Understanding Merchant of Venice

Literary Appreciation

The first question that The Merchant of Venice raises is what kind of play is
this? Is it a comedy, tragedy, tragi-comedy (a play that starts tragically but
ends like a comedy), or what? Written in the mid-1590s, when Shakespeare's
art was rapidly maturing, it shows the playwright experimenting with a
variety of forms. He had just written the three plays of his "lyric period": a
comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream; a romantic tragedy, Romeo and
Juliet; and a history play chronicling the rise and fall of King Richard II.
Some aspects of The Merchant of Venice derive from all three of these
plays: its beautiful lyric poetry, found, for example, in Lorenzo's
monologues in act 5; the comic antics of the clown, Lancelot Gobbo; and the
downfall of Shylock. For modern audiences, how- ever, the play raises
certain issues that have led some critics to regard this play as a "problem
play"; that is, a drama that raises significant moral questions that it fails
satisfactorily to resolve, as in Shylock's forced conversion at the end of act
4, scene 1.
Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice at a time when few Jews lived
in England, from where they had been forcibly expelled in 1290 by Edward
I. Nevertheless, the Jew remained a powerful image in English literature and
drama throughout the succeeding ages (see Chapter 3). The trial and
execution of Queen Elizabeth’s physician, Dr. Roderigo Lopez, in 1594; the
revival of Marlowe's play, The Jew of Malta; and other events aroused
renewed anti- Semitism in England and may have led Shakespeare to
contemplate writing about a rich Jewish moneylender who, like Barabas
in Marlowe's play, acts the role of a villain. But unlike Marlowe,
Shakespeare endowed his villain Shylock with some very human qualities
that evoke much sympathy. The result is an ambivalence toward Shylock
that makes his role one of the most dramatically complex and compelling
among all of Shakespeare's characters, and one that reinforces the sense of
this work as a problem play.
Shylock, of course, is not the only important character in The Merchant of
Venice, which takes its title from Antonio, the Venetian merchant who
borrows from Shylock to help his friend, Bassanio. Portia, the rich heiress
whom Bassanio courts, is another major character, and the relationship
between her and her suitors also raises important moral issues. Is Bassanio
mainly after Portia's money, or is there a genuine love between the two?
How does Bassanio's friendship with Antonio complicate his relationship
with Portia? These are questions that the play raises and tries to resolve. To
what extent they are resolved more or less successfully is something that
literary and dramatic analysis must consider, as we shall do in the pages that
follow.

SHAKESPEARE'S USE OF HIS SOURCES

Like his contemporaries, Shakespeare borrowed freely from previously
known works for his plots, characters, and themes. He also invented new
twists and turns in his narrative as well as new characters to give his plays
fresh appeal, often providing a new perspective on events. Writers have
always done this, avoiding charges of plagiarism by their inventiveness. For
Elizabethans, the important thing was not the originality of the story, but the
imaginative- ness of its presentation—the way it was developed, the
language used to tell it, and the new slant that emerged from the tale.
Shakespeare could, if he wished, invent his own plots, as he did for A
Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest, but for most of his plays he
seemed more interested in reusing old or familiar stories and themes to see
what he could do with them. By comparing Shakespeare's play with his
sources, then, we can glimpse some- thing of his creative processes at work,
noting how he altered certain details and added or omitted others, and then
asking what the results of the differences are.

Shakespeare's main source for The Merchant of Venice was a sixteenth-

century Italian novel, IL Pecorone (The Dunce) by Ser Giovanni Fiorentino.
In this story, Ansaldo, godfather to Gianetto, finances the young man's
attempts to win the Lady of Belmonte, a rich widow who requires her suitors
to consummate their love before she agrees to wed them, or lose everything
they have brought with them. Twice Gianetto fails the test, because of a
drink that has been drugged, until the third time, when one of the lady's
waiting-women, taking pity on the young man, warns him not to drink.
Meanwhile, to subsidize this third voyage, Ansaldo has had to borrow funds
from a Jewish moneylender and forfeit a pound of his flesh if the debt is not
repaid on time. Enjoying his good fortune, Gianetto forgets all about the
loan until it is too late, but then hurries back to Venice with more than
enough money from his wife to repay the debt and save his godfather. The
lady, in disguise as a lawyer, follows close behind. When the Jew refuses ten
times the amount of the debt and insists on having his pound of flesh, the
lady saves the day by requiring the Jew to take exactly one pound without a
single drop of blood. Frustrated, the Jew tears up the bond and leaves
without so much as the principal allowed to him. The young couple then
returns to Belmonte, where Ansaldo weds the waiting-woman who had aided
Gianetto.

