all of the major
characters in the play (excluding, of course, the
villain Shylock).

ACT I

Act I, Scene 1: A Want-Wit Sadness

The play opens with the title character
Antonio, the merchant of Venice telling two of
his friends that he feels melancholic or depressed.
However, he cannot explain the reason for his
feeling so down. He also describes his emotion as
a want-wit sadness (6). The word want here
means lacking. Antonio is lacking or missing his
wits. He feels dull and sluggish. Shakespeare is
suggesting that there are times in a mans life when
he may just feel blue without any obvious or direct
cause. Simply, the weariness of day-to-day living
has gotten him down. He just does not seem to care
much about life.
Many other people, however, cannot
understand how a person can feel depressed without
having an obvious reason for feeling so. Neither
Salerio nor Solanio, Antonios friends (and both
minor characters in this play), understands
Antonios feelings. And, so, they thus attempt to
find a cause or explanation for his depression.
Salerio, quite poetically, suggests that
perhaps Antonio is worried about his several ships
that are on their way to Venice. Antonio has

22

invested a great sum of money in his business.
Moreover, merchant ships often encountered
disasters on the open ocean. If one or more of his
ships were to fail to return, Antonio could be
financially ruined. Salerio uses a metaphor,
comparing Antonios mind to one of his ships
sailing over a stormy ocean, to describe a possible
cause for Antonios sadness:

Your mind is tossing on the ocean. (8)

Salerio then adds a simile, comparing Antonios
ships to rich lords or aristocrats signors or rich
burghers (10). By comparison, all of the other
ships on the ocean are like commoners (petty
traffickers) or common folk. Just as commoners
would bow down before aristocrats as they would
walk by, so too do the small ships make way for the
large and luxurious merchant ships owned by
Antonio. Salerios lines also serve the purpose of
letting the audience know just how valuable and
important the ships are to Antonio. Antonio is like
an aristocrat among the merchants. He is quite
successful, but a loss of one of his ships would
mean a double ruin the loss of the valuable cargo
as well as the loss of a costly ship.
Solanio, Antonios other companion, agrees
with Salerio and adds that if he were Antonio, he

23

should be still
Plucking the grass to know where sits the wind.
(17-18)

The word still means always. If someone plucks a
blade of grass and holds it up in the air, the blade
bends to indicate the direction of the wind.
Merchant ships were sailing vessels that depended
upon favorable winds for them to reach safe harbors
in time and to return safely to their home ports.
Like Salerio, Solanio is speaking metaphorically.
He is suggesting that every moment he would be in
a state of constant worry if he had so much invested
in a merchant enterprise.
Salerio agrees and adds that every little
common occurrence would cause him to think about
his ships. For example, if he were to blow on his
soup to cool it, his breath would make him think of
a wind blowing on one of his ships. So, he
concludes that Antonio must be sad because he is
worried about his ships and the merchandise they
contain.
However, Antonio tells them that his
business ventures are not the cause of his sadness.
He explains that he has several ships traveling to
and from various places so that even if he were to
lose one, he could still be financially successful.

24

Moreover, Antonio also has other resources besides
his ships.
Antonio also responds to Solanios
suggestion that perhaps it is love (specifically
meaning unrequited or unreturned love) that is the
root of Antonios sadness. Again, Antonio tells
them that this is not the reason. So, finally Solanio
accepts the notion that Antonio is sad without any
apparent reason: you are sad because you are not
merry (47-48). Solanio philosophically adds that
happiness and sadness are just two aspects of
human nature that can exist in unequal proportions
in any given individual. Some people are always
laughing (evermore peep through their eyes)
while other people are always gloomy (having a
vinegar aspect). Solanio uses the image of the
Roman god Janus, who was depicted as having two
faces on both sides of his head, to indicate that
happiness and sadness are just two aspects of an
individual (at line 50).

Janus

25

Actually, Janus was a god of time who could look
both backward into the past and forward into the
future; and that is the reason why the Romans
depicted him with two faces. However,
Renaissance poets and later writers frequently used
the two-faced image to indicate the duality of mans
nature, to indicate that man has qualities that are
often in opposition to one another.

Act I, Scene 1: The Metaphor of the Stage

Salerio and Solanio leave Antonio; and then
Antonio begins speaking with two other friends,
Bassanio and Graziano. Immediately noticing
Antonios sad expression, Graziano comments that
Antonio worries too much about his business that
he has too much respect upon the world and that
worry has changed him in a negative way (lines 74-
76). Graziano is a lighter, comic character in the
play. Through Graziano, Shakespeare suggests that
people should not always be so serious but should
rather take life in stride: they should take life easily.
Picking up on Grazianos use of the word
world, Antonio responds with the following:

I hold the world but as the world, Graziano
A stage where every man must play a part,
And mine a sad one. (77-79)


26

Shakespeare frequently liked to refer to life as a
play and the world as a stage. In the comedy As
You Like It (Act II, Scene 7) Shakespeare includes a
famous speech that begins with All the worlds a
stage. And in the tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare
reflects reality through a play within a play. In
these lines from The Merchant of Venice the
character of Antonio sees the world simply in black
and white, as comedies and tragedies. In drama
there are comic characters and tragic ones; and
Antonio believes that he is just one of the tragic
characters. He believes that such is his fate. Of
course, Shakespeare realized that man is far more
complex than what Antonio indicates here; and one
of the cruxes for the characters of this play is to get
Antonio to realize that as well.
If every man must play a part in the grand
play of life, then Graziano wants to play the part of
a clown or fool:

Let me play the fool.
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come,
And let my liver rather heat with wine
Than my heart cool with mortifying groans.
(79-82)

At this point in the play Graziano is the direct
opposite of Antonio. Where Antonio is sad and
melancholic, Graziano is happy and joyous. The
reference to the liver reflects the Renaissance belief
that certain emotions were produced in that organ of
the body. Strong and intense passions were often

27

associated with the liver; and Graziano is
suggesting that he would rather be like the drunken
and carefree reveler instead of a sober, somber, sad,
and serious individual. Love and sadness were
often connected to the heart especially the
experience of unrequited or unreturned love.
In his speech, Graziano explains that there
are too many overly serious individuals in society
who always seem to be unhappy and whose visages
or faces do cream and mantle like a standing pond
(89). In other words, such individuals have hard
and ugly expressions. Graziano is, in a sense,
warning Antonio not to become like one of these
men. Graziano goes even one step further in
discussing the faults of being overly serious. He
asserts that such men appear to be wise by
continually frowning and keeping silent. But, if
they were to speak, other people would then realize
how such men are actually quite foolish. Graziano
asserts that such men go around acting as if they
were Sir Oracle (93). In ancient Greek times an
oracle was a priest or priestess who would speak for
the gods and deliver their serious judgments in
regards to the acts of mankind. Graziano's
metaphor indicates that these overly serious men,
then, act as if they have the wisdom of the gods and
are ready to deliver harsh and cruel judgments on
those around them.
Shakespeare frequently in his comedies
commented on the qualities of wit and foolishness
through his fools or clowns (such as Feste in
Twelfth Night). Shakespeare asserted that often in

28

society people who were reputed to be witty or wise
were actually quite foolish; but, on the other hand,
the words of fools often cleverly contained ideas
and suggestions of great wit and wisdom. Graziano
makes a similar comment in his speech and asserts
that the serious man the Sir Oracle is really an
individual of very little wit. The Sir Oracle is
actually the biggest of fools.
Like Feste, Graziano is an individual who
has a better and healthier and therefore, happier
philosophy in his approach to life. But Shakespeare
was certainly aware that for the most part people
need to bring balance to their lives. And in this
play, just as Antonio must learn to be less
melancholic and morose about life, Graziano must
learn to be more serious and solemn. There are
times, after all, when joking and jesting are
completely inappropriate. And Graziano will soon
experience one of those occasions when he travels
to Belmont with Bassanio.

Act I, Scene 1: The Metaphor of the Arrow

After Graziano leaves the stage, Antonio is
left with his dear and close companion Bassanio. In
the past Bassanio has borrowed a great deal of
money from Antonio, and so he is reluctant to ask
Antonio for more. However, Bassanio has a plan;
and if he is successful in that plan, then he will have
more than enough money to pay back Antonio

29

everything that he owes him. Bassanio's plan is to
become a suitor to a beautiful and wealthy lady
named Portia. If he succeeds in marrying Portia,
then Bassanio will share the wealth of his newly
acquired bride. However, to make a proper suit to
such a lady, Bassanio needs some money (for
traveling, for fine clothing, and other necessary
expenses). So, he must ask his friend Antonio for
another loan.
Antonio would not refuse any help that he
can possibly offer to his friend, but Bassanio still
feels a little embarrassed about asking for money.
So, he tries to explain his plan though a metaphor.
Bassanio explains that when he was
younger, he would often go outside to practice
shooting arrows. On occasion he would lose an
arrow and could not find it. So, he would shoot
another arrow in the same direction and watch it
carefully to see where it landed. Bassanio states
that in this way he could then find both arrows.
Bassanio wants Antonio, through this
metaphor, to think of himself as the shooter of
arrows and to think of his money as the arrows.
Bassanio is implying that Antonio will get back the
money that he has already lent Bassanio (the first
arrow) if he lends more money to (shoots another
arrow at) Bassanio. Bassanio realizes that his
childhood example is, perhaps, weak; but he
explains that in the past, when he had borrowed
money from Antonio he was immature, a wilful
youth (146). But now he wants Antonio to realize
that he (Bassanio) is earnest and fully intends to

30

repay Antonio all the money that he owes to him.
Antonio agrees to help Bassanio, and then
Bassanio explains the details of his plan. He
describes Portia of Belmont as a beautiful and
virtuous lady whom he has visited in the past.
Bassanio adds that sometimes from her eyes I did
receive fair speechless messages (163-64).
Bassanio means that Portia was attracted to him and
interested in his being a suitor to her. However,
other suitors also hope to win the hand of Portia in
marriage. Bassanio describes the beautiful blond
locks of Portia's hair as being like the golden fleece.
In Greek mythology the golden fleece was the wool
of a magical golden ram that possessed wondrous
qualities. In the story of Jason and the Argonauts
(sailors on board the ship Argo), Jason encounters
many dangers and risks his life to obtain the fleece.
The simile thus suggests that Portia herself is a
treasure that is worth the risk of one's very life. At
least Bassanio thinks so. Bassanio likens the other
suitors as being so many Jasons come in quest of
her (172). However, Bassanio is confident that he
will be the Jason who will successfully win the
golden fleece.
Antonio has no hesitation in agreeing to help
out his friend. However, since all of his money is
currently invested in his several merchant
enterprises, he tells Bassanio to find a money-lender
and borrow the money in Antonio's name: Try
what my credit can in Venice do (180). Because
Antonio is a well-known and successful merchant in
Venice, he knows that Bassanio can borrow any

31

amount he needs if Antonio signs his name to the
loan. However, because of this act of friendship
and generosity, Antonio will soon find himself
embroiled in an extremely difficult and life-
threatening situation.

Act I, Scene 2: Hot Tempers and Cold Decrees

The second scene takes place in Belmont.
As in many of his plays, Shakespeare does not
necessarily intend this location to be a reference to
an actual place in England or anywhere else. This
place actually exists in Shakespeare's imagination,
and he probably chose the name because it means
beautiful mountain (bella montagna in Italian).
Belmont has a mystical or magical quality about it.
It is in the country whereas Venice is a city. Life
and rules are different in Belmont. Shakespeare
subtly indicates that a difference exists by having
the characters speak in prose instead of in poetic
iambic pentameter.
Portia is speaking to her waiting-woman
Nerissa. Although Nerissa is a servant, Portia
appears to have a close and friendly relationship
with her and reveals her intimate thoughts to her.
Yet, despite the magical quality of her
world, Portia is also feeling somewhat melancholic:
she is aweary of this great world (1-2). Thus,
Portia becomes a counterpart to Antonio in this
play. However, unlike Antonio, Portia knows the

32

reason for her emotional condition. She is bound to
obey the rules set down in the will of her departed
father. She is trapped by these rules, just as
Antonio is trapped by life. Portia desires a change
that will set her free, and Antonio also may likewise
require a change to set him free from his
melancholy disposition.
Nerissa, as it turns out, is a wise servant and
friend who philosophically advises Portia to view
matters from the proper perspective. Nerissa
reminds Portia that her good fortunes referring
both to wealth and to all of the other advantages she
has been given in life far outweigh her miseries
or problems. With a metaphor Nerissa asserts that
a person who eats too much can become just as sick
as a person who does not eat enough (lines 5-6).
She is suggesting, in this manner, that people who
have an excess of wealth and other advantages may
worry so much about their situations, their
responsibilities, and their property that they become
seriously ill. Nerissa emphasizes this idea with
another figurative expression:

Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs,
but competency lives longer. (7-8)

The word superfluity refers to the privileged class,
to the wealthy people who have more than they
need. The word competency, on the other hand,
refers to those people who have enough but not too
much. Nerissa is observing that often people of the
privileged class age faster. Their responsibilities

33

and worries weigh them down and make them
physically older than they actually are. Thus,
Nerissa states that people who live in the middle
with enough to meets their needs but who do not
have too much live longer and happier lives.
Portia agrees with her servant but also notes
that it is far easier to give advice than to follow it.
There is a disparity a huge difference between
words and actions. If taking actions were as easy as
saying the words, then the cottages or homes of
poor men would be lordly palaces and small and
lowly chapels would become grand cathedrals (lines
12-13). A person cannot make a wish or desire
come true merely by saying the words. And, Portia
adds, a person (such as a minister or divine, as
indicated in line 13) finds that giving advice is far
easier than actually following it. Life,
unfortunately, is often complicated; and people
often find it difficult to do what they know is right.
Through Portia, Shakespeare then proceeds
to make a statement about life that reappears (in
different forms) in a great many of his plays:

The brain may devise laws for the blood,
but a hot temper leaps o'er a cold decree.
(15-17)

Shakespeare is referring to a universal conflict that
exists in all people: the conflict of Reason vs.
Emotion. During the Renaissance the Church of
England taught that reason was a gift from God that
allowed all people to control their emotions and

34

stay away from sin. The Christian outlook was that
everybody has the ability to refrain from sin, and
people who do sin are just being lazy or weak.
Shakespeare, as well as a number of other poets,
though, was aware that on occasion an emotion
could become so powerful that it would overthrow a
person's reason and cause that person to act
irrationally, wildly, and even madly. In Portia's
lines above the word brain refers to the rational side
of man. Through his reason mankind creates rules
and laws that are sensible and logical, but such laws
are cold (unemotional) decrees. When the emotions
(indicated by the word temper) become too strong
or hot, they ignore or break (or leap over) the cold
rules and laws of society.
Portia (Shakespeare actually) adds another
complex metaphor to emphasize this idea. She
personifies the emotions as a mad or wild youth
who, like a rabbit, jumps over and thus avoids the
laws and rules of reason or good counsel (lines
17-18). Further, reason is personified as a cripple
because he is physically unable to stop the wild
youth. Even during the age of Shakespeare there
existed the concept of the rebellious youth who felt
compelled to ignore and break the rules of society.
And even during the age of Shakespeare all people
occasionally experienced strong and even violent
emotions that caused them to act irrationally or even
madly.


35

Act I, Scene 2: Portia's Suitors

Portia then ends the philosophical discussion
to speak more directly about the cause of her
unhappiness. Portia would like to have a husband;
but her father, who had recently died, left a rather
unusual clause in his will. Any man who wishes to
gain Portia as his bride must choose from among
three chests one golden, one silver, and one made
from lead. Each chest also has a riddle or clue
inscribed on it, but only one of the chests contains a
portrait of Portia inside. If the suitor chooses the
correct chest, he can marry Portia and become lord
of her palace. But if the man fails to choose the
correct chest, he is bound by his honor (1) to leave
Belmont immediately and never return, (2) to keep
secret the choice he had made in regards to the
chests, and (3) never to marry any other lady. The
third promise is a particularly severe one, but the
princes and some of the lords who are suitors to
Portia feel that the lady and her property make the
risk worthwhile.
The will, the use of the three chests and the
riddles, and the honor-bound promises made by the
lords all give this part of the drama a quality like
that of a folktale or fairytale. It is not realistic.
However, live drama, being very much unlike a
movie, is representational. A play represents
aspects of reality but is not reality itself. During the
Renaissance people would go to a theater and see a
bare and empty stage, but they would be tricked or
lured into believing that that bare stage is Belmont

36

or Venice or some other exotic locale. The
audience depended upon their imagination to create
or fill in what the actors and their spoken lines
merely suggested. Likewise, the use of imagination
would help the audience accept as a type of reality
something that was obviously fictional and untrue.
To put it more bluntly, the audiences of
Shakespeare's day were not bothered by this
unrealistic aspect of the play. They accepted it as
reality for that particular story in much the same
way that a reader of science fiction may accept the
premise that there are live alien creatures on Mars
when he actually knows that no such creatures
really exist.
A term that is frequently used today and that
describes mankind's ability to accept such
unrealistic aspects of fiction is suspension of
disbelief. People who read a book or go to the
theater or even go to a movie temporarily suspend
or ignore what they know to be true in order to
enjoy that work of fiction. For example, the
audience going to a movie that depicts aliens from
Mars believes during the time that they are
watching the movie that such creatures do exist.
By accepting the premise that something blatantly
untrue is true in the fictional reality of that movie,
members of the audience can thus immerse
themselves into that fictional reality and become
emotionally involved with it and enjoy it. A
member of the audience who holds on to his
disbelief will not be truly able to enjoy the movie.
Audiences, then, are like children at play. A

37

young boy who imagines himself as a cowboy or a
pirate is actually engaged in an act of suspending
his disbelief.
Nerissa asks Portia if she has any feelings
for any of the suitors who have come to win her in
marriage, but Portia describes the faults of each one
as Nerissa names them:

1. The prince from Naples (at line 34) only talks
about his horse. He seems to be interested in
nothing else, and Portia jokes that maybe his
mother had an affair with a blacksmith.
2. A count named Palatine (at line 39: the name
indicates both a royal lord and one of the Seven
Hills of Rome) is always frowning and
melancholy, like one of Graziano's serious men.
3. A French lord (at line 46) appears to copy the
bad habits of all of the other lords. In other
words, Portia finds him to be insincere and
spurious.
4. A lord from England (at line 55) speaks no
Italian or French, and Portia does not speak
English (a clear indication that the Belmont of
this play is not located in England). Portia
admits that he is handsome, but he dresses
wildly in clothes that come from all over Europe
(Shakespeare could very well have been poking
fun at an actual lord of his day with this
description).


38

5. A lord from Scotland (at line 65) is too
belligerent or quarrelsome. Shakespeares
description also reflects the ongoing conflict
that had existed between the English and the
Scottish. England struggled for centuries to
take over Scotland, and on occasion wars
between the two countries occurred. At such
times France, who was also an enemy to
England, joined the side of Scotland against the
English. Portia describes her Scottish suitor as
vowing revenge against her English suitor
because the Englishman boxed (or punched) his
ears, and her French suitor (who copies bad
habits) has taken the side of the Scotsman and
promises to get revenge against the English lord
as well.
6. The last suitor mentioned is a son of a German
duke, who is always drunk (at line 70). Portia
likes him least of all and tells Nerissa to put a
glass of wine on one of the wrong caskets or
chests. The wine will trick the German into
choosing the wrong casket.

