Explain the importance of prejudice in the play.

In your answer you must consider:

• when prejudice is shown
• how prejudice affects those involved.

Through Shakespeare’s depiction of Portia, the audience can explore the prejudice (specifically racial
prejudice) that was evident in Elizabethan society as Shakespeare intends to put importance upon this
theme. Despite Portia being a woman who faces prejudice to a certain extent herself in a patriarchal
society, she still displays acts of racial prejudice towards Morocco. This brings light upon the
internalised racism and colourism in Elizabethan society and suggests that people of colour
experienced prejudice from all classes, of both genders. It is important to note, however, that
Shakespeare neither justifies nor condemns this.

Portia’s openly racist, intolerant and dismissive attitude is compounded in lines 105-8 of Act 1 Scene
2 when she makes a remark about not wanting to marry the soon-to-arrive Prince of Morocco because
he has “the complexion of a devil”. Elizabethans believed that devils were black. This perception of
black individuals compared to devils alone demonstrates that there was a clear hatred towards those of
colour among Elizabethans as they were associated with evil and being the enemy of Christ (this
alludes to Venetian Christian’s views towards Jews).

As the reader, we can see the effect that this has on Morocco as he enters Act 2 Scene 1 with “Mislike
me not for my complexion” as his first line. It may be possible that Shakespeare intended for this to
be his first line to display the fact that Morocco is indeed aware of the racial prejudice that people of
colour face, and that Portia may not find him attractive due to his complexion. To counter this issue,
he surprisingly states that he “would not change this hue, // Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle
queen” to Portia in order to win her hand in marriage. Ironically, Portia replies “Yourself, renowned
prince, then stood as fair // As any comer I have looked on yet // For my affection” to Morocco. Prior
to his opening speech, the stage direction reads “A flourish of cornets. Enter the Prince of
MOROCCO […] and three or four followers accordingly.” Act 2 contrasts significantly from the
business-like mood of Act 1 with a much more visual and verbal pomp. Morocco’s grand entrance
may have been intended by Shakespeare to clarify his insecurity regarding his dark skin, as he tries to
divert Portia’s attention from his complexion to his wealth, status and large, imposing physical
presence. Morocco’s treatment due to the colour of his skin reflects the prejudice that Shylock
endures for being a Jew – Shakespeare informs us that prejudice is something that permeates all levels
of Venetian society and is not strictly for the Jews.