One immediately notices certain differences between Shakespeare's play and

his main source. For example, while the moneylender is foiled in his plan to
kill Antonio, he is not forced to convert to Christianity at the end; he is only
deprived of the money he has lent. Another important difference is the test
that Gianetto undergoes as compared with the three caskets in The Merchant
of Venice from which Portia's suitors must choose. For this part of the plot,
Shakespeare had recourse to a story in the Gesta Roma norum, where a
young woman must choose the right casket before the king will approve the
marriage to his son. Perhaps Shakespeare preferred to complicate the plot,
introduce more characters, and suggest a significant moral element by
having Portia's suitors tested with a choice of caskets. Through the casket
plot the characters of Portia and Bassanio are also more fully developed than
their counterparts in IL Pecorone. But the ring plot, through which Portia
tests the loyalty of Bassanio at the end of the trial scene, derives from IL
Pecorone and is used in the same way. Still disguised as a lawyer, Portia gets
Bassanio to give her the ring she had given him earlier and he had promised
never to relinquish.

Another difference that Shakespeare introduced involves the subplot of

Lorenzo and Jessica. Here he probably drew on Marlowe's play, where
Barabas's daughter, Abigail, falls in love with a Christian and wishes to
marry him. Barabas foils their hopes, first by having Abigail's lover killed
and then by killing his daughter, who has converted to Christianity and
entered a nunnery. Shakespeare did not follow these unfortunate details but
turned instead to another Italian novel, Masuccio's fifteenth-century Il
Novellino, story 14, in which an old miser has a lovely young daughter
whom he carefully sequesters at home. Nevertheless, she successfully elopes
with a clever young nobleman, despite all the precautions her father has
taken. After the couple is happily married and the bride becomes pregnant, a
feast is held to which the old father is invited and becomes reconciled with
his daughter and her husband. In this story, unlike Shakespeare's adaptation
of it, no question of an interfaith marriage is raised.

Shakespeare resorted to some other sources for several details in his drama,
but these are the main ones. Even from this very brief summary we can see
how he reshaped them to fashion what is essentially a new and more
complex rendering. The whole issue of conversion to Christianity is a new
element in Shakespeare's representation, but equally important though in a
different way are the dramatic construction, the characterizations, and the
poetry of The Merchant of Venice, to which we must now turn.

POETIC AND DRAMATIC PATTERNS

Despite its controversial or problematic nature, The Merchant of Venice
contains some of the most lyrical and lovely passages in all of Shakespeare.
Many of these passages, like Portia's famous lines on the quality of mercy
(4.1.181-99) or Lorenzo's on music and the beauty of the night (5.1.54-65),
are worth committing to memory. These set speeches, as they are sometimes
called, like the arias in a Verdi opera, delight audiences even as they help
develop the dramatic action. But Shakespeare's prose is also important, and
we sometimes forget that he was not only a consummate poet but an
excellent prose writer as well. Shylock's defense of him at 3.1.50-69 is
one of the most spirited and vigorous pieces of prose ever constructed.
Taken out of context, it is often used as a vindication of Shylock's
humanity, but in context it works not only as that but also as a criticism of
Christian behavior. Like Portia on mercy, this is one of the most
memorable speeches in the play.

Although Shakespeare at first followed his predecessors among Tudor

dramatists in using a great deal of rhymed couplets, by the time he wrote
The Merchant of Venice blank verse had become the mainstay of poetic
drama. It continued to be used throughout Elizabethan drama and during
the reign of James I, gaining in strength and virtuosity while it ever more
closely resembled the spoken language of men and women.