Nerissa, however, informs Portia that she has no
need to fear any of these six ill-suited suitors
because none of them want to agree to the terms
that comes with making such a choice.
Portia is happy that she will not be forced
into marriage with any of these lords, but she also
worries that she will never get married and that she
will turn into an old and wrinkled spinster (like
Sibylla in Greek mythology, who received the gift

39

of immortality from the god Apollo but did not
receive the gift of eternal youth). Portia worries
that she will spend many long years alone.
Nerissa then mentions Bassanio, who had
visited Portia in the past. Of all of the many men
who had visited Belmont, Portia mentions only
Bassanio in a positive manner: she finds only him to
be worthy (100).
But before Portia and Nerissa can discuss
the suitors any further, a servant interrupts and
informs her that yet another suitor has arrived: the
Prince of Morocco. However, Portia is not happy to
hear about his arrival:

If he have the condition of a saint and the
complexion of a devil,
I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.
(109-10)

In Christian lore, the devil was frequently depicted
as being black. The Moors were also people with
very dark or black skin. Portia acknowledges that a
black person from Morocco may be very kind or
even saint-like despite the color of his skin.
However, she is not attracted to Moors. So, she
jokingly rhymes that instead of marrying her
(wive her), she would rather that the Prince of
Morocco should shrive her. In Christianity a saint,
a holy person, like a priest, has the ability to shrive
to grant Gods forgiveness to a sinner.
Unfortunately for Portia, though, she has no control
over which suitors shall accept the challenge of

40

choosing from among the three caskets. Her joke is
a way of hiding her frustration over her situation.

Act I, Scene 3: Ships Are But Boards

Back in Venice, Bassanio is arranging to get
a loan from Shylock, the Jewish money-lender.
Bassanio wants to borrow 3000 ducats (gold coins).
Although this was a fairly large amount of money
for most people in Venice at that time, Bassanio is
using Antonios pledge or promise to guarantee that
the loan will be paid back in full within three
months. Antonio is a highly successful and
wealthy merchant whose property is worth many
times the amount that Bassanio wishes to borrow.
Shylock, however, is a shrewd business man
who investigates his clients carefully before
agreeing to make any loans. Shylock tells Bassanio
that he is well aware that Antonio has several large
vessels carrying valuable cargo back to Venice from
Tripoli (northern Africa), the Indies, Mexico,
England, and other foreign ports. However,
Shylock is also well aware of the dangers that
merchant ships faced on the open oceans:

But ships are but boards, sailors but men.
(18-19)

Ships are made of wood (boards) and thus can be
easily damaged. Storms can sink them, jagged

41

rocks can tear them apart, and pirates can blast them
apart. Moreover, Shylock is well aware that not all
men can be trusted. The men who sail Antonios
ships might just as easily steal the goods on the ship
for themselves. Merchant shipping was often a
huge risk. And Antonio, as Shylock well knows,
has all of his wealth invested in these several
shipping ventures. If all of the ships failed to
return, Antonio would be ruined financially.
So, before he will loan the money to
Bassanio, Shylock asks to speak with Antonio
directly.
Bassanio agrees and invites Shylock to join
them for dinner.
In an aside (a comment that indicates his
thoughts but is not actual dialogue: so Bassanio
does not hear it) Shylock comments on the problem
between Christians and Jews. Although Jews may
walk and talk with Christians, they do not eat with
them or pray with them. Jews do not eat pork
because they believe that the animals are unclean
(physically and spiritually). The restriction against
pork probably originated at a time when pigs
suffered from some plague or other terrible disease
that made their meat dangerous or deadly to any
who ate it. However, the restriction later took the
form of a religious rule; and the meat from pigs was
viewed as unholy or evil. So, Jews do not eat pork.
However, Christians frequently eat pork.
In his aside, Shylock refers to an old
superstition that Jesus Christ (the Nazarite prophet)
turned devils into swine or pigs. Shylock is hinting

42

that Christians themselves should also, then, follow
the restriction against eating pork. Shylock is
criticizing Christians, but more generally he is also
noting that socially Jews are limited as to how much
they can interact with Christians. Most Christians
back then would socialize with Jews only when they
found it necessary to do so (as Bassanio is now
driven by the necessity to borrow money). And the
Jews preferred it this way for the most part since
their customs and beliefs were often in conflict with
those of the Christians.

Act I, Scene 3: Shylock vs. Antonio

As Antonio approaches Bassanio and the
money-lender, Shylock delivers an even longer
aside. As it so happens, Shylock dislikes Antonio
not only because Antonio is Christian. Rather,
Shylock has a personal grudge (complaint or
resentment) against him:

How like a fawning publican he looks.
I hate him for he is a Christian;
But more, for in that low simplicity
He lends out money gratis, and brings down
The rate of usance here with us in Venice.
If I can catch him once upon the hip
I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.
He hates our sacred nation, and he rails,
Even there where merchants most do congregate,
On me, my bargains, and my well-known thrift

43

Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe
If I forgive him. (36-47)

Shylock describes Antonio as a fawning publican.
A publican was a tax collector, and such men were
frequently depicted as being proud, imperious, cold,
cruel, and merciless. The word fawning, though,
indicates the action of a person who is seeking a
favor by acting insincerely through flattery or some
other means. The words are actually and ironically
an allusion to the Bible (Luke 18: 10-14). In that
book a proud publican asks Jesus Christ for mercy.
Jews do not read the Bible or consider it to be a
sacred text. However, the line sweeps by so quickly
that most people in an audience would not catch the
allusion. Shylock, though, is implying that Antonio
is a hypocrite. Shylock knows that Antonio hates
him, but now Antonio will pretend to like him
because he needs Shylock to lend the money to
Bassanio.
In the aside, the word gratis means free; and
the word usance refers to the act of loaning money
out at interest. Because Antonio often loans money
to others without accepting any interest, the money-
lenders like Shylock often lose business and must
drastically lower their interest rates in order to get
any clients at all. To put it simply, Antonio causes
Shylock to lose money. So, Shylock personally and
deeply hates Antonio.
Shylock wants to get revenge; and by
loaning money to Bassanio, Shylock hopes to catch
Antonio upon the hip. That is, he hopes to get

44

Antonio at a disadvantage. If Antonio fails to repay
the loan within the three months that they agree to,
Shylock will then be able to take drastic and
perhaps even violent legal action against him.
Shylock complains that his intense hatred
for Antonio is justified because not only has
Antonio often caused him to lose money, but also
because Antonio has frequently criticized the Jews
(sacred nation) in general and Shylock in
particular. Moreover, Antonio often has criticized
the practice of Shylock and others money-lending
at interest. To Shylock, such a practice is simply a
matter of business contracts (bargains) and well-
earned profits (thrift).
But Antonios view indicates a Christian
outlook that goes back to the Middle Ages. Early
Christians believed that man lived on earth to work.
Even Adam and Eve had to work in the Garden of
Eden. Avoiding work was considered sinful. Such
a belief lies behind the later common Christian
phrase, Idle hands are the devils workshop.
People who do not work have too much free time on
their hands, and so they will use that time and their
hands to commit sinful acts. To such Christians, the
practice of lending money was not real work.
Rather, it was a way to avoid real work. Lending
out money at interest was thus sinful. Thus,
Antonios criticism of Shylock and the other
money-lenders is a result of his Christian
perspective.


45

Act I, Scene 3: The Biblical Allusion to Jacob

As Antonio is approaching them, Shylock
informs Bassanio that he does not currently have the
full 3000 ducats available but that another Jewish
money-lender named Tubal will help to supply the
full amount.
Having arrived, Antonio informs Shylock
that he does not borrow or lend money at interest.
However, because Bassanio is in great need at the
present moment, Antonio is willing to break his
customary habit this one time (lines 58-59).
Shylock questions Antonio in regards to his
views on money lending and makes a Biblical
allusion or reference to the story of Jacob and the
sheep. The story of Jacob appears in the first book
of the Bible, Genesis (chapter 30). The complete
book of Genesis also appears in the Torah, a holy
book sacred to the Jews. So, Shylocks reference to
it is not unusual. In the story, Jacob makes a deal or
contract with a man named Laban regarding the
lambs who were about to be born that season. In
the deal Jacob would get all of the lambs that were
mixed colored (parti-colored), and Laban would get
all of the solid colored lambs (lambs of one color).
Laban thought he was getting the better part of the
deal because usually lambs are just one color.
However, Jacob tricked Laban. Jacob took a
number of poles or sticks (referred to as wands in
line 80) and painted them with stripes. He set these
poles before the ewes (the female sheep), and later

46

all of their offspring all of the baby lambs were
mixed colors.
Antonio asks Shylock if he is telling this
story to justify his practice of loaning money at high
interest. Shylock asserts that the story illustrates the
way to thrive (85). Shylock is claiming that God
blessed Jacob and helped him to be successful.
Shylock is implying that God blesses all men
(including himself) who wish to thrive or be
successful.
Antonio, however, disagrees with Shylock.
He explains that Jacob was successful only because
God intervened and helped Jacob in this one
particular instance: swayed and fashioned by the
hand of heaven (89). Antonio implies that the
lambs became parti-colored because God willed it
to be so. God had special plans for Jacob, and so
God helped Jacob on this one particular occasion so
that Jacob could later fulfill the will of God.
Antonio then turns to Bassanio and makes
the following comment:

The devil can cite scripture for his purpose.
(94)

This is an extremely famous and often quoted line
from the play. The line indicates that the devil can
take the good and holy words from the Bible or
other sacred texts and quote them out of context to
justify sins, to justify acts of evil. In fact, the devil
even does this in the New Testament of the Bible:
in the book of Matthew (chapter 4, verse 5), the

47

devil quotes another holy text in order to tempt
Jesus Christ. With this line Antonio is not only
asserting his belief that lending money out at
interest is evil; he is also implying that Shylock is a
devil. The line thus creates a subtle way of
subconsciously causing the audience to view
Shylock as an extremely negative and evil
character.
Antonio emphasizes his view in the
following lines:

An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten to the heart.
O, what goodly outside falsehood hath!
(95-98)

Not being any different from today, back in the time
of the Renaissance there were hypocrites who used
the Bible (holy witness) in order to justify their
outrageous actions and behavior. Shakespeare uses
the simile of a villain who is always smiling. The
smile is a mask by which he hides his evil
intentions. The second simile is to the apple that
looks red and delicious on the outside but is rotten
on the inside. Hypocrites are like these rotten
apples. On the outside they pretend to be friendly
or helpful, but on the inside they are plotting
mischief and harm. Thus, although Shylock may
quote holy scripture, he is not a holy person.
Rather, from Antonios point of view, his intentions
are purely evil.

48

Act I, Scene 3: Shylocks Complaint

When Antonio asks Shylock about the rate
of interest for the loan to Bassanio, Shylock does
not answer directly. Rather, he first recites a list of
his complaints against Antonio:

Antonio has directly criticized Shylock. (103)

He has criticized Shylocks business practices.
(104)

He has called Shylock names, like cut-throat
and dog. (107)

And he has spit on Shylocks gabardine coat.
(108)

In other words, Shylock is fully justified in refusing
Antonio. And Shylock sarcastically adds that if he
is a dog, as Antonio has called him, how can he
then loan money to Bassanio? Hath a dog
money? (117). Shylock is asking why should he
do Bassanio and Antonio the courtesy of lending
them money when Antonio has been extremely
discourteous to him in the past. However, although
Shylock should just say no to Antonio, Shylock is
plotting evil. He is the hypocrite Antonio has just
described. Although Shylock cries about being the
hurt victim on the outside, inside he is planning to

49

commit harm and violence to Antonio. He is not
the victim in this play, he is the perpetrator.
Antonio does not back down in his view of
Shylock. He still thinks that Shylock deserves to be
ill-treated because Shylock still continues to engage
in a practice (money-lending) that Antonio finds to
be both sleazy and evil. Antonio adds that money-
lending has nothing to do with friendship and that a
money-lender should rather loan money to his
enemy anyway so that if the borrower does not pay
back the loan on time, the lender will not have any
feelings of sorrow or guilt. Rather, the lender will
be happy to penalize the borrower and thus get
more money in the bargain.
Shylock, though, is the consummate
hypocrite. He tells Antonio and Bassanio that he
wishes to be friends with them and that he does not
wish to charge them any interest at all for the 3000
ducats. Shylock claims to be offering kindness (line
137). Of course, he really hopes to trick Antonio
into losing something far more valuable than
money. He hopes to trick Antonio into losing his
life.


50

Act I, Scene 3: Shylocks Terms

What Shylock means by kindness
becomes evident right away. Shylock informs
Antonio that they can immediately go to a notary (a
legal official who will serve as their witness) and
sign the contract. Shylock will not charge any
interest for the loan. Instead, if Antonio fails to pay
back the 3000 ducats in three months

let the forfeit
Be nominated for an equal pound
Of your fair flesh to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body pleaseth me.
(144-47)

Shylock intends that the pound of flesh that he will
cut from Antonio will be directly from Antonios
heart, and Antonio is well aware that Shylock is
implying that Shylock intends to kill Antonio if the
money is not repaid. Shylocks intentions are not a
secret: an actor portraying Shylock would probably
have a sinister smile on his face and might even be
rubbing his hands in anticipation of ending the life
of his adversary.
Antonio, nevertheless, agrees to the terms of
the contract; and he ironically adds that he will say
there is much kindness in the Jew (149). Of
course, Antonio knows that there is no kindness at
all in Shylock. But he informs Bassanio that he will
have several times more than 3000 ducats in less
than two months time. Thus, Antonio has no fear

51

about being able to fulfill the terms of the contract.
The reader should also keep in mind that Antonio
readily agrees to the terms because (1) he still
suffers from melancholy and (2) he has a generous
nature (he likes being able to help his friends
whenever he can). Moreover, Antonio is glad to be
able to get money from Shylock without paying him
any interest. He feels that he is getting an
extremely good deal.
Shylock continues to speak insincerely
(beginning at line 156). He claims that a pound of
Antonios flesh has no value to him and that he is
acting purely out of friendship. But neither Antonio
nor Bassanio is fooled into believing that Shylock is
his friend. Bassanio recognizes that Shylock has a
villains mind (175). Bassanio knows that he is
evil, but Antonio reassures him that there is nothing
to worry about.

ACT II

Act II, Scene 1: The Prince of Morocco

The first of the suitors to attempt to win
Portia as his bride is the Prince of Morocco. The
Prince worries that Portia may not accept him
because his skin is black, but he assures her that he
is as brave as any man who has come to her: his
blood is reddest (7). During the Renaissance
bright red blood was considered to be an indication
of bravery or valor. The Prince also adds that the
women of his homeland also think of him as
attractive.
Portia informs the Prince of Morocco that
she really has no voice in the matter because she is
bound by her fathers will to accept the first man to
select the right casket. She has no choice.
However, Portia also tells him that he stands

as fair
As any comer I have looked on yet
For my affection. (20-22)

There is a triple meaning with the word fair.
During the Renaissance it traditionally means both
(1) beautiful and (2) having fair or light features,
such as blond hair and white skin. In the context of
this line, Portia is also implying that (3) the Prince
stands as fair a chance as good a chance as any
other man in winning her as his wife. Because of
the multiple meanings, Portia is most likely being

54

subtle and speaking sarcastically here. Obviously,
the Prince does not have light skin. Moreover, as
noted in an earlier scene, Portia does not find any of
her other suitors to be attractive or beautiful. Portia
does not really hope the Prince will choose the right
casket.
The Prince asserts his bravery once again;
but he then realizes that even a brave man like
Hercules (a mythological allusion to the half-
human, half-God hero of the ancient Romans) could
lose in a game of chance, like dice, to a lowly
servant (line 32). No amount of bravery can alter
ones fate or destiny. The Prince refers to fate as
blind Fortune (36) because fate would just as
easily destroy a good man or a bad man, a rich man
or a poor man, or a king or a slave. Fate or Fortune
does not bother to look at the person it hurts. The
Prince realizes that his extensive bravery will not be
a factor as to whether he wins Portia or not.
Portia warns him that if he chooses the
wrong casket, he has taken a vow that he will never
speak to any other lady afterwards. That is, if he
chooses incorrectly, he can never marry any
woman. The Prince, however, decides that the
chance to win Portia is worth the risk.


55

Act II, Scene 2: Lancelot and Gobbo

The second scene begins a soliloquy by
Lancelot, who is working for Shylock. Lancelot is
a comic character. He is a clown (but not one of
Shakespeares witty fools like Feste in Twelfth
Night or King Lears fool). Lancelot is a silly but
good-natured bumpkin who complains about the
poor treatment that he receives from his master,
Shylock. Shylock constantly urges Lancelot to run
away if he does not like the way he is treated by his
master. However, lowly servants could not easily
find new work elsewhere. Lancelot realizes that if
he runs away, he would probably end up as a
beggar. Yet Lancelot feels that Shylock is a fiend
and devil and that running away may be better for
him.
This monologue is important primarily
because it increases the negative portrayal of
Shylock. The audience subconsciously accepts
Lancelots comments and will thus view Shylock as
a devilish figure.
Before Lancelot runs away, he encounters
his old, partly-blind father, Gobbo. Gobbo is
looking for his son, but Lancelot knowing that his
father is unable to see him clearly pretends to be a
stranger. Lancelot wants to play a joke on his
father, and he gives Gobbo some very complicated
and confusing directions for finding Shylocks
house (lines 33-36). Lancelot also tells Gobbo that
the Fates (the sisters three at line 54) have taken
Lancelot in other words, Lancelot is dead.

56

Eventually Lancelot stops his nonsense and
reveals his identity to Gobbo. Gobbo tells his son
that he has brought a present for Shylock so that
Shylock will treat Lancelot well. Lancelot, though,
tells his father that Shylock does not even give him
enough food to eat: You can tell every finger I
have with my ribs (94-95). The word tell here
means to count. Lancelot is complaining that he has
had so little to eat that his ribs are showing. So,
Lancelot asks his father to present his gift to
Bassanio instead. If Lancelot cannot serve
Bassanio, who treats his servants well, then he will
run away.

Act II, Scene 2: The Request of the Clowns

The scene continues, and Bassanio soon
appears with several other men. Gobbo presents
Bassanio with a gift of cooked doves, and together
the two bumpkins awkwardly ask Bassanio to take
Lancelot into his service. Bassanio has difficulty
understanding them because, in typical Renaissance
clown fashion, Lancelot and Gobble mangle their
English and frequently use words incorrectly. For
example, they use infection instead of affection (line
111), fruitify instead of certify (line 119), and
impertinent instead of pertinent (line 122).
Eventually Bassanio gets them to make their
request plainly and simply, and he agrees to take
Lancelot into his service. Bassanio warns Lancelot,

57

though, that he is not a wealthy man like Shylock,
but is instead rather poor. The happy Lancelot,
however, responds with the following:

The old proverb is very well parted between
my master Shylock and you, sir: you have the
grace of God, sir, and he hath enough.
(134-36)

Lancelot is referring to the proverb, The grace of
God is gear enough. The word gear means
wealth. In other words, Gods grace or blessing is
more important than wealth or material goods.
Although Shylock is wealthy, although he has
enough of everything, he is without Gods grace.
Lancelot knows from hard experience that
Shylocks wealth does not benefit those who serve
the miserly money-lender.
Lancelot is rather proud of himself because
he thinks he earned the position with Bassanio
because of his own clever manner of speech (lines
141-42). Lancelot then looks down at the palm of
his hand and begins to read his own fortune. He
claims that the lines on his hand indicate that he will
escape dangers and have many sexual encounters.
Lancelot claims to be a lucky man and concludes
that if Fortune be a woman, shes a good wench
for this gear (149-50). The words for this gear
mean in this case in Lancelots case. Although
Fate was frequently referred to as Dame Fortune
during the Renaissance, most men at that time
would not have agreed with Lancelot. Lancelot

58

may be a clown or a fool, but he is right in asserting
that occasionally a man may encounter good
fortune. And in a comedy, good fortune is a
necessary ingredient.

