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Tim Reed

Dr. Norman Campbell

English 206, KJH

2 March 2020

Interpretive Essay on a Script:

The Merchant of Venice; Act I

When analyzing a script, there are many elements that one must consider in order to

recognize its significance as a piece of literature. The elements that one must take into

consideration are genres and length, and dramatic situation and plot. When it comes to the

specific genre of this first act, one could say that it is a comedy. In the beginning of the script,

one can see how Antonio is upset and how he wants to peacefully be with Bassanio. However,

Bassanio has to go through this whole process with marrying Portia and obtaining her money for

both he and the cash flow problem that Antonio has. Before Bassanio can travel to Belmont, he

has to arrange transportation. After agreeing to a most radical loan from Shylock, a Jew,

Bassanio is able to secure transportation to go to Belmont. With all this in mind, one can say that

this most definitely begins like a comedy. When looking at the length, there are two aspects that

one must review. One of those aspects is the character types. While reading the first act, one can

see how there are not drastic character changes. The only one character change that occurs

throughout the first act is how Antonio becomes a more hopeful character and not as upset. If

one was to read the second act then one could go into detail as how Shylock goes from making a

radical deal with Antonio (that doesn’t seem that serious) to actually trying to follow through

with it. At this point, until threatened by the court, Shylock, as a person, had lost all mercy for

anyone. With Antonio, one could say how as a person, he goes through emotional damage after
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almost having a pound of his flesh cut off. However, without reading the second act, the reader

wouldn’t know these character changes happen. When looking at the different scenes, one would

realize throughout the first act, there are not a lot of different scenes that take place. The very

beginning of the script deals with a street in Venice. And in Venice, is where one can interpret

that most of our characters are meeting in a public place or in a place of residence (presumably

Antonio’s place of residence). The next scene takes place in Belmont with Portia and Nerissa

with the final scene taking place back in Venice in Shylock’s place of business/residence.

When looking at the dramatic situation of the script, one can see that the central problem,

throughout the first act, is that Antonio has a cash flow problem and that Bassanio intends to help

him through a profitable marriage. Another problem that is occurring within the script, is how

Portia can not find an adequate husband that will love her for her and not for her money. The

problem lies in how Portia has to go through suitor after suitor without making any progress on

becoming happy. Lastly, when it comes to the plot, one can analyze two of the specific points on

Freytag’s pyramid: the exposition and the rising action. When looking at the exposition, one can

see how all of the characters are introduced and their specific relationships. For example, one can

see the introduction for the relationship between Bassanio and Antonio. One can also see the

development of the setting as well and how the setting influences the characters and the choices

they make. This is seen with the very negative relationships between the Christians and the Jews.

Lastly, while looking at the rising action of the script, one can see how both Bassanio and

Antonio as well as Portia, deal with their problems at hand. Bassanio and Antonio obtain their

loan to fix their problems and Portia is doing everything she can to obtain the perfect husband.

When one analyzes a script to this level, they can develop a deeper appreciation for when

reading a piece of literature such as this.