Blank Verse
Blank verse basically consists of ten-syllable, unrhymed lines with
alternating stresses on the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth syllables.
The stresses may vary—sometimes a good deal— for a number of reasons.
For example, when the author wishes to bring emphasis to a word that might
not otherwise be accented, or when he simply wishes to avoid falling into
too regular a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, which can become
monotonous. Occasionally, to signal the end of a scene as at 1.1.184-85, or a
stretch of sententiae (proverbial wisdom), Shakespeare used rhymed
couplets, often varying the meter at the same time, as at 2.7.65-73.

Songs also are important in Shakespeare's plays. The Merchant of Venice

contains only one song, but it is a very important one. It appears in 32 as
Bassanio approaches the caskets to make his choice. Critics have
commented on how the first three lines all rhyme with "lead." They argue
that this song seems to be a clue Portia gives Bassanio, directing him how to
choose the right one, especially since no such song appears in the other
casket scenes with the Prince of Morocco or the Prince of Aragon. Be that as
it may—Bassanio does not seem to hear the song, and Portia's integrity
would be seriously damaged if it is true—the song provides a pleasant
interlude and preparation for the theme of Bassanio's speech, "So may the
outward shows be least themselves" (3.2.73 ff.).

Image and Metaphor

As we might expect in a play about merchants, much of the language derives
from commercial transactions, even when it may appear rather inappropriate,
as when Portia addresses Bassanio after he has chosen the leaden casket:

You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand,

Such as I am. Though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish
To wish myself much better, yet for you
I would be trebled twenty times myself,
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich,
That only to stand high in your account
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends
Exceed account. But the full sum of me
Is sum of something, which, to term in gross,
Is an unlessoned girl . . . .? (3.2.149-59)

Nerissa and Graziano's phrasing in the speeches that follow soon after, when
they announce their wish to be married too, reemphasize the commercial
aspect of the transaction. Nerissa comments that they have seen their wishes
"prosper" (3.2.187), and Graziano speaks of the "bargain" of the faith that
Portia and Bassanio have pledged to each other (32.193). Near the end of
this part of the dialogue, when Graziano proposes a bet, "We'll play with
them the first boy for a thousand ducats" (3.2.213), money once again
becomes a pronounced consideration.
Since Shakespeare was writing for a largely literate audience and not merely
for the masses that also populated his theater, he felt free also to use many
classical allusions. Graziano combines both kinds of language when he
greets Lorenzo and Jessica at 3.2.239: "We are the Jasons, we have won the
fleece." Here he compares Bassanio and himself to the ancient argonaut
Jason on his dangerous voyage to Colchis on the Black Sea in quest of the
Golden Fleece, one of the most famous prizes in classical literature. The
speeches of the Prince of Morocco in 2.1 are studded with classical
allusions, although he gets some of them wrong, an indication of the way
Shakespeare makes fun of his pretentiousness. For ex- ample, the prince
confuses the story of Hercules and Lichas playing at dice with another story
of Hercules thrown into a rage by the shirt of Nessus. Shakespeare's
audience would have picked up the allusions and understood how Morocco
mixed them up.