Act II, Scene 2: Another Request

After Lancelot and Gobbo exit, Graziano
walks up to Bassanio. Graziano also has a request
to make of Bassanio. He asks if Bassanio will take
him to Belmont. The generous Bassanio quickly
agrees to help his friend just as Antonio had quickly
agreed to help him.
Bassanio knows, however, that Grazianos
usually wild, rowdy, and boisterous behavior could
be a problem in Belmont. Bassanio has very serious
intentions to win and marry Portia, and he certainly
does not wish for Portia to think of him as trivial
and foolish. So, Bassanio warns Graziano who
had earlier told Antonio that if all the world is a
stage, then he wants to play the part of the fool to
control his wild behaviour (168).
Graziano agrees to be discreet at Belmont.
However, he asks Bassanio if that night in Venice
he may be allowed to be merry and enjoy himself.
Bassanio, knowing that the night will be spent
feasting with friends, agrees that Graziano should
indeed enjoy the merriment of the night and be in
high spirits (lines 182-84). Bassanio is well aware
that there are times to be merry and there are times

59

to be serious, and he believes that Graziano will act
properly once they arrive in Belmont.

Act II, Scene 3: A Fathers Child

In a brief scene Jessica, the daughter of
Shylock, sadly bids farewell to Lancelot. Jessica
fully understands the reasons for Lancelot wanting
to leave, and she even openly admits to Lancelot
that our house is hell (2). This line thus
reinforces the suggestion indicated earlier that
Shylock is a fiend or devil. In fact, Jessica herself
also plans to run away from the house. She gives
Lancelot a note to take to Lorenzo, the man whom
she wants to marry and run away with. Lancelot
cries as he says good-bye. His emotions quickly
convey the idea to the audience that Jessica is the
antithesis (direct opposite) of her father. If he is a
devil, then she is an angel.
Although Shakespeare utilizes the prejudice
against the Jews of his day as a convenient way of
establishing Shylocks character, the playwright
also reveals that Shylock is not really an ordinary or
typical Jew. In a brief soliloquy, Jessica questions
her feelings towards her father:

Alack, what heinous sin it is in me
To be ashamed to be my fathers child!
But though I am daughter to his blood,
I am not to his manners. (15-18)

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Both Christians and Jews believe that a child should
honor her father and mother. This regulation is one
of the Ten Commandments, and Christians viewed
the breaking of any commandment as a mortal sin.
The pious Jessica wants to be a good girl, but her
fathers evil is so intense that she feels forced to
disobey her father in order to avoid even greater
sins. The lines about blood and manners are also
highly significant in revealing Shakespeares views
about Shylock. Shylocks blood his Jewish blood
and his cultural heritage is not what causes him to
be so evil. After all, the same Jewish blood flows
through Jessicas veins. Yet she is good. Rather,
Shylocks individual manners his attitudes and
behavior are what make him so bad. Jessica and
most other Jews do not think or behave as does
Shylock. Shylock does not represent all Jews any
more than Iago (the equally despicable villain in the
tragedy of Othello) represents all Christians.
Shakespeare created Shylock as a unique (albeit
detestable) individual, not as a symbol for an entire
race of people.


61

Act II, Scene 4: Misfortune

In another brief scene, Lancelot delivers
Jessicas message to Lorenzo. Lorenzo is getting
all the details taken care of so that he and Jessica
can run away. Lorenzo then asks two of his friends,
Will you prepare for this masque tonight? (22). A
masque was a form of entertainment involving a
simple plot, music, singing, and dancing. Such
types of entertainment were frequently performed at
a court or in the manor of a wealthy lord, and the
performers usually wore elaborate costumes. Here,
the word masque refers to any simple holiday
festivity. In celebration of a religious holiday,
many people in Venice plan to wear costumes and
take part in simple forms of entertainment.
Of course, Lorenzo is not really worried
about entertainment for a holiday. Rather, he is
worried about Jessica. Shylocks daughter plans to
wear her own costume: she will be dressed in a
pages outfit (like a servant boy) in order to escape
her father and leave Venice without anybody
recognizing her. Jessica and Lorenzo,
metaphorically speaking, thus will play the parts of
runaway lovers in a very real drama, not in a
masque.
Lorenzo also comments upon the differences
between Jessica and her father; and he asserts that if
Shylock ever gains entrance into heaven, the only
reason for it will be the goodness of his daughter
(33-34). There is no goodness at all in Shylock.
But the worried Lorenzo is also a realist who knows

62

that Fate or Fortune does not always side with good
people in life:

And never dare misfortune cross her foot
Unless she do it under this excuse:
That she is issue to a faithless Jew. (35-37)

Lorenzo also depicts Fortune as an unfair female
force (personification), and he emphasizes her
usually negative role by referring to her as
Misfortune. The first use of the pronoun she (in
line 36) refers to Fortune, but the second occurrence
of the pronoun she (in line 37) refers to Jessica.
Lorenzo means that if anything bad ever happens to
Jessica if Jessica ever experiences any kind of
misfortune the reason will not be because of her
character or manners. Jessica is a good person, and
she has never done anything in her life to deserve
any kind of hardship or sorrow.


63

Act II, Scene 5: An Expected Reproach

In the fifth scene Shylock meets Lancelot in
front of his house. Lancelot is bringing a message
to Shylock from Bassanio:

LANCELOT: My young master doth expect your
reproach.
SHYLOCK: So do I his. (19-20)

In another example of mangled English, Lancelot
means to say approach. That is, Lancelots new
master Bassanio expects Shylock to approach or
come to the dinner at his house that night. The
word reproach means to express disapproval or
criticism against someone. Although Shylock
knows what Lancelot intended to say, the money-
lender also knows that Bassanio and his friends do
disapprove and criticize him as well. He fully
expects their disapproval.
Lancelot also jokes about Shylocks
superstitious nature. Shylock expresses the view
that his dream about bags of money last night is a
bad omen, a sign that something bad will happen to
him or his money (line 18). Lancelot then proceeds
to say that a bloody nose that he experienced a long
time ago was an omen that Shylock will see a
masque on that night. Of course, the bloody nose
has nothing at all to do with the performance of the
masques that night. They would be performed that
night whether Lancelot had a bloody nose or not.
In a joking manner, Lancelot is thus expressing the

64

view that dreams are not at all related to reality. Of
course, Shakespeare himself did believe in the force
of fate (a force that was supernatural). And, as
events later indicate, Shylock should indeed worry
about his money.
When Shylock hears that Christian masque-
like entertainments will be performed that night,
with revelers parading by his house, he orders
Jessica to stay inside and close the windows.
Shylock is against anything that is even remotely
associated with Christianity. Of course, he does not
realize that Jessica is planning to take part in her
own masque that night and that she later intends
to become a Christian.
As Lancelot exits, he whispers to Jessica
that she should look out of the window that night
because Lorenzo will be coming later.
After Lancelot has gone, Shylock criticizes
him by calling him a fool of Hagars offspring
(42). This is an allusion to an Old Testament
story. In the Book of Genesis, Hagar was the
second wife of Abraham but was forced to leave
him and run away because of ill treatment at the
hands of Abrahams first wife. Hagars son was
Ishmael, who became leader to a tribe of people
know as Ishmaelites. Shylock uses the expression
Hagars offspring to refer to the Ishmaelites,
which suggests any people who are not Israelites or
Jews. Hagar and Ishmael are outcasts in the eyes of
Shylock, and Shylock negatively views all
Christians to be worthless outcasts as well.

65

Before he exits, Shylock utters a proverb to
Jessica: Fast bind, fast find (52). The word fast
here means securely the first time and quickly the
second time. If a person securely fastens or hides
his money, then he will be able to find it quickly
later (for it will not be stolen). Although this is one
of the proverbs by which Shylock lives, his
precautions will not be of any use to him: he will
lose both his money and his daughter.
The scene ends with Jessica also making a
comment in regards to Fortune. If all goes well for
her, then Shylock will lose a daughter and she will
lose a father (line 55). Jessica also worries about
whether her elopement will be successful, and she
regrets that she is forced to take such a problematic
action against her own father. But her desperate
situation calls for desperate action.


66

Act II, Scene 6: Timely Metaphors

The scene set in front of Shylocks house
continues. Lorenzos friends, Graziano and Salerio,
are disguised as masquers (wearing elaborate
costumes).

The two friends are surprised that Lorenzo himself
is not there already because young lovers are always
anxious and in a hurry: young lovers always run
before the clock (4). Salerio uses a mythological

67

allusion to Venus and the doves that pull her chariot
across the sky. He comments that her dove-
propelled chariot (symbolizing young lovers) moves
ten times faster than those couples who have
already been married for a long time (lines 5-7).
Young love is fast, but old love is slow.
The witty Graziano then contributes a
number of metaphors to suggest that many objects
in nature start out quickly but then slow down
sometime later:

(1) A hungry person eagerly and quickly sits
down to a feast but rises slowly after he has
finished.
(2) An excited horse will gallop quickly to an
intended destination but return with a much
slower gait.
(3) A glistening ship setting sail for a journey
will energetically head for strong winds, but
on the return trip home the weather-beaten
ship with its ragged sails struggles slowly
upon less fervent winds.

Graziano thus comments that

All things that are
Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed.
(12-13)

Young people who are in pursuit of love are spirited
and energetic; but shortly after they are united with

68

their lovers, they slow down considerably. Their
energy and eagerness dwindle.
The clever metaphors stop with the arrival
of Lorenzo. He explains to his friends that urgent
business, not his own inclination, caused him to
arrive late. Lorenzo then shouts out toward the
house to see if Jessica is inside.
From inside the house, Jessica looks out of a
window and sees the men. She makes sure that
Lorenzo is one of these men, and she then tosses a
casket (a box) containing money to him. Jessica is
disguised as a servant boy, and she will play the
role of torchbearer for Lorenzo so that she can
escape from Venice without anyone realizing it.
Although Jessica is embarrassed to play the
role of a boy, she informs Lorenzo that she will
quickly finish getting ready and soon join them.
Jessicas embarrassment is a subtle joke for the
Renaissance audience (but not the contemporary
audience). During the Renaissance boys played the
part of girls and young women. So, the gender role
is doubly confusing: a boy is playing a girl who is
playing a boy. Shakespeare enjoyed the humor of
this gender confusion and used it in other of his
comedies as well (Twelfth Night and As You Like
It).
As the men wait for Jessica, Lorenzo
comments on the virtues of the girl he adores (lines
53-57). Praising the virtue of a lady was a
requisite for writers of love poetry, and thus
Lorenzo also reveals that he is a sincere lover as
well.

69

After Jessica and Lorenzo exit, Antonio
appears and informs Graziano that the masque is
canceled for that evening because Bassanio is to set
sail for Belmont immediately. Graziano is happy to
hear this news, for he is also anxious to go to
Belmont as soon as possible.

Act II, Scene 7: All That Glisters

The next scene is set at Belmont. There the
Prince of Morocco is making an attempt to win
Portia as his bride. In order to win her, he must
choose the correct casket the one containing a
small portrait of Portia. There are three caskets:
one made of gold, one of silver, and one of lead.
Each casket also contains an inscription, a riddle, to
help or hinder the suitor from choosing the correct
one:

1. The gold casket: Who chooseth me shall
gain what many men desire. (5)
2. The silver casket: Who chooseth me shall
get as much as he deserves. (7)
3. The lead casket: Who chooseth me must
give and hazard all he hath. (9)

The Prince thinks carefully about the riddles. He
rejects the lead casket because he finds it
threatening. Moreover, he thinks that to hazard or
gamble for wealth is foolish and beneath a person of

70

his class, a person who has a golden mind (20).
Someone with intelligence, the Prince suggests,
would never foolishly gamble away all that he
possesses.
The Prince of Morocco also rejects the
silver casket. As a prince, he feels that he deserves
as much as any man; but he also has a small doubt
as to whether he deserves the Lady Portia.
However, he then argues that to doubt his merits, to
doubt whether he deserves Portia or not, is a sign of
weakness (line 30). He then convinces himself that
he is as deserving as any other man and more
deserving than most.
So, the Prince then reexamines the riddle on
the gold casket. He immediately believes that
what many men desire must refer to Portia herself
(line 38). After all, many men have come from all
parts of the western world to become suitors to
Portia. In addition, the Prince applies two
metaphors to convince himself that the choice of
the gold casket is, indeed, the correct choice:

1. Portia is like a diamond or rare gem set in a
gold band or ring. Gold is the only
appropriate setting for such a rare gem as
Portia. (54-55)
2. Portias image is like the angel engraved on
the gold coin that was referred to as an
angel. (55-57)


71

The Prince thus concludes that the portrait must
reside in the golden casket; and, so, he asks Portia
for the key to open it.
The Prince, however, is shocked and upset
by what he finds inside. Instead of the portrait, he
discovers a skull with a scroll inside one of the eye
sockets. On the scroll is the following inscription:

All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told.
Many a man his life has sold
But my outside to behold.
Gilded tombs do worms infold. (65-69)

The first sentence indicates that a person cannot
always judge something or someone by the outside
appearance. And that certainly is true with the
casket. The Prince made his choice based on what
he saw on the surface. He was too superficial. The
second sentence indicates that many men have
risked and lost their lives because of gold or
because of some other superficial reason that really
did not merit such a risk. The last sentence (line 69)
is a fitting metaphor. A king or prince may be
buried in a beautiful and ornate coffin and tomb that
is decorated with real gold, but such decoration will
not prevent the dead body inside from rotting. The
beauty on the outside holds ugliness on the inside.
The Princes golden casket, then, is a gold coffin in
miniature; and so it is fitting that the Prince should
find the skull inside.

72

The Prince of Morocco then sadly takes his
leave, and Portia is happy to see him go without his
expected prize.

Act II, Scene 8: My Ducats and My Daughter

A conversation between Salerio and Solanio
provides the audience with some necessary
information regarding the plot.
First, the audience learns that Bassanio and
Graziano have successfully set sail for Belmont, but
Lorenzo and Jessica were not in the ship with them.
Second, Shylock has discovered that both
his daughter and his money (ducats) are missing and
has demanded that the Duke should search
Bassanios ship. However, the Duke is too late; for
Bassanio has already sailed off.
In addition to losing his money and
daughter, Shylock is also missing two valuable
gemstones. The moneylender is outraged, and he
irrationally screams about his the loss of his
stones, his daughter, and his ducats (24). The boys
of Venice laugh and make fun of Shylock because
the word stone also was Renaissance slang for
testicle. So, when Shylock screams about the loss
of his two stones, the boys (and the Renaissance
audience) would quickly interpret that line as
Shylock screaming that he has lost his testicles.
Shylock has been metaphorically castrated, and the

73

audience is pleased that such an unsavory character
has gotten what he deserves.
Third, one of Antonios ships has suffered a
disaster and is wrecked. Salerio worries that
Antonio may have trouble paying the debt he owes
to Shylock. Salerio also tells Solanio that Antonio
had told Bassanio to take his time and be a proper
and gracious suitor towards Portia. Antonio had
also told Bassanio not to worry about the debt.
Bassanio, now that he has left Venice, will have no
way of knowing about Antonios financial
difficulty. The tension in the conflict between
Antonio and Shylock now starts to increase. At this
point in the play, Antonio appears to be in danger of
losing his life.

Act II, Scene 9: The Second Attempt

Back in Belmont another suitor to Portia is
attempting to win her as his bride. The fairy-tale
quality of the play soon becomes evident. This
scene parallels the one in which the Prince of
Morocco had attempted to win Portia (Act II, Scene
7). Both the dialogue and the action of the scene
establish a pattern that will conclude with the third
attempt (by Bassanio in Act III, Scene 2). Similar
to Morocco, the Prince of Aragon in the ninth scene
reads over the riddles on the caskets, evaluates them
carefully, and chooses incorrectly.

74

The third times the charm! This is a
popular idiomatic expression that rose to popularity
during the nineteenth century. The expression
suggests that someone who fails to achieve a goal
on the first two tries or attempts will be successful
on the third try. The origins of this expression,
however, go back much earlier to folk tales and
fairy tales passed down to later generations through
an oral tradition in literature. Fairy tales
especially follow the pattern of three. A good
example is the story of Rumplestiltskin. In this
tale a magical imp or elf demands that a princess
must hand over her child to him as she had
promised unless she can guess his name in three
days. At the end of the first two days, the princess
guesses incorrectly; but on the third day she
discovers the strange name, Rumplestiltskin, and
thus is able to keep her child.
The Prince of Aragon, unfortunately, is
making only the second attempt. Thus, in fairy-tale
tradition, he cannot succeed. Even audiences back
in 1597 were apparently familiar with this pattern.
Shakespeare thus establishes certain expectations
for his audience and delivers on them. The
technique (the pattern of three) satisfies the
audience who will anticipate the expected outcome
but will still enjoy the manner in which the
playwright handles the details. Moreover, as to the
outcome of the main conflict the one involving
Antonio and Shylock the audience still remains
uncertain.

75

The Prince of Aragon, before he can make
his selection, promises to obey three rules (again,
note the number):

1. He must not reveal to anyone which casket
he chose and what he found inside.
2. He must promise never to get married to
anyone if he fails to choose the right casket.
3. He must immediately leave Belmont if he
chooses incorrectly.