Shakespeare intends to reveal the religious prejudice (that the Jewish minority faces) that was deeply
embedded in Elizabethan society through the Venetian Christian characters throughout ‘The Merchant
of Venice’. Through Shylock the Jew, Shakespeare also allows us to understand his pain, hatred and
anger towards Christians as we get an insight into the discrimination that he faces and has faced from
certain characters. Shylock exemplifies the stereotypes associated with Jews in Act 1 Scene 3 when he
says, “I hate him for he is a Christian” (line 34), “Cursed be my tribe // If I forgive him” (lines 43-44)
and declares that if Antonio fails to pay his ducats back to him, “let the forfeit // Be nominated for an
equal pound // Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken.” – violent, evil and hate-filled. Antonio
warns Bassanio that “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose” (referring to Shylock) and that he
“Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,” presenting him as the enemy and a deceptive and deceitful
character. In Elizabethan society, Jews would have been perceived as the ‘Christ-killers’ by Venetian
Christians in reference to Jesus’ death which ties in with the stereotype that Jews were devils.
Contrarily, one may view Shylock’s feelings and words as justifiable after reading his very open and
public attack on Antonio as he airs some of his grievances about how the Christians have treated him.
Shylock first confirms that “In the Rialto you [Antonio]” has indeed “rated me [Shylock],” then
further goes on to say, “You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, // And spit upon my Jewish
gaberdine” (“dog” was a particular insult to Jews). Antonio’s treatment towards Shylock is also
physical harassment and abuse as is revealed when Shylock says “You that did void your rheum upon
my beard, // And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur.” In line 40, Shylock states that “He hates our
sacred nation” which clearly aligns with what Shylock has claimed that Antonio has done to him. An
interesting line (102) that Shylock says is “For suff’rance is the badge of all our tribe.” – Shakespeare
may intend to provoke sympathy from the reader as this line truly evokes Shylock’s feeling of sadness
and tiredness with the immense, unjust treatments that Jews had to endure in Elizabethan society. The
audience naturally becomes inclined to sympathise with Shylock as he is of a minority group that
faces prejudice daily (similarly, we feel the same way towards the Prince of Morocco). Throughout
the play, we see the same attitude towards Jews from every Christian character – Antonio, Bassanio,
Gratiano, Lorenzo, Lancelot Gobbo and even Jessica (his own daughter). In Act 2 Scene 2, Lancelot
Gobbo (Shylock’s servant) speaks of Shylock in a degrading, discriminatory manner and says that
“Certainly the Jew is the very devil incarnation” which links to the stereotype that Jews were evil and
cunning. He also refers to Shylock as “This Jew” and “the Jew”, very rarely referring to his actual
name; this emphasises his disgust towards Jews. Seeing Shylock’s own servant (who is of a lower
class) hate him for being a Jew emphasises how deeply embedded prejudice against Jews was in
society. Bassanio ends up willingly employing Lancelot as his servant which demonstrates how
greedy and despicable, he is as a character, as he is trying to spite Shylock by ruining his life and
taking everything away from him (he has already taken his money, and now his servant). Both
Bassanio and Lancelot’s hatred towards Jews as Christians bonds them together, which further
exacerbates Shylock’s position as a minority among Venetian Christians. Jessica, Shylock’s daughter,
ends up leaving her father to run away with her lover (Lorenzo) and converts to Christianity. She
expresses that she is “ashamed to be my [her] father’s child!” and that living with her father means the
“house is hell.” Her conversion to Christianity is her disassociation with Shylock as she states, “But
though I am a daughter to his blood I am not to his manners,” which implies that she does not have
any association with the idea of the stereotypical Jew that her father is a clear example of. Even
though Jessica would have faced discrimination due to being Jewish, as an Elizabethan woman in a
patriarchal society she (among other women) would have also faced prejudice of a certain level due to
her gender.
By referring to different types of prejudice in Elizabethan society, Shakespeare intends to illustrate
that prejudice is deeply rooted in society in many different forms and this usage of prejudice as a
central theme in this play is important as it allows the audience to get an insight into the feelings and
views of a majority and a minority group.

In Elizabethan society, women were treated as second-class citizens who were inferior to men. Due to
this treatment, there was evidently gender prejudice among the Elizabethans of the time in a
patriarchal society. Looking at Portia, she is a young woman who’s “will” is “curbed by the will of a
[her] dead father.” She expresses in Act 1 Scene 2 to Nerissa, “Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot
choose one, nor refuse none?,” regarding her involvement and engagement in choosing her potential
husbands from the suitors that come forward to her. Portia’s late father had created a “lottery” for his
daughter’s potential suitors; “the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests of gold, silver, and
lead, whereof who chooses his meaning chooses you, will no doubt never be chosen by any rightly but
one who you shall rightly love.” Not only is this completely restricting Portia from having a say in the
man who she shall marry, but the test is completely absurd as it does not make sense that the man who
chooses the correct chest will be the “one who you [Portia] shall rightly love”.

Portia exclaims, “O me, the word ‘choose’! I may neither choose who I would nor refuse whom I
dislike,” which implies her frustration and irritation with her father’s “lottery” creation. Despite
expressing her disagreement with the test, she still commits herself to obeying her deceased father’s
command. She makes no attempt to overcome the gender imbalance as she is a second-class citizen in
Elizabethan society and bound by her father’s will. Shakespeare intends to portray Portia as feeling
imprisoned and restricted by her father’s will, when she says, “Besides, the lottery of my destiny //
Bars me the right of voluntary choosing,” as she uses the word “Bars” (he may intend to reflect how
many Elizabethan women would have felt in the 16th and 17th century through Portia). The power
dynamic