Shakespeare's audience was also steeped in biblical lore. With the advent of
the Bishops' Bible and the Geneva Bible and other English translations made
available under Elizabeth I's Protestant rule, more and more English people
read Scripture on their own, besides hearing it read to them in church every
Sunday. Shakespeare could count on his audience therefore to grasp the
allusions made directly, as in Shylock's account of Jacob and Laban in 1.3,
or indirectly, as at 3.1.80-81 where Shylock alludes to the curse upon his
people mentioned in Matthew 27.25 and Luke 13.34-35. Like metaphors,
these allusions extend the frame of reference and thus help provide a broader
context for the play than might at first seem apparent Although no single
strand of imagery pervades The Merchant of Venice in the way that imagery
of blood pervades Macbeth or imagery of disease pervades Hamlet, the
frequent suggestion of music contributes significantly to the play's
atmosphere, according to Caroline Spurgeon, who pioneered the study of
image patterns in Shakespeare's plays. The two great moments of emotion
and romance—Bassanio's casket scene and especially Lorenzo and Jessica's
evening scene in 5.1—are dominated by music. Lorenzo summons
musicians to play while he and his wife await Portia's return, commenting,
"Soft stillness and the night/Become the touches of sweet harmony" (56-57).
He is then moved to remark on the music of the spheres, the heavenly
harmony that exists in "immortal souls" (60-65). But as the music begins to
play, Jessica says she is never merry when she hears sweet music. She
means that music puts her into a mood of contemplation, and in a long
speech Lorenzo explains the reason for that, alluding to the poet Orpheus in
Ovid's Metamorphoses. The point of those passages, in part, is to restore the
play to the realm of romantic comedy, disturbed as it was by the events of
the trial scene in the immediately preceding act. It also looks forward to
what happens at the end of the scene: the reunions and reconciliations of the
other two married couples and the good news that Portia delivers to Antonio,
Lorenzo, and Jessica. As elsewhere in Shakespeare, music is the symbol of
harmony. By contrast, in act 2, where a good deal of music and revelry is
suggested, Shylock declares his antipathy to masques and music (2.5.28-36),
one of many contrasts the play develops between Shylock and his
antagonists.
Many poetical images appear throughout The Merchant of Venice consistent
with the lyrical spirit that pervades much of the play. Salarino's pageant of
argosies at 1.1.9-14 is one such example. Using an elaborate simile, he
compares Antonio's state of mind to his sailing ships tossing on the ocean,
an image he continues in his next speech. Jessica's comments on her
embarrassed disguise as a boy as she prepares to elope with Lorenzo is
delightfully witty, as she comments on the nature of love, invoking the
image of blind Cupid, the little love god:

I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me.

For I am much ashamed of my exchange.

But love is blind, and lovers cannot see

The pretty follies they themselves commit;

For if they could, Cupid himself would blush

To see me thus transformed to a boy. (2.6.34-39)

Antonio's description of himself as a "tainted wether of the flock" (4.1.113-

15) is a rather different example. It shows how Antonio interprets his state of
mind in the final scene before Portia enters; he then vises another image to
reveal further the depth of his despondency.

Stage Conventions

Like his fellow dramatists, Shakespeare used a number of stage conventions,

or artificial dramatic devices, to develop his plots. Perhaps the most difficult
Elizabethan stage convention for modern audiences to grasp is what is called
impenetrable disguise. When Portia appears as Dr. Balthazar in 4.1, her do
neither husband, Bassanio, nor anyone else recognizes her or Nerissa,
disguised as her clerk. On stage their costumes, makeup, and voice
intonations all help conceal their true identities, but even so, the audience,
who have been apprised beforehand, easily recognizes who they are, though
their husbands cannot. In A Midsummer Night's Dream when Oberon says
he is invisible but remains in plain view of the audience, he is invisible to
the characters on stage. This requires the same imaginative acceptance as
other stage conventions, such as the aside and the soliloquy. When a
character speaks an aside, for example, only the audience hears him or her,
notwithstanding that the speech is perfectly audible to everyone on stage. An
ex- ample of such an aside is Shylock's speech as Antonio enters at 1.3.38-
49. Lancelot Gobbo's monologue that opens 2.2 is an example of a
soliloquy, a speech spoken to the audience that, like Hamlet's famous
soliloquies, allows us to hear what a character is thinking and is similar to
the voice-over technique used today in films and television dramas.

All conventions, like the overall illusion that dramatic representation

involves, depend on an audience's acceptance of what Samuel Taylor
Coleridge called a "willing suspension of disbelief." While a good deal of
Shakespearean drama is realistic, not all of it is: ghosts appear, as in Julius
Caesar and Macbeth, and gods descend from the heavens, as in As You like
It and Cymbeline. At the end of The Merchant of Venice at least one
unexplained miracle occurs, when Portia announces that three of Antonio's
argosies have safely come to harbor, and Lorenzo alludes to another when he
says that Portia drops manna in the way of starved people (5.1.294-95). The
reality that Shakespeare appeals to more than any other is the reality of the
imagination, which is more powerful than any other kind of reality.