The risk is great; but Aragon, like Morocco, feels
that the prize is worth that risk.
The suitor from Aragon then proceeds to
read the inscriptions (or riddles) and to make his
choice. The Prince rejects the lead casket, the
inscription of which reads that he must give and
hazard all he hath (20). He asserts that the casket
must be fairer (more beautiful) before he would risk
or gamble on it. Like Morocco, the Prince of
Aragon is judging by appearances.
Aragon also rejects the gold casket, the
inscription of which read that the chooser shall
gain what many men desire (23). The Prince
interprets the words many men to indicate the
foolish masses or multitude. The Prince of Aragon
feels that he is superior to common men. Aragon is,
then, a rather proud man.
That leaves the silver casket, which carries
the inscription that the chooser shall get as much
as he deserves (35). Because he is a proud man,
the Prince of Aragon firmly believes that he is more

76

deserving of Portia than any other man. The Prince
then makes a short speech about honor and merit,
and the speech also serves the function of social
criticism:

Let none presume
To wear an undeserved dignity.
O, that estates, degrees, and offices
Were not derived corruptly, and that clean honour
Were purchased by the merit of the wearer!
(38-42)

The lines suggest that many men in society hold
highly honored positions and high-ranking titles,
but such men do not deserve these positions and
titles because such men lack merit. They have done
nothing to earn their positions or titles.
Shakespeare himself would fully agree with Aragon
on this point. The playwright was well aware that
during the Renaissance the class system in England
was unfair and unjust. Many aristocrats treated the
commoners unfairly and even cruelly at times. A
key word in this speech is honor. Aristocrats felt
that only aristocrats were capable of being
honorable. Shakespeare, time and again in his
plays, showed that this was not entirely true.
Shakespeares most glaring example of this idea
was the creation of the character of Falstaff (in the
Henry IV plays). Falstaff was a knight, an
aristocrat; but he was also the embodiment of
dishonor.
Yet, despite the playwrights agreement with
the speech, Aragon is not the man to win Portia. He

77

thinks he deserves more than he actually does.
Instead of finding a portrait of Portia inside the
casket, he instead finds a portrait of a fool or idiot
(53). The proud Prince is shocked by what he finds
and asks, Are my deserts no better? (59). The
word deserts here means what he deserves. And, as
Shakespeare reveals, what he deserves for his
foolish pride is a portrait of a fool.
Along with the portrait of the fool is an
inscription. It begins with the following words:

The fire seven times tried this;
Seven times tried that judgement is
That did never choose amiss. (62-64)

The word this refers to the silver metal, and the
word tried means purified. In order for the metal
used on the casket to become one hundred percent
pure silver, it had to be heated and melted many
times to remove all of the impurities. The silver is
thus a metaphor for judgment. One gains sound and
unerring judgment only after many experiences and
trials. The inscription thus indicates that the Prince
of Aragon was lacking in judgment. He is not wise
enough to make the right decision.
The next two lines of the inscription are as
follows:

Some there be that shadows kiss,
Such have but a shadows bliss. (65-66)


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In this sentence the word shadows refers to a
reflection. Some men are so much in love with
themselves that they kiss their own reflections (like
Narcissus in the Greek myth). Egotistical self-love,
the words suggest, will not lead to bliss or
happiness.
The use of silver for this particular casket is
explained with the following lines:

There be fools alive, iwis,
Silvered oer; and so was this. (67-68)

Just because a man gets older does not necessarily
mean that the man gets wiser. Even men with gray,
white, or silver hair can be fools. The word this
also refers to the casket. The Prince of Aragon, thus
feeling very much a fool, then quickly leaves
Belmont.
At the end of the scene, a messenger arrives
to inform Portia about the coming of Bassanio. The
third attempt to win Portias hand will soon be
made. The third time will be the charm.

ACT III

Act III, Scene 1: If You Prick Us,
Do We Not Bleed?

Back in Venice Solanio and Salerio are
discussing a rumor that another of Antonios ships
has crashed. If the rumor is true, that will cause
Antonio severe financial difficulties; and he may
not be able to pay back Shylock the money that he
had borrowed.
Shylock then approaches them. He is still
complaining about how his daughter ran away with
his money and jewels. Solanio and Salerio tease
Shylock because they feel that he deserves the
discomfort that he is experiencing. When Shylock
mentions his daughters flight (22), that is, his
daughters running away, Salerio jokes that he
knew the tailor that made the wings which helped
her to fly away (23-24). This is a pun. On the one
hand, the word wings refers to a decorative flap on
the sleeves of clothing. But Salerio is also
suggesting that he knew the person who helped or
who caused Jessica to run away.
Solanio also picks up on the bird metaphor
and informs Shylock that there comes a time when
all fledglings (young birds) must leave the nest and
their dam (meaning mother).
Shylock then uses a pun on the word dam,
but his meaning is a spiteful condemnation of his
own daughter:


80

She is damned for it. (28)

Solanio and Salerio do not agree, and suggest only a
devil or Shylock would damn her for that act,
not God. They continue to tease Shylock when he
makes the following complaint:

My own flesh and blood to rebel! (30)

By flesh and blood Shylock means his own
daughter, but the words in another context could
refer to the body and the intense emotion of lust.
The emotion of lust rebels against ones better
judgment or reason (the emotion vs. reason
conflict). Thus, Solanio laughs at Shylock for
feeling lustful at his age.
On a more serious note, Salerio asks
Shylock if he would really demand a pound of flesh
from Antonio if Antonio is unable to pay him back
the money. Shylock spitefully tells him that he
would because, although the flesh has no other use
than to be used as bait for fishes, the flesh will also
feed my revenge (46). The character of Shylock
then launches into a well-known speech about his
grievances. Shylock forcefully and thoughtfully
argues that a Jew is just as human as any Christian
and experiences the same pains and joys as any
Christian. He then continues with the following
lines:


81

If you prick us do we not bleed? If you
tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison
us do we not die? And if you wrong us
shall we not revenge? If we are like you
in the rest, we will resemble you in that.
(54-57)

Shylock does make some valid points. Jews in
Renaissance society were victims of prejudice.
They were treated unfairly. But revenge is not a
virtue of the true Christian, and hatred and spite are
not aspects of Christian belief. Hatred and spite on
either side will only contribute to further hatred,
spite, prejudice, and revenge in the future.
Moreover, and more importantly, Shylock is not
just any Jew. He is not a model or representative of
his race. Shylock is, purely and simply, a villain.
As noted earlier, Shylock does not represent the
typical Jew any more than the villain Iago (in
Othello) represents all Christians. Shylock uses the
plural pronoun us to refer to all Jews. But this is
not a tale of Jews versus Christians. It is a tale of
Antonio versus Shylock. Shakespeare is not
interested in making sweeping social statements.
Rather, his focus is on character, on the individual,
and on the dramatic tension that arises from the
interaction of individual men.
To remind the audience that the focus is on a
rather extraordinary and despicable individual
rather than on an entire race of people, Shakespeare
then quickly follows the notable speech with

82

dialogue of a much different nature. Shylock
complains to Tubal, a fellow Jew, about the money
and jewels that Jessica took with her:

I would my daughter were dead at my foot
and the jewels in her ear! Would she were
hearsed at my foot and the ducats in her
coffin! (74-76)

The word would means wish, the word hearsed
means placed dead in a coffin, and the word ducats
refers to the gold coins. Shylocks desire for
revenge is more important to him than getting back
his money. He wishes for his own daughter to be
dead. Shylock values money, but even more
important to him are hatred and revenge. There is
no love in Shylock. There is no kindness in him.
The lines here foreshadow how Shylock will later
act toward Antonio. Just as he wishes for the death
of his own daughter out of revenge, he will demand
the death of Antonio for the same reason.
Toward the end of the scene, Tubal informs
Shylock that he has heard news of yet another
wreck of one of Antonios ships. Shylock is
delighted to hear this news. He now knows that
Antonio cannot pay him back. So, the malicious
moneylender hurries to get an officer to demand the
arrest of Antonio.


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Act III, Scene 2: I Live upon the Rack

The next scene is set at Belmont, where
Bassanio is ready to choose from among the three
caskets. Portia is clearly attracted to Bassanio, and
she asks him to wait a day or two (or a month or
two) before he chooses. She is afraid that he may
choose incorrectly, and she would like to enjoy his
company at least for a short time. Portia would
choose Bassanio for a husband if the choice were
left up to her, but she is an honorable lady and will
not act contrary to the conditions set in her fathers
will. She will not tell Bassanio which casket to
choose even though she clearly desires for him to
choose the correct one:

Let fortune go to hell for it, not I. (21)

The result, Portia is asserting, lies in the power of
Fate or Dame Fortune. As a good Christian, Portia
believes that honoring her father is a virtue and
disobeying him is a sin. Disobeying a parent is a
Mortal Sin because such an act breaks one of the
Ten Commandments: honor thy father and mother.
Christians believe that such sins could lead to the
eternal damnation of the soul such sins are mortal
or deadly to the soul. Because Portia is a virtuous
lady and a good Christian, she cannot tell Bassanio
which casket to choose. However, she clearly feels
that her marriage to Bassanio would be a good and
virtuous result. So, if Fate prevents such a virtuous

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act from occurring, then Dame Fortune herself
should be damned to hell.
Despite Portias pleas to postpone making
his choice, Bassanio is too anxious. Bassanio says
that waiting to find out his fate will be torture to
him: I live upon the rack (25). The rack was a
device used to torture prisoners traitors especially
into making confessions. The prisoners arms and
legs would be pulled in opposite directions, and the
excruciating pain would cause any man to confess
to just about anything. Portia wittily asks Bassanio
if he is a traitor to love: that is, she is asking him if
he would be an unfaithful lover. But Bassanio plays
on the idea of confession and swears that he will
confess all if Portia promises him life (line 34). For
Bassanio, life can only mean life with Portia. Life
without Portia is death to him.

Act III, Scene 2: Where is Fancy Bred?

Portia finally agrees to allow Bassanio to
make his choice, and she requests that music be
played while Bassanio thinks about the inscriptions
on the caskets. Portia compares the situation to the
custom of playing music beneath a bridegrooms
window on the morning of his wedding day (lines
52-53). She is hoping, of course, that Bassanio will
be a bridegroom and that this will be their own
wedding day.

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Portia also compares the situation to the
Greek mythological story about Hercules (who was
also called Alcides) and his rescue of a Trojan
princess. In that story the virgin princess is tied to a
rock along a shore as a sacrifice to a sea monster
that was terrorizing the city. Hercules slew the
monster and rescued the princess. In a triple
metaphor, Bassanio is Hercules, Portia the princess,
and cruel fate is the sea monster. If Bassanio
chooses correctly, Portia will be saved. But if he
chooses incorrectly, then Portia will feel like she is
being devoured by a cruel fate. Life without
Bassanio will be like death to her.
The song follows Portias speech:

Tell me where is fancy bred?
Or in the heart or in the head?
How begot? How nourished?
Reply, reply.
It is engendered in the eyes,
With gazing fed; and fancy dies
In the cradle where it lies.
Let us all ring fancys knell.
Ill begin it: ding, dong, bell.
Ding dong, bell. (63-72)

The first line of this poem is quite famous and often
repeated. The word fancy can mean imagination,
but here specially refers to love. The first singer
asks about the origin of love. Does love begin in
ones heart or ones head? The chorus (at line 67)
responds that neither one is correct. Love actually

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begins with the eyes or in the eyes. The song is
actually an example of irony, an ironic counterpoint
to the idea of true love suggested by the relationship
of Portia and Bassanio (and of Lorenzo and
Jessica). The words suggest that love is superficial
and does not last long, for it dies in its cradle (the
eyes). The word cradle actually suggests two
possibilities about loves end: (1) Love dies in its
infancy. Love never matures or grows up. (2) Love
dies when the lover no longer sees the person he
was attracted to in the same way. When the lover
first sees a woman he adores, he does not see her
accurately. His imagination adds to her attractions.
But, later, when love cools, he sees her more
realistically; and then love dies. That is why the
song calls for a death knell (funeral bells) to be
played at the death of fancy or love.
However, despite the irony of the lyrics, the
comic song does not affect the audiences hope that
Bassanio will choose the correct casket.


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Act III, Scene 2: Shadow and Substance

Bassanio makes a speech to himself (an
aside) as he thinks about the three caskets and their
inscriptions. Bassanio quickly notes that a person
should not be quick to judge by appearances.
Religious hypocrites hide their false ways and false
words with a gracious voice and with the sacred
words of a religious text (lines 77-80). And
cowards hide their lack of bravery by wearing the
beards of Hercules and frowning Mars (line 85:
Mars is the Roman god of war). And seemingly
beautiful women hide their physical flaws through
the use of cosmetics or make-up or by using wigs
(lines 88-94). So, for these reasons, Bassanio
rejects the gold casket and the silver one, adding the
comment that silver is actually just a common
drudge (worker or laborer) because numerous
coins are made with silver. Thus, the beauty of it
hides its baseness.
So, Bassanio chooses the leaden casket, and
Portia is overjoyed by the choice.
Bassanio finds a beautiful portrait of Portia
inside, and he marvels at the artistry of the likeness.
But then he comments that despite the beauty of the
painting, the real Portia is far more beautiful: this
shadow doth limp behind the substance (129-30).
The word shadow refers to the portrait, and the
word substance refers to Portia herself. At this
point in the play Bassanio would then look up from
the portrait and stare at Portia.

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Along with the portrait is also a scroll,
which bears the following inscription:

You that choose not by the view
Chance as fair and choose as true.
Since this fortune falls to you,
Be content and seek no new.
If you be well pleased with this,
And hold your fortune for your bliss,
Turn you where your lady is,
And claim her with a loving kiss. (131-38)

The fairy-tale rhyme emphasizes the idea of fate or
fortune. Portias father did not want his daughter to
marry someone who made his choices based on
appearances. Love (and marriage) based on
appearances or other superficial circumstances will
not last. The metaphor suggests that the fancy or
love between Bassanio and Portia, then, is not bred
or engendered in the eyes.


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Act III, Scene 2: The Ring

Portia makes a speech to Bassanio in which
she tells him that he is now master of the mansion
and of herself. She also hands a ring to Bassanio:

I give them with this ring,
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love,
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.
(171-74)

The fairy-tale quality of the subplot thus continues
with this ring business. The ring becomes a magical
symbol of their love, and the loss of the ring would
thus signify an end of their love.
Bassanio puts the ring on his finger and
makes a solemn vow or promise that he shall never
remove the ring:

But when this ring
Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence.
(183-84)

Bassanio claims that the only way that the ring will
ever leave his finger is when he is dead and thus
unable to stop anyone from removing it. The vow
is a vow of honor, and Bassanio must keep his
word. However, this is a comedy, not a fairy tale.
And so the ensuing events will not be the same as
those in a fairy tale.

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The happy news is made happier still when
Graziano asks Bassanio if he can be married on the
same day that Bassanio and Portia are to wed. As
Graziano explains, he had long been interested in
Nerissa, Portias maid. But Nerissa told him that
she would marry him only if Bassanio successfully
chose the correct casket and would marry Portia.
Bassanio is happy for his friend and agrees to the
double-wedding ceremony.

Act III, Scene 2: The Creature

The feeling of happiness for Bassanio and
the others at Belmont lasts all too briefly; for
moments later Salerio, along with Lorenzo and
Jessica, arrives and informs Bassanio about
Antonios misfortunes. In a letter from Antonio,
Bassanio reads that all of his business ventures have
failed: all of Antonios merchant ships have
suffered mishap and disaster.
To make matters worse, now that Antonios
debt is past the due date, Shylock refuses to accept
any payment but instead demands the pound of
flesh as Antonio had promised. Salerio contributes
to the description of Shylock as something
unnatural and monstrous:


91

Never did I know
A creature that did bear the shape of man
So keen and greedy to confound a man.
(273-75)

The word keen means eager and the word confound
means destroy. Salerio further states that despite
the pleas of many merchants, lords, and the Duke
himself, Shylock insists on carrying out the terms of
the contract and taking the life of Antonio. Jessica,
Shylocks daughter, adds that her fathers
vengeance and hatred are more important to him
than any amount of money.
The understanding Portia tells Bassanio that,
as soon as they are wed but before they even have a
chance to spend one night together, he must hurry
back to Venice and try to help his friend. Portia
even supplies Bassanio with many times the amount
of money owed to Shylock so that he can pay off
Antonios debt.
To show how dear a friend Antonio is to
him, Bassanio reads the letter to Portia. Antonio
makes only one request of Bassanio: if I might
see you at my death (317-18). The still
melancholy merchant accepts his fate and does not
expect rescue or help of any kind.


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Act III, Scene 3: The Course of Law

In a brief scene, Antonio, being led by the
jailor, attempts to talk to Shylock. The
moneylender, however, refuses to listen. Shylock,
oddly, even describes himself in less-than-human
terms:

Thou calledst me a dog before thou hadst a cause,
But since I am a dog, beware my fangs. (6-7)

The metaphor suggests that Shylock is violent,
vicious, and wild. More importantly, like a wild
animal, Shylock is incapable of rational thought.
Antonio realizes that to reason with him is useless;
and, so, the merchant resigns himself to his fate.
Solanio, Antonios friend, thinks that the
Duke of Venice will never allow Shylock to take
the pound of flesh and to take the life of Antonio.
But Antonio explains that the Duke does not really
have a choice:

The Duke cannot deny the course of law,
For the commodity that strangers have
With us in Venice, if it be denied,
Will much impeach the justice of the state,
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Consisteth of all nations. (26-31)

The word commodity refers to the trade agreement
between Venice and other nations. The laws of
trade and commerce apply to all of the nations that
do business with one another. If the Duke breaks a

93

law for the personal reason of saving Antonio, that
action will set a precedent: other nations could then
break laws when they have personal reasons to do
so. Of course, no nation will want to trade or
conduct business with another nation if that other
nation is dishonorable and does not follow the rules,
practices, and laws of international commerce.
Thus, if the Duke interferes and denies Shylocks
contract from being fulfilled, the entire economy of
Venice would be affected. It would be ruined
because other countries would soon learn that the
Duke of Venice denied the terms of a legal and
binding contract.

Act III, Scene 4: A Strange Transformation

Back at Belmont, Portia tells Lorenzo and
others that she does not regret sending her new
husband to Venice to help his friend. She has heard
that Antonio is very similar to Bassanio and adds

If it be so,
How little is the cost I have bestowed
In purchasing the semblance of my soul
From out the state of hellish cruelty. (18-21)

The phrase contains a double-metaphor. By the
word soul, Portia is referring to Bassanio. The one
who bears a semblance (or resemblance or
similarity) to that soul (that is, to Bassanio) is

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Antonio. Thus, Portia is declaring that saving
Antonio from Shylocks cruelty is certainly worth
the money that she has made available to Bassanio.
Portia then asks Lorenzo to take care of her
estate while she goes away for a brief time. She
tells Lorenzo that she and Nerissa are going to a
monastery to pray until Bassanio and Graziano
safely return. However, this is not true. Actually,
Portia and Nerissa intend to disguise themselves as
men and go to Venice in order to help Bassanio in
the rescue of Antonio.
Privately to Nerissa, Portia jokes that she
will be a more attractive man than Nerissa. Portia
also looks forward to boasting and bragging (like
many men do) about how he caused many fine
ladies to fall in love with him; but, because he
rejected all of them, they fell sick and died (71).
The humor, though, is just a cover for the
extremely serious business that Portia has in mind.
Despite having been honor-bound to fulfill the
rather odd request in her fathers will, Portia is an
extremely intelligent and clever woman who is
capable of taking many serious matters into her own
hands. In fact, she is shrewder and more capable
than the men in this play. However, during the
time of the Renaissance, affairs of business and
state were controlled mostly by men. Portia is well
aware that the only way to be successful in the
world of men is to become a man herself. And, so,
even though Portia apparently accepted the role of
fate in regards to her marriage and choice of
husband, at this point in the play Portia takes charge

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and challenges the fate that supposedly awaits
Antonio.
Shakespeare apparently enjoyed the
complexities of gender identity in his play. In
other comedies, notably Twelfth Night with the
character of Viola and As You Like It with the
character of Rosalind, Shakespeare also employed
the device of women disguising themselves as men.
Shakespeare, in many ways, was an early feminist,
well aware of and sympathetic to the trials and
tribulations that women faced in his time. More
importantly, Shakespeare wrote his comedies at a
time when a woman, Queen Elizabeth, sat on the
throne of England. That ruler of England surely
would have experienced great delight and pleasure
in seeing clever female characters like Rosalind and
Portia on the stage.
Moreover, the shift in identity was
particularly practical in increasing the comic
potential of the play during the time of the
Renaissance; for men and boys played the parts of
the women. Thus, a young male actor would play
the female Portia who is then disguised as a young
man. Audiences, swept up by the illusion of the
play, might temporarily forget or ignore the fact that
a female character was played by a male actor. But
the shift or change of identity could shake that
illusion.
In addition, although the other characters of
the play are fooled by the disguises, the audience is
in on the joke. The audience laughs at the male
characters who are fooled by the disguised females

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while, perhaps, still marveling at the cleverness of
the male actor who portrays a woman who portrays
a man.