Characterization

Discussion of reality prompts a discussion of the nature of dramatic

character. To what extent are the characters in Shakespeare's plays, and
specifically those in The Merchant of Venice, "real" people? Some critics
argue that dramatic characters, like characters in a novel, are not real but
convey only the illusion of people in real life. They lack any existence
before the play begins as well as after it ends. As Prospero says in The
Tempest, their "little lives are rounded with a sleep." The illusion, however,
is sometimes so powerful that we cannot help thinking of dramatic
characters as actual historical personages. While few people today would go
so far as to describe the girlhood of Shakespeare's heroines, as one
ninteenth-century critic, Mary Cowden Clarke, did in a book bearing that
title, many modern critics do not hesitate to explore the psychological
motivations that underlie a character's actions. Character motivation of
course is important in any play or novel; with- out sufficient motivation a
character's behavior will lack credibility. This is where illusion and reality
meet.

A discussion of The Merchant of Venice, therefore, inevitably involves

character analysis, just as all of Shakespeare's plays do. Some analysis will
continue to baffle us as it has done others. What, for instance, is the cause of
Antonio's melancholy, announced in the play's opening line? Solanio and
Salarino offer some explanations, but Antonio rejects all of them. We never
do find out the reason, and Antonio himself remains baffled. At the end he
seems relieved to know that his ships have all come in safely to harbor, but
does that end his melancholy? And what caused it in the first place? Since
the play does not provide the answers to these questions, we can only
speculate on the reasons.

Bassanio's motivation in seeking out Portia is by no means simple, either.

While he undoubtedly finds her attractive, as she does him, is love the main
motivation for Bassanio's quest? Or does her wealth also have a lot to do
with it? Can the two motives be separated, or are they inextricably
intertwined? Probably the latter, as is the case with some other couples in
Shakespeare's plays. (Shakespeare may be a romantic, but he is not a
sentimentalist.) And what occasions Jessica's long silence at the end of the
play? Her last words are, "I am never merry when 1hear sweet music"
(5.1.69). Lorenzo then reads her a lecture on the power of music to alter
states of being in people as in animals. While his explanation may be
convincing, is it altogether so? Or is something else bothering Jessica? In
many recent productions, directors make a good deal of her apparent
brooding on events (see Chapter 7), although in a comedy it is expected that
she should be as joyous as the other couples who enter Portia's house.

Finally, what motivates Shylock to accept conversion to Chris- tianity as a

means of saving his life? For a Jew, the one biblical command that may not
be broken is the command not to take any other God before Jehovah.
Shylock clearly violates this command, as he has violated other commands
in his faith. Have the Christians broken his spirit to such an extent that he no
longer has any integrity left whatsoever? Or is he merely a craven
moneylender after all? His behavior has sometimes been interpreted either
way, for in this respect the play remains tantalizingly ambiguous. Again, is
Antonio's mercy really that, or is it a more sinister kind of revenge than even
Shylock's demand for his pound of flesh was? Some critics favor the first
explanation, arguing that Shakespeare's audience believed salvation could
come only through Christianity. But others, especially in our post-Holocaust
days, find the demand for Shylock's conversion not unlike the cruelty of the
Spanish inquisition.

Multiple Plots and Subplots

Shakespeare borrowed not from one but several sources for The Merchant of
Venice, fusing the casket plot, taken from the Gesta Romanorum, to the
quest plot in Ser Giovanni's IL Pecorone. He did this not only to vary his
narrative, but also to contrast different types of characters with the different
types of caskets. Morocco, Aragon, and Bassanio all differ from each other,
as they differ from the first group of suitors mentioned in act 1, scene 2.
Shakespeare also inserted the subplot of Jessica and Lorenzo's elopement to
show yet another kind of romantic courtship. At the same time, this subplot
brings out aspects of Shylock's character that may make him more or less
sympathetic. Much depends on how it is interpreted and portrayed,
particularly on how we see Shylock's relationship with his daughter. She
claims "Our house is hell" (2.3.2), but Jessica may simply be a discontented
young woman bridling at her father's austerity. Shylock, however, may not
be the kind of loving parent she wants and needs, a factor motivating her
rebelliousness.

Juxtaposition in Elizabethan Drama

One of the basic techniques of Elizabethan drama, which was performed

without intermission from start to finish (act intervals came later in the
seventeenth century), was the juxtaposition of scenes, one against the other.
In this way the action of the scenes could be seen to comment upon each
other. For example, Antonio's melancholy opens the play and is followed in
the next scene by Portia's world-weariness. Shakespeare evidently intends a
comparison or contrast between the two important characters and expects us
to notice how their problems are ultimately resolved—if they are.

Sometimes the juxtapositions occur within a scene. In act 3, scene 1, Solanio

and Salarino begin by discussing Antonio's dis- asters at sea and then turn to
Shylock's misfortunes as the latter enters. What does Antonio's ill luck have
to do with Shylock's lament for the loss of his daughter? What makes
Salarino, after taunting Shylock rather unmercifully; bring up Antonio's
losses at sea? Are they merely idle gossipers, or do they have some sinister
motive? The play offers no answer to this question, but note that it is
precisely here that Shylock first says that he may foreclose on his bond with
Antonio. Only a deeply disturbed individual could see in that action
anything like an appropriate revenge for Jessica's elopement with Lorenzo. It
smacks of the worst kind of spiteful- ness, however justified it might
otherwise appear. Later on, in the trial scene Portia will juxtapose the
advantages of mercy as op- posed to justice and instruct all those present as
well as Shylock on the quality of mercy. She delays resolving the difficulty
Antonio is in until almost the last moment not only to heighten the suspense
of the scene and intensify the dramatic events that follow, but also to give
Shylock every opportunity to relent.

Finally, Shakespeare retains the ring plot from IL Pecorone for his last two
scenes, compounding it by having Nerissa also get her ring back from
Graziano. Through the ring plot these wives teach their husbands a good
lesson about marital loyalty, which in their view supersedes the loyalty
between friends. For this reason, Portia gives the ring to Antonio to return to
Bassanio, thereby symbolically indicating her supremacy over her male rival
regarding Bassanio's devotion.