Act III, Scene 5: The Sins of the Father

At Belmont the clown Lancelot is speaking
with Jessica and tells her

The sins of the father are to be laid upon
the children. (1-2)

This is an extremely famous quote, and the source
of it comes from the Old Testament of the Bible
(specifically, chapter 20 of Exodus). The great
Greek writer of tragedies, Euripides, also wrote a
similar line: "The gods visit the sins of the fathers
upon the children" (in a surviving fragment of a lost
play entitled Phrixus).
The line from the Bible is actually a
warning: fathers who commit sins teach, by
example, their sons to commit the same sins. And,
so, the sons commit the same sins when they grow
up. The line in the Bible, then, is actually a
suggestion to all fathers that they should lead sinless
lives so that their children will then become sinless
as well.
Superstitious people of early times,
however, interpreted the passage as a kind of curse.
That is, they believed that God cursed the sinful

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man and that the curse was passed down on his
children whether they were innocent or guilty of
committing any sins themselves.
In the fifth scene the clown Lancelot
displays his wit. The scene is humorous, and the
reader should note how the play now shifts into
prose. Since the lowly clown dominates the
dialogue, the use of prose distinguishes it from the
elevated language of those with higher social rank.
However, the dialogue is also rich with word play
and cleverness.
Lancelot, who interprets the lines about the
sins of the father as a curse, tells Jessica that she is
damned because her father Shylock is a most
grievous sinner. Lancelot then sets up his joke: he
tells Jessica that she has once chance or hope of
going to Heaven, but that chance is a bastard hope
(6). What that expression actually means is false
hope. Jessica falls for the joke and asks Lancelot to
explain. The clown then tells her that her only hope
is that Shylock is not really her true father: in other
words, Lancelot is suggesting that if her mother had
sexual relations with another man, then she will not
be cursed by Shylocks sins. Jessica is clever
herself, and sees a fallacy with Lancelots
explanation. If her own mother had sexual relations
with another man, she would then be guilty of
adultery, which is also a serious sin. Thus, the sin
of the mother would be passed down to Jessica.
She would be damned either way.
Lancelot then suggests that Jessicas parents
are like two mythological sea monsters, Scylla and

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Charybdis. If one monster (or sinner) does not get
her, then the other will.
Although the wordplay of Lancelot and
Jessica does provide comic relief in the play, the
dialogue also serves to function as a social
comment. Many Christians during the Renaissance
did believe that all Jews were damned to Hell.
They believed that only people who believed in
Jesus Christ as the son of God and who followed the
teachings of Christ would enter Heaven.
Shakespeare subtly gets his audience thinking about
the nature of sin and guilt and salvation. Jessica is a
good and positive character in the play, and the
members of the audience might then start to
question their belief that all Jews are damned.
The witty Lancelot continues to display his
wit throughout the scene:

1. He tells Jessica that if Lorenzo converts her
to a Christian, that will raise the price of
hogs (19). He implies that since Jews do
not eat pork, the price of that meat is not
expensive. But if all Jews were converted to
Christians, they would then eat pork and
such meat would then become more difficult
to obtain.
2. He puns on the words Moor and more when
Lorenzo tells him that the Moor, a woman
from northern Africa, has become pregnant
by him. Lorenzo comments that such a
woman is more than reason (34-35) or
beyond reason as well as meaning bigger

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than is reasonable. She is becoming bigger
(more) because of the baby growing within
her.
3. When Lorenzo asks Lancelot to bid their
guests to prepare for dinner, the clown
responds with they have all stomachs (41).
Lorenzo means that the guests should come
to dinner, but Lancelot jokes that the only
preparation needed for eating dinner is to
have a stomach. Thus, the guests are
already prepared for the meal.
4. Lancelot also makes a triple pun with the
word cover: (a) cover the table means to set
the table; (b) cover also refers to a hat, a
covering for the head; and (c) a cover also
refers to a covered dish.

After Lancelot exits, the language of the
dialogue becomes poetic once again. Lorenzo
comments to Jessica about Lancelots play with
words:

I do know
A many fools that stand in better place,
Garnished like him, that for a tricksy word
Defy the matter. (57-60)

Lorenzo is suggesting that a great many people
holding positions of respect and authority also use
or manipulate language to defy the matter. In
other words such people twist language around in
order to justify their actions and behavior, to act

100

contrary to law or sense. Again, Shakespeare is
subtly making another statement about society and
about people in authority (social commentary).
Some of the people in such high positions are, in
fact, merely fools; but they do not realize it.
Lorenzos comment may also get the
audience thinking about words and their use and
misuse and abuse. The words of a legal contract,
such as the one written between Antonio and
Shylock, also contain a great many words that can
be manipulated and misconstrued and open to
interpretation. Lorenzos comment thus
foreshadows the act that follows.

ACT IV

Act IV, Scene 1: Shylocks Humour

The climax of the subplot the tale of
Bassanio and Portia involving fate and the three
caskets occurs in the third act just as Bassanio is
about to make his choice of caskets.
But the climax of the main plot the tale of
Antonio and Shylock involving choices and legal
contracts occurs in Act IV. The scene is set in the
court of Venice; and Antonio is ready to accept his
fate, to accept his own death. Antonio even thanks
the Duke of Venice for trying to help his cause, but
Shylock refuses to accept any and all offers: the
moneylender demands his pound of flesh. So,
Antonio tells the Duke that he is armed to suffer
with a quietness of spirit the very tyranny and rage
of Shylock (10-12). However, although
Shakespeare was a strong believer in the power and
tyranny of fate, the playwright also knew that there
were occasions when man could control the
outcome of a conflict. Man should not always be so
ready to accept meekly and passively what may
appear to be an expected fate. There are times
when the spirit should not be quiet.
Unfortunately, Antonio is too passive and
too melancholy. Thus, a different hero must step
forward to take Antonios place in the conflict
against Shylock. And that hero, stepping out of her
role as a passive sufferer of fate in the subplot, is
Portia. In the main plot Portia becomes an active

102

figure with a tremendously strong and vital spirit
who opposes both Shylock and what Antonio
believes is a verdict of fate. In Act IV Portia
becomes the protagonist of the main plot.
Before Portia arrives in Venice, the Duke
asks Shylock to reconsider his determination to take
the pound of flesh. He asks Shylock for a show of
mercy (19).
Shylock, though, remains stubborn. He
realizes that he is being illogical and tells the Duke
that he is motivated by his humour (42). During
the Middle Ages people in England believed that
erratic behavior in humans was caused by an excess
of one of four bodily fluids called humours:
sanguine, choler, melancholy, and phlegm. Shylock
specifically is suggesting the first of these: a
sanguinary person is often depicted as violent and
being eager for bloodshed. Shakespeare depicts
Shylock, then, as a person who is overwhelmed by
his passions and emotions. In nearly every play
Shakespeare reveals that in the conflict of Reason
vs. Emotion, if the emotion is extraordinarily
intense, then it will defeat any and all reason. Since
Shylock is beyond reason, the words of the Duke
are wasted on him.
Shakespeare, through the character of
Shylock, explains that many men often act
irrationally for what seems to be very slight or
insubstantial causes:


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1. A man will pay a fortune to another to
get rid of a rat in his house.
(lines 44-45)
2. A man goes crazy when he sees a
roasted pig with its mouth open. (46)
3. A man goes mad whenever he sees a cat.
(47)
4. A man urinates in his pants whenever he
hears a bagpipe. (48-49)

Such men cannot explain why they act the way they
do. There is no rational or logical explanation.
They are victims of their emotions. Shylock admits
that he is the same way: So can I give no reason
(58). Shylock admits that his emotions, specifically
hate and loathing, motivate him (59). He
cannot give another reason, for he is emotional
(unreasonable).
Bassanio, fearing for his friends safety,
cannot accept Shylocks answer. But Antonio tells
him that Shylocks very nature cannot be changed
anymore than the nature of a wolf that attacks a
lamb (lines 72-73). The wolfs nature is to attack
and kill the lamb, and Shylocks nature is to attack
and kill Antonio. The metaphor is appropriate in
that wolves act out of nature and instinct rather than
logic. Yet the metaphor also suggests that Shylock
is less than human in his behavior. And Antonio
adds that Shylock is different from other humans in
that he has a hard heart (lines 78-79). So, Antonio

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asks Bassanio to stop from trying to dissuade the
moneylender.

Act IV, Scene 1: Hypocrisy

The Duke asks Shylock how he can ever
expect mercy when he shows none toward others
(line 87). At this point Shakespeare, through the
character of Shylock, inserts some social
commentary. Shylock, in return, asks the Duke
why the people of Italy do not show mercy to their
slaves. During the Middle Ages and earlier, slaves
were treated like animals, overworked and abused.
And even in the time of Shakespeare, the attitude of
most Christian leaders was a toleration and
acceptance of slavery. In fact, slavery continued to
exist within the British Empire until the Slavery
Abolition Act of 1833. Shylock is correct in
pointing out that people who accept and support
slavery have no right to talk about mercy. A slave
owner who talks about mercy is, thus, a hypocrite;
for the very institution of slavery was one without
mercy.
Of course, slavery is wrong; but, as the old
maxim goes, two wrongs dont make a right. One
act of injustice and immorality does not give others
permission to commit similar acts of injustice
elsewhere. Although Shylock is correct in pointing
out the hypocrisy of slave owners, he is wrong in
thinking that it justifies his own behavior.

105

From the Christian point of view, one sin
can never justify another sin. Later, when Shylock
sharpens his knife on the sole of his shoe, Graziano
makes the following pun:

Not on thy sole but on thy soul, harsh Jew,
Thou makst thy knife keen. (122-23)

Graziano is clearly suggesting that Shylocks act
will damn him to hell for all eternity.
Graziano continues his criticism of Shylock
with a reference to Pythagoras, the philosopher of
ancient Greece. Pythagoras believed in
reincarnation, the belief that the souls of man can
return to earth in the forms of animals. Although
Graziano is a Christian who does not believe in
reincarnation, he tells Shylock that his very
existence makes him question that belief: for
Shylock must have surely been a dog or a wolf in a
past life. Graziano describes Shylock as wolvish,
bloody, starved, and ravenous (137). Grazianos
comment is just one more contribution to the
already large list of lines and phrases that describe
Shylock as something inhuman and monstrous.


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Act IV, Scene 1: The Quality of Mercy

The Duke of Venice summons a noted
lawyer named Bellario to defend Antonio and
determine the legality of Shylocks claim on the
pound of flesh. Bellario, though, sends a letter to
the Duke that he is sick and cannot come to Venice
at that time. However, in his place, Bellario is
sending a young but wise lawyer named Balthasar.
Actually, Balthasar is really Portia in her disguise
as a man. Portia, the play implies, knows Bellario
and has asked him to take his place so that she may
help her husbands best and closest friend.
When Portia (in disguise) arrives at the
court, Antonio informs her that he had agreed to the
terms of the contract between Shylock and himself.
Portia then declares that Shylock must be
merciful (177). She is implying that Shylock has
every legal right to take the pound of flesh, and only
if he decides to show mercy will Antonio be spared.
In other words, the forces of the law must support
Shylocks legal right. In regards to showing mercy,
Shylock asks, On what compulsion must I? (178).
He is asking what force or power would compel
him or make him show mercy. Portia responds with
an eloquent speech on mercy. This speech is one of
Shakespeares finest and most highly regarded
poems:


107

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
(180)
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
(185)
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
(190)
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
(195)
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.
(200)

In the first line Portia is telling Shylock that mercy
is not an attribute that is strained or forced. No one
will compel him to show mercy. Mercy must come
out of his own heart. The metaphor to the gentle
rain suggests not only a soft or mild rain but also

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indicates the other meaning of the adjective:
considerate and kindly. Mercy is an act of
kindness. In olden times the word gentle also
meant noble and chivalrous. Portia is thus implying
that showing mercy is also an act of honor.
Portia also indicates that an act of mercy
blesses both the giver and the receiver. Antonio
would obviously be blessed in a physical sense: his
life would be spared. But Shylock would be blessed
in a spiritual sense: his act of kindness and
goodness would be rewarded by God. Mercy is the
other side of the coin, so to speak. It is necessary to
balance the power of justice. Justice without mercy
is the quality of a tyrant, not of a good king. Justice
is an act of cool reason, but mercy is an act of warm
and tender feeling. Portia metaphorically suggests
that the kings crown and scepter are symbols of
temporal or earthly power, but his heart is a
symbol of heavenly or spiritual power. Mercy is
superior to justice, then, because it is an attribute of
the eternal soul and of God.
Portia further reminds Shylock that all
people on earth seek mercy from God. All people
are sinners. If God was a just God but not a
merciful one as well, then all people would be
damned to hell for all eternity. All people thus hope
for mercy: all people hope to be blessed by God.
Toward the end of her speech, Portia makes
reference to a Christian prayer (lines 195-96). She
is referring to the best known and most often recited
prayer in Christianity, The Lords Prayer:


109

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.
(Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 1662)

The word trespass means sin. Christians pray that
God will forgive them for their sins. They are
praying for God to be merciful to them. But the
prayer also indicates that people should forgive
others when those others commit acts of sin or
injustice towards them. The prayer is indicating
that all people should be forgiving: all people
should be merciful.
Despite the beauty and gentleness and power
of Portias eloquent and poetic words, Shylock
remains unmoved. He is incapable of showing
mercy.


110

Act IV, Scene 1: The Biblical Allusion to Daniel

Shylock responds to Portias excellent
speech with the following: My deeds upon my
head! I crave the law (201). Shylock is asserting
that he takes responsibility for his own actions or
deeds, but he is also implying that he does not care
at all about mercy and sin. As noted earlier,
Shylock acts solely out of passion. He is
sanguinary, a creature motivated solely by his desire
for violence and bloodshed. Thus, even if he will
be damned by God, he cannot and will not change
his mind.
Portia then declares that the law cannot be
broken and that the terms of the contract must be
fulfilled. If the court ruled against Shylock, it
would, as noted earlier, set a terrible precedent (line
215). The laws of Venice might no longer be held
as binding or meaningful. Portia is declaring that
the officials of Venice cannot break their own laws.
When Shylock hears that Portia is
supporting his side of the case, he declares

A Daniel come to the judgement, yea, a Daniel!
O wise young judge, how do I honour thee!
(218-19)

Shylock is referring to the Book of Daniel, a
religious book of the Jews that also appears in the
Catholic Bible (but not in Protestant Bibles). In
that book appears the story of young Daniel who
defends a woman named Susanna. Two older men

111

attempt to blackmail Susanna and accuse her of
having sexual relations with another man in her
garden. Daniel questions these men and reveals
their lies. The two false men are then put to death.
Like Daniel, Portia (in her disguise) is a
young and wise lawyer. But unlike Susanna,
Shylock is not an innocent and virtuous person, and
he is not a victim. The metaphor turns out to be an
appropriate one, though, for just as Daniel defended
the virtuous Susanna, Portia will defend the virtuous
Antonio.
Once again Portia offers Shylock several
times the amount of money that Antonio had
borrowed if Shylock will drop his demand for a
pound of flesh. Naturally, Shylock continues to
refuse these offers. Portia realizes that no amount
of money can sway Shylock from his demands, so
she tells Antonio to open his shirt and make himself
ready for Shylocks knife.


112

Act IV, Scene 1: Sad Farewell and Humor

Before Shylock cuts Antonio with his knife,
Portia asks the merchant if he has any final words to
say. The melancholy merchant states that Dame
Fortune (or fate) is actually being kind to him, for
most men lead a long life into an age of poverty and
misery (lines 262-67). At least, Antonio somberly
asserts, he does not have to worry about being old
and poor and miserable.
Antonio also comments about his affection
for his friend, Bassanio; and he is grateful that his
death at least served a useful purpose in helping
Bassanio to win a good and loving wife (lines 268-
76). Antonio has no regrets. He does not care
much for life, and he certainly cares little for the
misfortune that men suffer while on earth.
Bassanio is deeply moved by Antonios
words and declares that he would gladly sacrifice
his own wife and even his own life in order to save
Antonio.
Portia, still disguised as Balthasar, injects a
humorous aside at this point in the play: Your wife
would give you little thanks for that if she were by
to hear you make the offer (283-84). The aside is a
stage convention: Bassanio does not hear the words
although the audience does. Of course, all wives
wish for their husbands to value them over their
male friends. And the line is humorous because the
audience is on the joke: they know that Balthasar is
Portia; they know that Bassanios wife is nearby to
hear him make the offer. The lines function to

113

lighten the tense and sad dialogue between Antonio
and Bassanio. But the lines also serve the function
of foreshadowing a less than sad outcome for the
trial. Portia would not be so lighthearted unless she
knew that the trial would end happily for Antonio.
The humor is doubled when Graziano
makes a similar comment about his wife and his
wish for Antonios salvation. Nerissa, who is also
disguised as a male, also makes an aside about her
new husbands comment.
And the humor is tripled when Shylock
makes an aside about Christian husbands. He
asserts that he would rather have his daughter
married to a descendant of Barabbas, a Jewish thief,
than to a Christian (lines 290-92). Shylock is
suggesting that a Christian husband cannot be any
good if he is so quickly willing to give his wife up,
as Bassanio and Graziano seem to be.
The humor is short-lived, however, for
Shylock asserts that they are wasting time. He
wants his pound of flesh immediately.


114

Act IV, Scene 1: The Loophole

A loophole is a means of escaping a
difficulty, and the term is frequently applied to
certain legal contracts where imprecise or
ambiguous wording allows the terms of a contract
to be broken or reinterpreted. Portia announces
that Shylock shall have all justice (316). She is
stating that Shylock has legally won the case and
may take his pound of flesh from Antonios body.
But then, as Shylock approaches Antonio with his
knife, she tells him to wait and adds

He shall have nothing but the penalty. (317)

Portia means that Shylock must follow the terms of
the contract precisely. She explains about the
wording of the legal document and certain
conditions that Shylock must follow:

(1) The contract does not make any
mention of blood. Thus, if Shylock
takes even one drop of blood from
Antonio, he will be breaking the terms
of the contract. Obviously, one cannot
cut the flesh off of a person without
taking some blood with it.
(2) The contract specifies that Shylock may
take exactly one pound of flesh. Portia
states that if the weight is not exactly
one pound, even if it is just a fraction of
an ounce more or less, then Shylock

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will be breaking the terms of the
contract as well.

Both of these conditions are loopholes. Portia has
found a way for Antonio to escape his difficulty.
Portia informs Shylock that if he does not follow
the conditions of the contract precisely, then he will,
according to the laws of Venice, be put to death and
all of his belongings will be seized by the court.
Graziano applauds the wisdom of the young
lawyer and sarcastically throws Shylocks own
words back at him:

A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew!
Now, infidel, I have you on the hip. (328-29)

The expression on the hip is a wrestling term
which is used when one wrestler has an
advantageous hold on another. Graziano is
implying that he and Antonios other friends now
hold an advantage over Shylock. Shylock has lost
the case.
Shylock realizes that he has lost, and he
states that he will drop the case and accept the
amount of money that Antonio had borrowed (the
principal). Portia, though, informs him that he is
too late. Shylock has already refused the amount of
payment in open court. So, he may only take the
pound of flesh and nothing else. And, of course, if
Shylock breaks either of the two conditions that she
mentioned earlier, Shylock will lose his life.

116

Shylock, realizing that he has been defeated
and will get nothing, starts to leave. But Portia tells
him to wait. She then explains that Shylock has
broken a law of Venice. According to that law, if
an alien (someone who is not a citizen) attempts
either directly or indirectly to take the life of any
citizen of Venice, the citizen shall then receive half
of the goods of that alien and the state of Venice
shall seize the other half (lines 344-49). In addition,
the life of the offending alien shall lie in the mercy
of the Duke (350-51). Since Shylock did attempt
to take the life of Antonio, he has broken this law.
And now the moneylender, who offered no mercy
to Antonio, must depend upon the mercy of the
Duke in order to spare his life. In theater this
situation is an example of dramatic irony. The
effect is far different from what Shylock had hoped
and expected.
The Duke does not even ask Shylock to beg
for mercy but instead informs him that his life will
be spared. However, half of Shylocks wealth now
belongs to Antonio, and the other half belongs to
the state of Venice. The Duke even adds that he
will be even more merciful and allow Shylock to
keep some of his money if Shylock repents and
shows some humility (367).
Shylock complains that without his house
and property, he will not have the ability to make a
living. So, he would rather be put to death than to
live a life of poverty (lines 369-72).
Portia asks Antonio if he wishes to show any
mercy to Shylock. Graziano interrupts and says that

117

the only mercy that Antonio should show him is to
present him with a halter, a hangmans noose. In
other words, Graziano feels that Antonio should
seek the death penalty for Shylock.
However, Antonio is merciful. Antonio tells
the court that he will accept as judgment, if the
Duke agrees, that Shylock should be allowed to
keep half of his wealth for himself if the other half
is reserved or held in trust for Jessica and her
husband Lorenzo and given to them upon the time
of Shylocks natural death (lines 375-80).
Antonio adds that Shylock must also agree
to two other conditions:

(1) He must immediately become a Christian.
(2) He must write a will that indicates that
Jessica and Lorenzo will be his sole heirs.

In regards to the first condition, readers should keep
in mind that Christians in times past believed that
all pagans (non-Christians) would be damned to
Hell, that only good Christians would enter Heaven.
From the Christian point of view, Antonios
condition is both moral and merciful.
Shylock, defeated and depressed, agrees to
Antonios conditions; and the Duke of Venice
agrees as well.
This courtroom scene is the resolution of
the main plot of the drama. The conflict between
Antonio and Shylock has been resolved. The
conflict is at an end. The rest of the play, then,

118

moves the play away from a serious drama and
turns to comedy.

Act IV, Scene 1: The Ring Business

Now that the serious portion of the play is
over, some lighter and comic moments follow.
After the Duke and the other members of the court
exit, Antonio, Bassanio, and Graziano are left on
stage with Portia and Nerissa (both of whom are
still in disguise as men).
Bassanio tells Balthsar/Portia that he wishes
to compensate, to pay, the young lawyer for all of
his (her) effort and work. Portia, though, refuses
the money and asserts

He is well paid that is well satisfied. (411)

Portia is happy with the result of her efforts, and
that happiness is reward enough. Of course,
Bassanio still does not realize that Balthsar is
actually his own wealthy wife, Portia.
Bassanio, though, insists that he and
Antonio should give at least some kind of payment
to Portia as a way of expressing their gratitude and
thanks.
Portia then says that, as a small reward, she
will accept Antonios gloves and Bassanios ring.
Bassanio is shocked by this request, for he
has made a solemn vow to his wife that he would

119

never remove that ring unless it were taken off his
hand when he is dead.
Bassanio tries to explain this to the young
lawyer, but Portia insists that she will take nothing
but the ring. Portia is toying or playing with her
husband. She is playing a joke on him. Of course,
Bassanio does not know this. Portia then tells the
distraught man

if your wife be not a madwoman,
And know how well I have deserved this ring,
She would not hold out enemy for ever
For giving it to me. (441-44)

Portia is telling Bassanio that his wife will forgive
him, but Bassanio is not so confident about that.
Portia, with Nerissa, then exits the stage without the
ring.
Antonio, however, urges Bassanio to give
Portia the ring. Both Antonio and Bassanio know
that the young lawyer deserves far more reward
than just that ring. Bassanio relents and hands it to
Graziano. He tells his friend to run after the young
lawyer and give him the ring. Bassanio, however, is
still troubled; for he does not know how his wife
will respond when she discovers that his ring is
missing.


120

Act IV, Scene 2: More Ring Business

Portia tells Nerissa that as soon as they get
Shylock to sign the will leaving all of his wealth
and possessions to Jessica and Lorenzo, they will
head back immediately to Belmont and get there
before their husbands (the will is referred to as a
deed in line 1).
Graziano then arrives and gives Portia the
ring from Bassanio.
In an aside to Portia (so that Graziano does
not hear), Nerissa tells Portia that she will attempt
to get Grazianos own ring in the same manner that
Portia got the one from Bassanio. Portia agrees that
this is a clever idea, and she looks forward to the
fun they will have when their husbands return to
Belmont. Both ladies will take delight in watching
their husbands squirm when they accuse them of
giving their rings away to other women.

ACT V

Act V, Scene 1: Young Lovers Nonsense

In literature the word denouement refers to
the part of the story that occurs after the conflict has
been resolved and ties up any loose ends or answers
any questions that the readers or audience may still
have. The word actually comes from the French,
dnouement, and literally means untying. The
knots or complications are untied, the questions are
answered. Although the main conflict is now at an
end, the play still has two questions to answer. (1)
How will Bassanio and Graziano explain the loss of
their rings? And, on a more serious note, (2) what
will become of the melancholy Antonio? In
Merchant of Venice, the entire fifth act is the
denouement.
Back in Belmont the young lovers, Jessica
and Lorenzo, are taking care of Portias house while
she is away. Lorenzo comments on the beauty of
the moon; and he, speaking nonsensically as young
lovers often do, claims that such a bright and lovely
moon must have also shined over lovers who are
mentioned in the tales of the past. Lorenzo and
Jessica then engage in a comic dialogue that
involves mythological lovers:


122

(1) Lorenzo begins by mentioning Troilus and
Cressida. Cressida at first loved Troilus but
then abandoned him for another.
(2) Jessica then mentions Pyramus and Thisbe.
The two lovers were supposed to run away
together at night, but Pyramus got frightened
by a lion. Later, Pyramus thinks the lion
killed Thisbe, and he commits suicide.
When Thisbe finds his dead body, she then
kills herself.
(3) Lorenzo then mentions Aeneas and Dido.
Aeneas loved Dido, but then left her.
(4) Jessica then mentions Jason and Medea.
They were husband and wife, but Jason later
left Medea for a princess of another land.
(5) Lorenzo then brings up his own tale, the
story of Jessica and Lorenzo.

The humor is that all four of the mythological tales
involve unsuccessful love. Lorenzo is jokingly
suggesting that their own love will be unsuccessful.
Jessica plays on the notion by adding that in the
story of Lorenzo and Jessica, Lorenzo made many
vows of faith that his love was true, but that those
vows were really false (19-20). Neither Lorenzo
nor Jessica actually think that their spouses are false
or that their love will be unsuccessful, and Lorenzo
ends the dialogue with the following:


123

In such a night
Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew,
Slander her love, and he forgave her it.
(20-22)

The word shrew, which is slang for a nagging and
mean-spirited woman, is used jokingly and
affectionately by Lorenzo. Both Lorenzo and
Jessica know that their dialogue was full of slanders
and lies. They both trust each other fully and
completely.
The dialogue is interrupted by a messenger,
who announces that Portia will be arriving soon.
Lancelot also enters and announces that Bassanio
will be arriving by morning as well.
Lorenzo calls for musicians to perform and
welcome Portia back home. Renaissance comedies
frequently included music as a method to divert and
entertain the audiences. Lorenzo also makes a
speech about the power of music (lines 69-87)
and notes that men who are not moved by music are
not to be trusted. The two lovers then listen to the
music.


124

Act V, Scene 1: So Shines a Good Deed

Portia and Nerissa arrive, and Portia makes
the following comment about the candlelight:

That light we see is burning in my hall.
How far that little candle throws his beams
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
(88-90)

In a night that is pitch dark, the small burning flame
of a candle can be seen from a great distance away.
Portia uses the candlelight as a metaphor for a
good deed or act. Even though a good deed may
seem small or insignificant, especially in context of
world events and the evil that envelop mankind,
such a good deed actually has more power and
effect than most people realize (the word naughty
means evil in the quote). It is all a matter of
perspective. People often overlook or undervalue
the significance of a good deed. These lines may be
specifically applied to Antonio and his melancholy.
In a world that is evil and full of corruption, many
people become despondent and gloomy. But if they
look toward the good, such gloom and melancholy
could be lifted.
Portia also notes that the song of her
musicians sounds much sweeter during the quiet
night than it does during the day (99). The music is
a metaphor, like the candlelight. In the right
setting, the music assumes greater significance and
value than it does in lesser circumstances. When

125

music is played in a setting where other sounds and
noises interfere and disrupt it, the music is not
valued or appreciated properly. People may
overlook its goodness and beauty.
When Lorenzo and Jessica greet Portia, the
lady still keeps up the pretence that she and Nerissa
were in a convent all of that time and were praying
for the success of her husbands venture. However,
Portia also warns Lorenzo and Jessica not to
mention her absence to Bassanio and Graziano.

Act V, Scene 1: The Teasing Begins

When Bassanio and Graziano return home,
Bassanio praises the beauty of his wife by telling
her that she is as radiant as the sun (implied by the
suggestion that when the sun is on the other side of
the world the Antipodes Portia can take the
place of it and turn the night into day: lines 126-27).
The witty Portia uses the mention of sunlight as a
means to begin the fun and the teasing of her
husband:

Let me give light, but let me not be light;
For a light wife doth make a heavy husband,
And never be Bassanio so for me. (128-30)

By the expression a light wife, Portia means a
wife who is light or not serious in her faithfulness to
her husband. A light wife is an unfaithful wife.

126

Portia also plays on another meaning of light, as the
opposite of heavy, and then makes a pun out of the
word heavy. A heavy husband is a sad husband,
which Bassanio would be if Portia were unfaithful.
Portia concludes with the remark that Bassanio
should never be light (unfaithful) to her. Portia thus
sets the tone for accusing her husband of infidelity
when she later notices that his ring is missing.
As Portia welcomes Antonio, Nerissa is
standing in the back of the stage and is talking with
her husband, Graziano. Nerissa is already accusing
Graziano of giving his wedding ring away to
another woman, and the flustered Graziano is trying
unsuccessfully to explain that he gave it to a
lawyers clerk.
Portia interrupts the fighting couple and
accuses Graziano of being most unkind to his wife
and causing her extreme grief (165-75).
Bassanio, listening to his wife accuse Graziano,
squirms and shifts uncomfortably; for if she has
become that angry at Graziano, he knows that she
will become even angrier at him.
Graziano then admits to Portia that Bassanio
also gave his ring away to the lawyer who defended
Antonio, and Portia madly tells her own husband
that she will never come to his bed until she sees
that ring again.
Bassanio tries to explain that he gave the
ring away because of the great debt that Antonio
owed to the lawyer, but Portia pretends not to
believe him and insists that he gave the ring away to
some other woman.

127

Bassanio does not know what to do or what
to say. He is thoroughly defeated. Portia, however,
teases him further by saying that since he so lightly
gave his ring to the lawyer, then she will just as
lightly give her body away to that same lawyer
(doctor of law): Ill have that doctor for my
bedfellow (232). Of course, there is a humorous
truth to the line. Portia does, after all, sleep with
herself.
Nerissa doubles the humor by telling
Graziano that she will likewise sleep with the clerk
to whom he gave his ring away.
Bassanio tries once again to explain, and
begins by swearing to the beautiful eyes of Portia,
in which he sees his own reflection. Portia wittily
plays on the idea of reflection to tease Graziano
further:

In both my eyes he doubly sees himself,
In each eye one. Swear by your double self,
And theres an oath of credit. (243-45)

By double self Portia means that Bassanio is
double dealing or deceitful. She thus is jokingly
asserting that Bassanio is admitting his guilt.
The teasing finally moves toward an end
when Antonio intervenes. Antonio supports
Grazianos claim that the ring went to the lawyer
who saved him, and the merchant also pledges his
own life that Graziano will never be unfaithful to
Portia.

128

Portia then hands a ring to Antonio and tells
him to give it to Bassanio as a pledge of their rebuilt
faith. She also states that Bassanio should keep it
better than the other ring (254).
Bassanio is surprised and confused to see
that the ring is the very same one that he had given
to the lawyer, and Graziano is equally surprised and
bewildered when Nerissa hands him the very same
ring that he had given to the lawyers clerk.
Portia cannot help but make one more jest.
She tells Bassanio that she got the ring from the
lawyer by sleeping with him; and Nerissa tells
Graziano that she similarly got her ring by sleeping
with the clerk.
But before the shocked husbands can grieve
over the infidelity of their wives, Portia admits the
truth and tells the surprised men that she herself was
the lawyer who saved Antonio from Shylock and
that Nerissa was her clerk.
The husbands and wives thus are united
once again.


129

Act V, Scene 1: Life and Living

Portia also has good news for Antonio. She
hands him a letter in which he is informed that three
of his merchant ships have safely arrived in Venice.
Antonio is not impoverished after all, and he
happily thanks Portia:

Sweet lady, you have given me life and living.
(285)

Antonio, however, is not simply referring to his
wealth and merchandise. He is referring to a
purpose in life. In seeing the goodness and
generosity in the actions of Portia and in seeing the
love and enjoyment that exists between Portia and
Bassanio, Antonio sees that life is worth living. He
no longer will be the melancholy merchant of
Venice. So shines a good deed!

FINAL COMMENTS

PLOT

Although Shakespeare is often praised by
critics for his brilliant character portraits and for the
beauty of his poetry, he also took great care in
forming and developing his plots as well. In
Merchant of Venice, the main plot involves a
double complication, and there are four subplots as
well.

First, Antonios conflict with Shylock forms
the main or basic conflict of the play. The Antonio
vs. Shylock (or man vs. man) conflict also
integrates an Antonio vs. Society conflict (a legal
conflict) as well. Shakespeare often commented
directly or, more often, indirectly upon the justice
system and the numerous acts of injustice that
occurred in his time.

Second, Antonios lethargic condition, his
want-wit sadness, forms an internal conflict, a
conflict of Antonio vs. Himself. This condition
affects his role in the legal conflict with Shylock,
and thus his position as protagonist requires a
substitute (namely Portia) to intervene on his behalf.

132

Indirectly, one could argue that a man vs. nature
conflict exists in the sense that Antonio is in
conflict with his own human nature.

Third, Bassanios conflict to woo and marry
Portia forms the main subplot of the play. This
tales involves a Bassanio vs. Fate. Yet even this
subplot is not so simple to express. Portia is just as
much a protagonist of this subplot. She too is
involved in a conflict with destiny: Portia vs. Fate.
Shakespeare makes both of these characters central
figures of the subplot, yet each is in conflict with
fate in different ways.

Fourth, the lovers tale is usually central to a
comedy during the Renaissance, but in this play the
problems of the young lovers takes a secondary
position to the larger subplot of Bassanio and
Portia. Lorenzos struggle to win Jessica, Shylocks
daughter, involves two types of conflicts: Lorenzo
vs. Shylock (man vs. man) and Lorenzo vs. Fate.
The reader may also view Jessica as a protagonist
in this subplot. Lorenzo and Jessica are star-crossed
lovers: they are from different religions and
different nationalities, and a parent opposes the
marriage.


133

Fifth, a minor conflict involves Lancelots
problems with Shylock. This conflict is also
double-sided: man vs. man and man vs. society
(class structure).

Sixth, the attempts of the other suitors
attempt to win Portia also makes up a subplot, again
depicting man vs. fate

Certain critics argue that Antonios conflict
with himself is at heart of play. Antonios conflict
involves two contrary states happiness and
sadness. Other characters are happy in having
something to achieve. Even Shylock is happy in
thinking about revenge.

Suspense in the play is created by the
wooing scenes and by the attempts of the three
suitors:

a. Act II, Scene 7: Prince of Morocco gold casket
b. Act II, Scene 9: Prince of Aragon silver casket
c. Act III, Scene 2: Bassanio lead casket

Antonios loss of ships does not contribute much to
the suspense, since those losses are mentioned in
reported speech (and not in the main action of the
play).

134

However, the greatest amount of suspense in
the play occurs during the trial scene. The
courtroom drama is the pivotal and central scene of
the play.

135

SOURCES

1. Il Pecorone (The Simpleton), written in 1378 by
Giovanni Fiorentino, is the primary source of the
play. It includes Belmonte as locale, the winning-
the-bride story, and the pound-of-flesh story. In the
bride story, though, there are no caskets. The suitor
must stay awake all night, but on the first two
attempts, the suitor is given a sleeping potion.

2. For the use of caskets, Shakespeare may have
borrowed from any of the following three
possibilities:
a. John Gower Confessio Amantis 1390
b. Boccaccio Il Decamerone
c. anonymous Gesta Romanorum 14
th
C
(English translation appears in 16
th
C.)

3. The pound-of-flesh story also appears elsewhere,
such as The Ballad of the Crueltie of Geruntus,
written anonymously, c. 1590.

4. Another possible source is a lost play entitled
The Jew. It was briefly described by Stephen
Gosson in 1579.


136

5. Christopher Marlowes The Jew of Malta (1589)
may also have influenced Shakespeare. Marlowes
drama depicts a cruel, vindictive Jew who is more
evil and more of a stereotype than is Shylock.

6. Real-life historical events of 1586 may also have
influenced Shakespeare slightly. Roderigo Lopez,
a Jewish-Portuguese doctor, became Queen
Elizabeths personal physician. He was alleged to
have been involved in a plot to assassinate the heir
to Portuguese throne; and, later, he was suspected of
attempting to poison the Queen. Elizabeth was not
convinced that Lopez was guilty, but she reluctantly
signed his death warrant in 1594. Lopez was
hanged, drawn, and quartered. The event incited
public hostility toward Jews. The reference to wolf
(in Act IV, 1: 134) could be a pun on Lopezs name
(lupe = wolf).

137

CHARACTERS

Antonio undergoes a dynamic change (from
sadness and melancholy to happiness).
He shows mercy to Shylock (IV, 1: 380-90).
But Antonio has no big speeches at the end
of play. In fact, as a title character, he
speaks very little. The character of Portia
actually dominates final act.

Shylock is the most interesting character in the
play. He is a highly developed character,
although he is also stereotyped in some
ways. His big speech on revenge (III, 1: 53-
73) and his appearance in the courtroom
scene (IV, 1: 35-62) are the central
occasions when his character becomes fully
illuminated. His demands for justice and his
admission that revenge is unreasonable help
to establish the portrayal of Shylock as one
of Shakespeares most dramatic
psychological characters.


138

Portia, as several critics note, is a rendering of the
ideal woman. As such, she is a portrait or
symbol of Queen Elizabeth. Her intellect,
her humor, and her views on marriage make
her a complicated and intriguing character;
and her speech on the Quality of Mercy (Act
IV, Scene 1) contributes to her moral and
ideal personality. The trick on her husband
Bassanio with the ring, though, humanizes
Portia: it makes her more realistic.


139

THEMES

A number of concepts and ideas provide the themes
and motifs of the play:

love
fate / destiny
melancholy (want-wit sadness)
mercy
marriage
greed / wealth
revenge
law & society / justice
class system
a. Lancelot
b. Shylocks speech on slavery
Judaism & prejudice
jealousy
happiness vs. sadness
womens roles in society

As noted above (see final comments on plot), the
two contrary states of happiness and sadness, may
provide the central theme of the play. Having a
certain goal, attempting to achieve a certain
outcome in ones life, is necessary to achieving
happiness in a world that is otherwise filled with
vice and corruption.


140

In a number of plays Shakespeare presents a Two
Worlds Theme. In A Midsummer Nights
Dream, for example, the city of Athens is stiff and
rule-oriented, artificial and harsh; but the forest
outside of Athens is magical and natural. A journey
into the forest results in bringing its positive effects
back into the city. In The Merchant of Venice,
Belmont and Venice are two different worlds. And
only a person from the magical, fairy-tale world of
Belmont can resolve the difficulties imposed by the
harsh, merciless laws of Venice.


141

COMMENTS FROM THE CRITICS

Anne Barton, Riverside Shakespeare

1. Jews were banished from England since time of
Edward III, nearly three centuries by the time
Shakespeare wrote this play. In popular
imagination, Jews were figured as mythical beasts,
as strange evil beings who had crucified Christ and
who would persevere in anti-Christian activities.
There were some Jews in Shakespeares London,
but they had to keep secret their race and religion.

2. Barabas, in Christopher Marlowes Jew of Malta
is a figure of fantastic evil. By contrast, Shylock is
a closely observed human being.

3. Shylock was an attractive role for actors, who
played the character in a variety of ways: as a devil
incarnate, a comic villain, or as a sentimentalized
noble father.

4. The antipathy between Shylock and citizens of
Venice is not simply racial nor simply a conflict
between merchant and usurer. Shylock is an alien
in a society whose religion, pleasures, aims, and
attitudes are radically different from his own.


142

5. The Merchant of Venice is a play about
contrasted attitudes towards wealth and the life-
styles dictated by each, but it is also a comedy of
love and friendship and the rivalry between them.

6. Belmont is really the better self of Venice: a
world of clarity, order, and materialism
transfigured, presided over by a lady in whom the
virtues characteristic of the Christians in the
comedy manifest themselves in their most complete
and realized form.


143

Katherine E. Maus, Norton Shakespeare

Is the play anti-semitic?
Does it criticize anti-semitism?
Does it neither condemn nor endorse
anti-semitism?
Are the Christians right to call Shylock a
devil and a dog?
Is Shylock simply a victim of bigotry?

What was WS own attitudes about Jews?
He probably never encountered a Jew in is lifetime.

Joseph Rosenblum, Readers Guide

Shylock is not wholly a comic character, for
despite often appearing ridiculous, he poses too
much of a threat to be dismissed lightly. Yet he is
too ineffectual and grotesque to be a villain as cold
and terrifying as Iago or Edmund, or one as
engaging as Richard III. He is a malevolent force.


144

Harold Bloom, The Invention of the Human

The Merchant of Venice is a profoundly anti-
Semitic work.

Shylock is a comic villain and Portia would
cease to be sympathetic if Shylock were allowed to
be a figure of overwhelming pathos.

Shakespeares comedy is Portias play, and not
Shylocks.

There is an extraordinary energy in Shylocks
prose and poetry, a force both cognitive and
passional [sic], which palpably is in excess of the
plays comic requirements.

Shylock simply does not fit is role; he is the wrong
Jew in the right play.

NOTE: Although Bloom calls the play Portias, he
devotes most of his chapter to Shylock.

APPENDIX

from Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino
(edited from the translation by W. G. Waters)

There was once in Florence, in the house of the
Scali, a certain merchant called Bindo, who had sailed
many times to Tana, near to Alexandria, and had
likewise adventured in those other long voyages which
are made for the sake of traffic. This Bindo, who was
very rich, had three stalwart sons; and when he lay on
his deathbed, he bade come to him the eldest and the
second born. And in their presence he made his will and
left them heirs of all he possessed in the world. But to
the youngest he left nothing.
When the will was completed, the youngest son,
who was called Giannetto, heard tell of the same, and
went to his father's bedside and said, Father, I am
greatly astounded at what you have done, in taking no
thought of me in your testament.
The father answered, My Giannetto, there is no
one living I hold dearer than you. Therefore I am not
minded that you should tarry here after my death, but
rather that you should betake yourself to Venice to your
godfather, who is named Messer Ansaldo. He has no
son of his own, and has written to me more than once to
send you to him. Moreover, I must tell you that he is the
richest of all the Christian merchants. Wherefore I
desire that you go to him after my death and give him

146

this letter. If you manage your affairs with prudence,
you will become a rich man.
The young man answered, My father, I am
ready to do what you command.
Whereupon the sick man gave him his blessing,
and in a few days' time breathed his last. All the sons
lamented sorely, and buried their father with due honors.
When a few days had passed, the two brothers
called Giannetto, and said to him, Brother, it is true
indeed that our father has made a will leaving us his
heirs, and making no mention of you. Nevertheless, you
are our brother, and from this time you shall have share
in whatever may be left, equally with ourselves.
Giannetto answered, I thank you, my brothers,
for what you offer, but I have made up my mind to seek
my fortune in some other place. On this I am fully
determined. Therefore you can take the heritage
sanctified and assigned to you.
The brothers, when they saw what his will was,
gave him a horse and money for his charges. Giannetto
took leave of them; and having journeyed to Venice and
gone to the warehouse of Messer Ansaldo, he delivered
the letter which his father had handed to him on his
deathbed.
And Messer Ansaldo, when he had read the
same, learned that the young man before him was the
son of his dear friend Bindo. As soon as he had read it,
he straightway embraced Giannetto, saying, Welcome,
dear godson, whom I have so greatly desired to see.
Then he asked news of Bindo, and Giannetto
replied that he was dead. Whereupon Ansaldo embraced

147

and kissed him, weeping the while, and said, I am
sorely grieved over Bindo's death, inasmuch as it was by
his aid that I won the greater part of my wealth; but the
joy I feel at your presence here is so great that it takes
away the sting of my sorrow.
Then he led Giannetto to his house, and gave
orders to his workpeople, and those about his person, as
well as to his grooms and servants, that they should do
service to Giannetto even more zealously than to
himself. The first thing he did was to hand over to
Giannetto the key of all his ready money, saying, My
son, spend what you will; buy raiment and shoes to suit
your taste; bid the townsfolk to dine with you, and make
yourself known; for I leave you free to do what you will,
and the better you are liked by our citizens the better I
shall love you.
So Giannetto began to keep company with the
gentlefolk of Venice, to entertain, to give banquets and
presents, to keep servants in livery, and to buy fine
horses. Moreover, he would joust and tilt, because he
was very expert and magnanimous and courteous in
everything he did. He never failed to
give honor and respect where they might be due, and he
reverenced Messer Ansaldo as if he had been a hundred
times his father. So prudent was his carriage with men of
all conditions that he won the goodwill of all the people
of Venice, who regarded him as a youth of the greatest
intelligence, and most delightful manners, and courteous
beyond measure; so that all the ladies, and the men as
well, seemed in love with him. Messer Ansaldo had no
eyes for any but him, so charmed was he with

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Giannetto's bearing and manners. Nor was any feast ever
given to which he was not bidden.
It happened one day that two good friends of his
determined to sail for Alexandria with some wares laden
in two ships, as was their annual custom. They said to
Giannetto, You ought to give yourself
the pleasure of a voyage with us, in order to see the
world, especially Damascus and the parts thereabout.
Giannetto answered, In faith I would go
willingly, if only Messer Ansaldo would give me leave.
They replied, We will see that he does this, be
sure of that.
They went forthwith to Messer Ansaldo and said
to him, We beg you to let Giannetto go with us this
spring to Alexandria, and to give him a bark or vessel so
that he may see something of the world.
Messer Ansaldo replied that he was willing to let
Giannetto do as he liked, and the others assured him that
the young man would be well pleased to go.
Then Messer Ansaldo let prepare a very fine
ship, which he loaded with much merchandise, and
supplied with banners and arms and all that was
necessary. And when all was in readiness Messer
Ansaldo gave orders to the captain and the crew of the
ship that they should do whatever Giannetto might
direct, and he committed him to their care. For, said
he, I am not sending him out for the sake of gain, but so
that he may see the world as it best pleases him.
When Giannetto went to embark, all Venice
came to see him, for it was long time since any ship so
fine or so well furnished had left the port; and when he

149

had taken leave of Messer Ansaldo and of his
companions, he put out to sea and hoisted sail and
steered the course for Alexandria in the name of God
and of good fortune.
After these three friends in their three ships had
sailed on several days, it chanced that early one morning
Giannetto caught sight of a certain gulf in which was a
very fair port. Whereupon he asked the
captain what might be the name of the place. The captain
replied that it belonged to a certain lady, a widow, who
had brought many to ruin.
Giannetto inquired how they had been undone,
and the captain replied, Messere, this lady is very
beautiful, and she has made it a law that, if any stranger
lands there, he must needs share her bed, and, if he
should have his will of her, that he should have her to
wife and be the lord of the town and of all the country
round. But if he should fail in his venture, he must lose
all he has.
Giannetto meditated for a moment, and then
bade the captain land him at the port by some means or
other, but the captain cried to him, Messere, take care
what you do, for many gentlemen have landed there, and
everyone has been ruined.
But Giannetto said, Trouble not yourself about
others; do what I tell you.
His command was obeyed. They put the ship
about at once and made sail for the port, and those on
board the other ships perceived not what was done.
In the harbor the next morning, when the news
was spread that a fine ship had come into port, all the

150

people flocked to see her. And it was told likewise to
the lady, who forthwith sent for Giannetto.
He went to her with all haste and made
respectful obeisance. Whereupon she took him by the
hand and asked who he was, and whence he had come,
and whether he knew the custom of the land.
Giannetto answered that he did, and that he had
come there by reason of this custom alone.
The lady said, You are welcome a
hundredfold. And all that day she treated him with the
greatest honor, and bid come diverse counts and barons
and knights who were under her rule to keep Giannetto
company. All these were mightily pleased with
Giannetto's manners and his polished and pleasant and
affable presence. Almost everyone felt kindly towards
him, and all that day they danced and sang and made
merry at the court for the sake of Giannetto. And
everyone would have been well content to own him as
over-lord.
When evening was come the lady took him by
the hand and led him into the bedchamber, and said,
Meseems it is time for us to go to bed.
Whereto Giannetto made answer, Madonna, I
am at your command.
Then two damsels came, one bearing wine and
the other sweetmeats, and the lady said, Surely you
must be thirsty; drink of this wine.
Giannetto took some sweetmeats and drank of
the wine, which was drugged to make him sleep, and he
unwitting drank half a glass thereof, as it had the taste of
good wine. Then he undressed and lay down on the bed,

151

and fell asleep at once. The lady lay down beside him,
but he woke not till it was past nine o'clock the next
morning.
As soon as it was day the lady arose, and made
them begin unload the ship, which was filled with rich
and fine merchandise. When nine o'clock had struck the
waiting-maid went to the bed where Giannetto lay, and
bade him rise and go his way with God's help,
forasmuch as he had forfeited his ship and all that was
therein.
He was greatly ashamed, and conscious that he
had fared very ill in his adventure. The lady
bade them give him a horse and money for the way.
And he, after a sad and doleful journey, arrived at
Venice, but he dared not for shame go home.
He called by night at the house of one of his
friends, who marveled greatly at the sight of him, and
said, Alas! Giannetto, what means this?
And Giannetto made answer, My ship struck
one night upon a rock, and became a wreck, and
everything was broken up. One was cast here and
another there, and I caught hold of a piece of wood,
on which I reached the shore. I returned hither by land,
and here l am.
Giannetto tarried for some time in the house of
his friend, who went one day to see Messer Ansaldo, and
found him in very melancholy mood.
Ansaldo said, I am so sorely afeared lest this
son of mine should be dead, or that he have met some ill
fortune at sea, that I can find nor peace nor happiness, so
great is my love for him.

152

The young man answered, I can tell you news
of him; he has been shipwrecked and has lost everything,
but he has escaped with his life.
God be praised for this, said Messer Ansaldo.
So long as he has saved himself I am contented, and
care naught for what he has lost. But where is he?
The young man replied that Giannetto was in his
house. Whereupon Messer Ansaldo arose forthwith and
was fain to go thither. And when he saw Giannetto, he
ran towards him and embraced him, saying, My son,
you need feel no shame for what has befallen you,
inasmuch as it is no rare thing for a ship to be wrecked at
sea. Be not cast down, for since no hurt has come to
you, I can rejoice.
Then he took Giannetto home and cheered him
the best he could. And the news spread through Venice,
everyone being grieved for the loss which had befallen
him.
Before long Giannetto's companions returned
from Alexandria, having won great profit from their
venture. And as soon as they landed they asked for news
of him. When they heard his story they went straightway
to greet him, saying, How did you leave our company,
and where did you go? When we lost sight of you, we
turned back on our course for a whole day. But we
could neither see aught of your ship nor learn where you
had gone. Thus we fell into such grief that, for the
whole of our voyage, we knew not what merriment was,
deeming you to be dead.
Giannetto answered, An adverse wind arose in
a certain inlet of the sea, which drove my ship on a rock

153

near the shore, and caused her to sink. I barely escaped
with my life, and everything I had was lost. This was
the excuse made by Giannetto to conceal his failure.
And all his friends made merry with him,
thanking God that his life had been spared, and saying,
Next spring, with God's help, we will earn as much as
you have lost this voyage; so let us now enjoy ourselves
without giving way to sadness. And they took their
pleasure according to their wont.
But Giannetto could not banish the thought of
how he might return to that lady, pondering with himself
and saying, Certes, I must make her my wife or die.
And he could not shake off his sadness.
Wherefore Messer Ansaldo besought him often
that he should not grieve; for that, with the great wealth
he possessed, they could live very well. But Giannetto
answered that he could know no rest until he should
have once more made that voyage overseas.
When Messer Ansaldo saw what his longing
was, he let furnish for him in due time another ship,
laden with yet richer cargo than the first, spending in this
venture the main portion of his possessions; and the
crew, as soon as they had stored the vessel with all that
was needful, put out to sea with Giannetto on board, and
set sail on the voyage.
Giannetto kept constant watch to espy the port
where the lady dwelt, which was known as the port of
the lady of Belmonte. And, having sailed one night up
to the entrance thereof, which was in an arm of the sea,
he suddenly recognized it and bade them turn the sails

154

and steer into it in such fashion that his friends on board
the other ships might know naught of what he did.
The lady, when she arose in the morning, looked
towards the port, where she saw flying the flag of
Giannetto's ship. And, having recognized it at once, she
called one of her chambermaids and said to her, Know
you what flag that is?
And the maid replied that it was the ship of the
young man who had come there just a year ago, and who
had left with them all his possessions to their great
satisfaction.
Then said the lady, It is true what you say, and
certes he must be hugely enamoured of me, seeing that I
have never known one of these to come back a second
time.
The maid said, I indeed never saw a more
courteous and gracious gentleman than he.
Whereupon the lady sent out to Giannetto a
troop of grooms and pages, who went joyfully on board
the ship. He received them in like spirit, and then went
up to the castle and presented himself to the lady.
She, when she met him, embraced him with joy
and delight; and he returned her greeting with reverent
devotion. All that day they made merry, for the lady had
bid come to her court diverse ladies and gentlemen. And
these entertained Giannetto joyfully for the love they
bore him.
The men grieved over the fate which was in
store for him, for they would gladly have hailed him as
their lord on account of his charm and courtesy. While
the women were almost all in love with him when they

155

saw with what dexterity he led the dance, and how he
always wore a merry face as if he had been the son of
some great lord.
When it seemed to her time to retire, the lady
took Giannetto by the hand and said, Let us go to bed.
And when they had gone into the chamber, and
had disposed themselves to rest, two damsels came with
wine and sweetmeats, whereof they ate and drank, and
then went to bed. Giannetto fell asleep as soon as he lay
down; whereupon the lady undressed and placed herself
beside him, but he did not awake from sleep all night.
As soon as it was day the lady arose and bade
them quickly unload the vessel. And when it was nine
o'clock Giannetto awoke. But on seeking for the lady,
he could not find her. Then he lifted up his head and
perceived that it was broad day. So he got up, covered
with disgrace, and once more they gave him a horse and
money for the journey, and said, Go your way. And
he departed full of shame and sorrow.
He journeyed for many days without halt till he
came to Venice, and there he went by night to the house
of his friend, who, when he saw him, was hugely
amazed and said, Alas! And what can this mean?
Giannetto replied, I am in evil case. Accursed
be the fortune which led me into that land!
His friend replied, Certes, you may well miscall
your fortune, since you have ruined Messer Ansaldo, the
greatest and the richest of our Christian merchants; but
still your shame is worse than his loss.
Giannetto lay hid some days in his friend's
house, knowing not what to say or do, and almost

156

minded to return to Florence without speaking a word to
Messer Ansaldo. But at last he determined to seek him.
And when Anseldo beheld him, he arose and ran to him
and embraced him, saying, Welcome to you, my son.
And Giannetto embraced him, weeping the while.
Then, when he had learnt all, Messer Ansaldo
said, Listen to me, Giannetto, and give over grieving;
for, as long as I have you back again, I am contented.
We still have enough to allow us to live in modest
fashion. The sea is always wont to give to one and to
take from another.
It was soon noised abroad in Venice what had
happened, and all men were much grieved over the loss
which Messer Ansaldo had suffered, for he was obliged
to sell many of his chattels in order to pay the creditors
who had supplied him with goods.
It happened that the adventurers who had set sail
with Giannetto returned from Alexandria with great
profit. And as soon as they landed, they heard how
Giannetto had come back broken in fortune. Wherefore
they were greatly amazed and said, This is the strangest
matter that ever was. Then they went with great
laughter and merriment to Messer Ansaldo and
Giannetto and said, Messere, be not cast down, for we
have settled to go next year to trade on your account,
seeing that we have been in a way the cause of your loss
in that we persuaded Giannetto to go with us. Fear
nothing, for as long as we have anything you may treat it
as your own.

157

On this account Messer Ansaldo thanked them,
and said that he had as yet enough left to give him
sustenance.
But it came to pass that Giannetto, pondering
these matters day and night, could not shake off his
sorrow. Wherefore Messer Ansaldo demanded to know
what ailed him.
And Giannetto answered, I shall never know
content till I have regained you what I have lost.
Messer Ansaldo answered, My son, I would
not that you should leave me again, for it will be better
for us to live modestly on what is left to us than for you
to put aught else to hazard.
Giannetto said, I am determined to do all I can,
forasmuch as I should hold myself to be
in most shameful case were I to bide here in this
fashion.
Then Messer Ansaldo, seeing that his mind was
set thereon, made provision to sell all that he had left in
the world, and to equip for him another vessel. And,
after he had sold everything, so that he had naught left,
he loaded a fine vessel with merchandise. And because
he wanted yet ten thousand ducats to complete his
venture, he went to a certain Jew of Mestri, with whom
he made an agreement that, if he should not repay the
debt by Saint John's day in the June following, the Jew
should have the right to take a pound of his flesh, and to
cut the same from what place so ever he listed. Messer
Ansaldo having duly agreed, and the Jew having drawn
up a binding document with witnesses, using all the
precautions and formalities which the occasion

158

demanded, the ten thousand gold ducats were handed
over. And with the same Messer Ansaldo supplied all
that was wanting in the ship's cargo.
In sooth, if the other two vessels had been fine
and fair, this third was much richer and better furnished.
In like manner Giannetto's friends fitted out their
vessels, with the intention of giving to him whatever
they might gain by traffic.
When the day of departure had come and they
were about to sail, Messer Ansaldo said to Giannetto,
My son, you are going away, and you see with what
bond I am bound. One favour I beg of you, which is,
that if perchance you should again miscarry, you will
return hither, so that I may see you again before I die.
Then I shall be content to depart.
And Giannetto answered that he would do all
things which were agreeable to Messer Ansaldo's
wishes. Then Ansaldo gave him his blessing, and,
having taken leave, they set sail on their voyage.
The two friends who sailed with Giannetto kept
good watch over his ship, while he thought of nothing
else than how he might again drop into the harbor of
Belmonte. Indeed, he gained over to his interests one of
the steersmen so completely that he caused the vessel to
be brought one night into the port of the lady's city.
When in the morning the light grew clear, his
two friends in the other two ships conferred and
deliberated. And, since they saw nothing of Giannetto's
ship, they said one to the other, 'In sooth, this is an evil
turn for him. And then they kept on their course,
wondering greatly the while.

159

When the vessel entered the port all the people
of the city ran to see her. And when they learned that it
was Giannetto come once again, they marveled amain,
saying, Certes, he must be the son of some great prince,
seeing that he comes hither every year with such a fine
ship and such great store of merchandise. Would to
God that he were our ruler!
Then all the chief men and the barons and
cavaliers of the land went to visit Giannetto, and word
was carried to the lady how he was once more in the
port. Whereupon she went to the window of the palace,
and, as soon as she espied the fine vessel and the banner
thereof, she made the sign of the holy cross and said,
Of a surety this is a great day for me, for it is the same
gentleman who has already brought such wealth into the
land. And she forthwith sent for Giannetto.
He repaired to her presence, and they embraced
one another and exchanged greetings and reverence.
And then the people set themselves to make merry all
that day, and, for the love they had for Giannetto, they
held a stately jousting, many barons and cavaliers
running a course.
Giannetto also was minded to show his skill, and
indeed he wrought such marvelous deeds, and showed
such great prowess both with his arms and his horse, and
won so completely the favor of the barons, that they all
desired to have him to rule over them. And when
evening had come, and it was time to retire, the lady
took Giannetto by the hand and said, Let us go to bed.
When they came to the chamber door one of the
lady's waiting-women, who had pity for Giannetto, put

160

her lips close to his ear and said in a whisper, Make a
show of drinking the wine, but taste it not.
Giannetto caught the meaning of her words, and
entered the room with the lady, who said, I am sure you
must be athirst. Wherefore I will that you take a draught
before you lie down to sleep.
Straightway came two damsels, who were as fair
as angels, bearing wine and sweetmeats according to
their wont, and making ready the draught.
Then said Giannetto, Who could refuse to drink
with cupbearers so lovely as these?
The lady laughed. And Giannetto took the cup
and feigned to drink therefrom. But he poured
the wine down into his breast.
The lady however believed that he had indeed
drunk of the same, and said to herself, Thou wilt sail
here again with another ship, for thou hast lost the one in
the port.
Giannetto got into bed and found himself with
his wits clear and full of desire, and the time that sped
before the lady came to his side seemed a thousand
years. He said to himself, Certes, I have caught her this
time, and she shall no longer have reason to think of me
as a glutton and a toper [drunkard].
And, in order to let her come the quicker to bed,
he began to snore and to feign to be sleeping. When the
lady saw this she said, All is well. And she quickly
undressed herself and lay down beside Giannetto, who
lost no time. But, as soon as the lady was under the
sheets, he turned to her and embraced her, saying, Now
I have that which I have so long desired.

161

And with these words he gave her the greeting
of holy matrimony, and all that night she lay in his arms;
wherefore she was well content.
The next morning she arose before dawn, and let
summon all the barons and cavaliers and many of the
citizens, and said to them, Giannetto is your lord ; so let
us make merry.
And at these words there went a shout through
all the land, Long live our lord, Giannetto!
The bells and the musical instruments gave
notice of the feast, and word was sent to diverse barons
and counts who dwelt far from the city bidding them
come and see their ruler.
There were merrymakings and feastings many
and sumptuous. And when Giannetto came forth from
the chamber, they made him a cavalier and set him upon
the throne, giving him a wand to hold
in his hand and proclaiming him lord with much state
and rejoicing.
When all the barons and ladies of the land were
come to court, Giannetto took to wife the lady with
rejoicings and delights so great that they can neither be
described nor imagined. For at this time all
the barons and nobles of the country came to the feast,
and there was no lack of merry jesting, and jousting, and
sword-play, and dancing, and singing, and music, and all
the other sports appertaining to jollity and rejoicing.
Messer Giannetto, like a high-spirited
gentleman, made presents of silken stuffs and of other
rich wares which he had brought with him. He was a

162

strong ruler, and made himself respected by the
equal justice he maintained towards men of all classes.
Thus he lived his life in joy and gladness, and
gave no thought to Messer Ansaldo, who,
luckless wight as he was, remained a living pledge for
the ten thousand ducats which he had borrowed from the
Jew.
One day Messer Giannetto, standing with his
wife at the window of the palace, saw, passing through
the piazza, a band of men bearing lighted torches in their
hands, as if they were going to make some offering.
Giannetto inquired of her what this might mean.
Whereupon she replied that it was a company of
craftsmen going to pay their vows at the church of San
Giovanni on the festival of the saint.
Messer Giannetto then remembered Messer
Ansaldo. And, having gone away from the window, he
sighed deeply and became grave of countenance, and
walked up and down the hall thinking over what he had
just seen. The lady asked what ailed him, and he replied
that nothing was amiss.
But she began to question him, saying, Certes,
you are troubled with something you are loath to tell
me. And she spake so much on the matter that at last
Messer Giannetto told her how Messer Ansaldo was held
in pledge for ten thousand ducats, and that the time for
repayment expired this very day.
Wherefore, he said, I am smitten with great
sorrow that my father should have to die for me. For
unless his debt shall be repaid today, he is bound to have
cut from his body a pound of flesh.

163

The lady said, Messere, mount your horse
quickly, and travel thither by land, for you can travel
more speedily thus than by sea. Take what following
you wish, and a hundred thousand ducats to boot, and
halt not till you shall be come to Venice. Then, if your
father be still living, bring him back here with you.
Whereupon Giannetto let the trumpets sound
forthwith, and, having mounted with twenty companions
and taken money enough, he set out for Venice.
When the time set forth in the bond had expired,
the Jew caused Messer Ansaldo to be seized, and then he
declared he meant to cut away from his debtor the pound
of flesh. But Messer Ansaldo begged him to let him live
a few days longer, so that, in case Giannetto should
return, he might at least see his son once more.
The Jew replied that he was willing to grant this
favor, as far as the respite was concerned, but that he
was determined to have his pound of flesh according to
his agreement, though a hundred Giannettos should
come; and Messer Ansaldo declared that he was content.
All the people of Venice were talking of this
matter, everyone being grieved thereat. And diverse
traders made a partnership together to pay the money,
but the Jew would not take it, being minded rather to do
this bloody deed, so that he might boast that he had slain
the chief of the Christian merchants.
Now it happened that, after Messer Giannetto set
forth eagerly for Venice, his wife followed immediately
behind him clad in legal garb and taking two servants
with her.

164

When Messer Giannetto had come to Venice, he
went to the Jew's house. And, having joyfully embraced
Messer Ansaldo, he next turned to the Jew, and said he
was ready to pay the money that was due, and as much
more as he cared to demand.
But the Jew made answer that he wanted not the
money, since it had not been paid in due time, but that he
desired to cut his pound of flesh from Ansaldo. Over
this matter there arose great debate, and everyone
condemned the Jew. But, seeing that equitable law ruled
in Venice, and that the Jew's contract was fully set forth
and in customary legal form, no one could deny him his
rights. All they could do was to entreat his mercy.
On this account all the Venetian merchants came
there to entreat the Jew, but he grew harder than before.
And then Messer Giannetto offered to give him twenty
thousand, but he would not take them. Then he
advanced his offer to thirty, then to forty, then to fifty,
and finally to a hundred thousand ducats.
Then the Jew said, See how this thing stands! If
you were to offer me more ducats than the whole city of
Venice is worth, I would not take them. I would rather
have what this bond says is my due.
And while this dispute was going on, there
arrived in Venice the lady of Belmonte, clad as a doctor
of laws. She took lodging at an inn, the host of which
inquired of one of her servants who this gentleman
might be. The servant, who had been instructed by the
lady as to what reply he should make to a question of
this sort, replied that his master was a doctor of laws

165

who was returning home after a course of study at
Bologna.
The host when he heard this did them great
reverence, and while the doctor of laws sat at table he
inquired of the host in what fashion the city of Venice
was governed. Whereupon the host replied, Messere,
we make too much of justice here.
When the doctor inquired how this could be, the
host went on to say, I will tell you how, Messere. Once
there came hither from Florence a youth whose name
was Giannetto. He came to reside with his godfather,
who was called Messer Ansaldo. And so gracious and
courteous did he show himself to everyone, that all the
ladies of Venice, and the gentlemen as well, held him
very dear. Never before had there come to our city so
seemly a youth. Now this godfather of his fitted out for
him, on three different occasions, three ships, all of great
value. And every time disaster befell his venture. But
for the equipment of the last ship Messer Ansaldo had
not money enough, so he had perforce to borrow ten
thousand ducats of a certain Jew upon these terms, to
wit, that if by the day of San Giovanni in the following
June he should not have repaid the debt, the Jew
aforesaid should be free to cut away, from
whatever part of his body he would, a pound of flesh.
Now this much desired youth has returned from his last
voyage. And, in lieu of the ten thousand ducats, has
offered to give a hundred thousand. But this
villainous Jew will not accept them. So all our excellent
citizens are come hither to entreat him, but all their
prayers profit nothing.

166

The doctor said, This is an easy question to
settle.
Then cried the host, If you will only take the
trouble to bring it to an end, without letting this good
man die, you will win the love and gratitude of the most
worthy young man that ever was born, and besides this
the goodwill of every citizen of our state.
After hearing these words of the host, the doctor
let publish a notice through all the state of Venice,
setting forth how all those with any question of law to
settle should repair to him. The report having come to
the ears of Messer Giannetto that there was come from
Bologna a doctor of laws who was ready to settle the
rights and wrongs of every dispute, he went to the Jew
and suggested that they should go before the doctor
aforesaid.
And the Jew agreed, saying at the same time
that, come what might, he would demand the right to do
all that his bond allowed him.
When they came before the doctor of laws, and
gave him due salutation, he recognized Messer
Giannetto, who meantime knew not the doctor to be his
wife, because her face was stained with a certain
herb.
Messer Giannetto and the Jew spake their
several pleas, and set the question fully in order before
the doctor, who took up the bond and read it, and then
said to the Jew, I desire that you now take these
hundred thousand ducats, and let go free this good man,
who will ever be bound to you by gratitude.
The Jew replied, I will do naught of this.

167

Whereupon the doctor persuaded him again
thereto, saying it would be the better course for him, but
the Jew would not consent.
Then they agreed to go to the proper court for
such affairs, and the doctor, speaking on behalf of
Messer Ansaldo, said, Let the merchant be brought
here. And they fetched him forthwith, and the doctor
said, Now take your pound of flesh where you will, and
do your work.
Then the Jew made Messer Ansaldo strip
himself, and took in his hand a razor which he had
brought for the purpose.
Whereupon Messer Giannetto turned to the
doctor and said, Messere, this is not the thing I begged
you to do.
But the doctor bade him take heart, for the Jew
had not yet cut off his pound of flesh. As the Jew
approached, the doctor said, Take care what you do.
For, if you cut away more or less than a pound of flesh,
you shall lose your own head. And I tell you, moreover,
that if you let flow a single drop of blood, you shall die,
for the reason that your bond says naught as to the
shedding of blood. It simply gives you the right to take
a pound of flesh, and says neither less nor more. Now, if
you are a wise man, you will consider well which may
be the best way to compass this task.
Then the doctor bade them summon the
executioner, and fetch likewise the axe and the block.
And he said to the Jew, As soon as I see the first drop
of blood flow, I will have your head stricken off.

168

Hereupon the Jew began to be afeared, and
Messer Giannetto to take heart. And, after much fresh
argument, the Jew said, Messer doctor, you have
greater wit in these affairs than I have. So now give me
those hundred thousand ducats, and I will be satisfied.
But the doctor replied that he might take his
pound of flesh, as his bond said, for he should not be
allowed a single piece of money now. He should have
taken it when it was offered to him.
Then the Jew came to ninety, and then to eighty
thousand, but the doctor stood firmer than ever to his
word.
Messer Giannetto spake to the doctor, saying,
Give him what he asks, so that he lets Messer Ansaldo
go free.
But the doctor replied that the settlement of the
question had better be left to himself.
The Jew now cried out that he would take fifty
thousand.
But the doctor answered, I would not give you
the meanest coin you ever had in your pouch.
The Jew went on, Give me at least the ten
thousand ducats that are my own, and cursed be heaven
and earth!
Then said the doctor, Do you not understand
that you will get nothing at all? If you are minded to
take what is yours, take it. If not, I will protest, and
cause your bond to be annulled.
At these words all those who were assembled
rejoiced exceedingly, and began to put flouts and jests

169

upon the Jew, saying, This fellow thought to play a
trick, and see he is tricked himself.
Then the Jew, seeing that he could not have his
will, took his bonds and cut them in pieces in his rage.
Whereupon Messer Ansaldo was at once set free and led
with the greatest rejoicing to Messer Giannetto's house.
Next Giannetto took the hundred thousand
ducats and went to the doctor, whom he found in his
chamber making ready to depart, and said, Messere,
you have done me the greatest service I have ever
known, and for this reason I would that you take with
you this money, which, certes, you have well earned.
The doctor replied, Messer Giannetto, I thank
you heartily. But as I have no need of the money, keep
it yourself, so that your wife may not charge you with
wasting your substance.
Messer Giannetto answered, By my faith, she is
so generous and kindly and good, that, even were I to
lavish four times the money I have here, she would not
complain. In sooth, she was fain that I should take with
me a much greater sum than this.
The doctor inquired whether Giannetto were
contented with this wife of his.
And Giannetto replied, There is no one God
ever made who is so dear to me as she is; she
is so prudent and so fair that nature could not possibly
excel her. Now, if you will do me the favor to come and
visit me, and see her, I think you will be amazed at the
honorable reception she will give you, and you can see
for yourself whether or not she is all that I now tell you.

170

The doctor of laws replied, I cannot visit you as
you desire, seeing that I have other business in hand.
But, since you tell me that your wife is so virtuous a
lady, salute her on my behalf when you see her.
Messer Giannetto declared that he would not fail
to do this, but he still urged the doctor to accept the
money as a gift.
While they were thus debating the doctor espied
upon Messer Giannetto's hand a ring, and said, I would
fain have that ring of yours, but money of any sort I will
not take.
Messer Giannetto answered, It shall be as you
wish, but I give you this ring somewhat unwillingly, for
my wife gave me the same, saying that I must always
keep it out of love for her. Now, were she to see me
without the ring, she would deem that I had given it to
some other woman, and would be angry with me, and
believe I had fallen in love otherwhere, but in sooth I
love her better than I love myself.
The doctor replied, Certes, if she loves you as
much as you say, she will believe you when you tell her
that you gave it to me. But perchance you want to give
it to some old sweetheart of yours here in Venice.
Messer Giannetto answered, So great are the
love and the trust I have for her, that there is not a
lady in the world for whom I would exchange her, so
consummately fair is she in every sense. And with
these words he drew from his finger the ring, which he
gave to the doctor. And they embraced each
other, saluting with due respect.

171

The doctor asked Messer Giannetto if he would
grant him a favor, and being answered in the affirmative,
he went on to say, I would that you tarry not here, but
go straightway home to your wife.
Messer Giannetto declared that the time yet to
elapse before meeting her would be as long to him as a
thousand years, and in this wise they took leave of one
another.
The doctor embarked and went his way, while
Messer Giannetto let celebrate diverse banquets, and
gave horses and money to his companions, and the
merrymaking went on for several days. He kept open
house, and at last he bade farewell to the Venetians, and
took Messer Ansaldo with him, with many of his old
friends accompanying them on their voyage.
Well nigh all the gentlemen and the ladies shed
tears over his departure, so gracious had been his
carriage with everyone what time he had abode in
Venice, and thus he departed and returned to Belmonte.
It happened that his wife had come there some
days before, having given out that she had been away at
the baths, and had once more put on woman's garb. Now
she prepared great feastings, and hung all the streets with
silk, and bade diverse companies of men-at-arms array
themselves.
So when Messer Giannetto and Messer Ansaldo
arrived, all the barons and the courtiers met them, crying
out, Long live our lord!
When they had landed, the lady ran to embrace
Messer Ansaldo, but with Messer Giannetto she seemed
somewhat angered, albeit she held him dearer than her

172

own self. And they made high festival with jousting,
and sword-play, and dancing, and singing, in which all
the barons and ladies present at the court took part.
When Messer Giannetto perceived that his wife
did not welcome him with that good humor which was
her wont, he went into the chamber, and, having called
her, asked her what was amiss, and offered to embrace
her.
But she said, I want no caresses of yours, for I
am well assured that you have met some old sweetheart
of yours at Venice.
Messer Giannetto began to protest. Whereupon
the lady cried, Where is the ring I gave you?
Messer Giannetto answered, That which I
thought would happen has indeed come to pass, for I
said you must needs think evil of what I did. But I swear
to you, by the faith I have in God and in your-
self, that I gave the ring to that doctor of laws who
helped me win the suit against the Jew.
The lady said, And I swear to you, by the faith I
have in God and in you, that you gave it to a woman. I
am sure of this, and you are not ashamed to swear as you
have sworn.
Messer Giannetto went on, I pray that God may
strike me dead if I do not speak the truth. Moreover, I
spake as I told you to the doctor when he begged the ring
of me.
The lady replied, You had better abide
henceforth in Venice, and leave Messer Ansaldo here,
while you take your pleasure with your wantons. In
sooth, I hear they all wept when you left them.

173

Messer Giannetto burst into tears, and, greatly
troubled, cried out, You swear to what is not and cannot
be true.
Whereupon the lady, perceiving from his tears
that she had struck a knife into his heart, quickly
ran to him and embraced him, laughing heartily the
while. She showed him the ring, and told him
everything: what he had said to the doctor of laws, how
she herself was that same doctor, and in what wise he
had given her the ring.
Thereupon Messer Giannetto was mightily
astonished. And, when he saw that it was all true, he
made merry thereat. When he went forth from the
chamber, he told the story to all the barons and
to his friends about the court. And from this adventure
the love between this pair became greater than ever.
And afterwards Messer Giannetto let summon
that same waiting-woman who had counseled him not to
drink the wine, and gave her in marriage to Messer
Ansaldo. And they all lived together in joy and feasting
as long as their lives lasted.

Merchant of Venice Explaination For Icse Class 10

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