Thematic Development
Several themes have already been suggested in the foregoing analyses of
language and character, such as the relation of mercy and justice, the nature
of love, and the bonds that connect or tie one human being to another.
Themes are the underlying ideas that help to unify the action of a play and
develop its meaning. They can be identified in various ways by focusing on
key words or images and their repetition throughout the play. Recurrent or
contrasting actions by the characters may also suggest themes, just as
analysis of the relationship between main plot and subplot often does.
Sometimes what seems to be merely a comic interlude may suggest a major
theme, just as Lancelot Gobbo's scene with his father suggests the
relationship between parent and child that is very much at the heart of The
Merchant of Venice. Similarly, the dramatic structure of a play may suggest
its organizing principle and thereby one of its major themes. For a play need
not be limited to a single theme, but on the contrary may have several
important themes worthy of analysis.
The major theme in The Merchant of Venice is the theme of bondage and
bonding. The play deals with all kinds of ties: be- tween father and child,
between friend and friend, between master and servant, between creditor and
debtor, and so forth. But per- haps the most important bond of all is the one
that connects one human being with another, implicit in most of the other
types of ties found in this play. The first line of the play also suggests an-
other kind of bond—the way Antonio seems tied to melancholy, a
melancholy he is at pains to understand but is unable to. His friends,
Salarino and Solanio, try to help him sort out his feelings, but to no avail.
Then other friends, Bassanio, Graziano, and Lorenzo, appear. It is not
entirely clear what the relationships are between them and the other two
friends, who leave the scene rather abruptly, but Antonio reassures Salarino
and Solanio that, whatever coolness may have grown between the two
groups, these two men are very dear to him. A comic interlude follows
during which Graziano tries to cheer up Antonio, as Salarino and Solanio
had tried earlier. His jocularity notwithstanding, Graziano delivers some
acute observations, such as the way men occasionally try to secure a
reputation for wisdom by appearing grave and silent. He then leaves with
Lorenzo so that Bassanio may talk privately with Antonio.
His rest of the scene shows the strong bond that ties these two friends
together. They are more than just friends; they are almost like father and son,
reflecting the relationship between Gianetto and Ansaldo in Shakespeare's
source, ILPecorone. But the relationship here is at a later stage, for Bassanio
is already in debt to Antonio and is uneasy about once more asking his
friend for funds, especially since they will be used to woo a lady for his
wife. The potential conflict between friends and lovers (soon to become
spouses) is thus introduced, but throughout the play Antonio tries to act as
generously as he can. He is even willing, when it comes down to it, to
pledge his life so that Bassanio can have sufficient funds to make a good
impression when he goes to Belmont to see Portia.
The next scene focuses on another kind of bond, the one that ties a daughter
to her father's will. Although Portia at first bridles at this obligation (1.2.21-
25), under Nerissa's tutelage she recog- nizes the virtue inherent in her
father's requirement that whoever marries her must first choose the right
casket. As Nerissa says, Portia's father was "ever virtuous," and at his death
he was inspired to good purpose, sensing that whoever chooses the right
casket will be the one Portia will "rightly love" (1.2.27-32). Later in the
play, the bond between parent and child is developed in other ways:
comically in the scene between Lancelot Gobbo and his father (2.2), and
more seriously in the relationship between Shylock and Jessica, who not
only deserts her father, but also her religion— another bond that is not as
easily broken as Jessica may think.
The third scene introduces several different but related kinds of bonds. The
first is the commercial bond, the agreement between creditor and borrower
for a certain sum of money. But the bond that ties enemies to each other is
also present as well as the at- tempt to overcome a historic enmity and enter
a new relationship. Shylock's attitudes are very peculiar. The contradictions
and in- consistencies in his speeches are only part of his strange behavior.
On the one hand, he says he hates Antonio and resents his behavior toward
him (1.3.38-49, 103-25); on the other hand, he would be friends with
Antonio and have his love (1.3.133-38). To this end he is willing to offer a
loan at no interest. For a moneylender this gesture is most unusual, and it
takes Antonio by surprise. Despite Bassanio's reluctance to let his friend
enter into the agreement, Antonio goes ahead with the "merry bond," which
involves the forfeiture of a pound of his flesh if he defaults. He feels very
confident that his ships will come in well before the due date and supply him
with enough money to repay the debt easily (1.3.153- 56, 178). Rightly or
wrongly, he believes Shylock has had a change of heart; he remarks to
Bassanio, "The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind" (175).
Earlier in this scene, when Bassanio invites him to dinner, Shylock rejects
the invitation, asserting allegiance to his religion (1.3.30-35). But in act 2
Shylock goes off to dine with Bassanio and his friends after all. His explicit
motive, or what he says to Jessica, is "to feed upon /the prodigal Christian"
(2.5.14-15). One can't help suspect, however, that he may still be trying to
ingratiate himself further with Antonio, who will be there, too. Whatever the
case—and these motives are not mutually exclusive—this is the first
indication that Shylock's tie to his religion may not be as strong as it seems,
regardless of his knowledge of the Hebrew bible, which he expounds in 1.3,
or his membership in a synagogue (3.1.122-23).
Act 2 develops thematically many of the bonds already discussed and
introduces others. Portia's suitors, for instance, are bound by the terms of
their choice: if they pick the wrong casket, they must leave at once, tell no
one about the choice, and remain unwed for life (2.910-15). During the
scenes with the princes of Morocco and Arragon, Portia also shows the
obligations of courtesy, and only after they leave does she reveal her true
feelings toward them, which are just as unfavorable as those toward her
earlier suitors (1.2.38-108, 2.7.79, 2.9.78-79). Lancelot Gobbo's monologue
in 2.2 comically develops the motif of the bond between master and servant,
which is further developed in Shylock's attitude toward him (2.5.45-50; cp.
1.3.172-73). These ties are not indissoluble; nevertheless, they require some
searching of one's conscience to break them.
Act 3 dramatizes the breaking of some bonds and the forging of new ones.
Word arrives that one of Antonio's ships has been lost. Meantime, Jessica
has eloped with Lorenzo, and Shylock mourns his daughter and his ducats
(2.8.12-22, 3.1.23-35, 75-91). When, after mocking Shylock's despair,
Salarino mentions Antonio's ill fortune, he (more or less inadvertently)
ignites Shylock's desire for revenge, which he justifies in his long speech
identifying himself, as a Jew, with all humanity, including Christians (3.15
5-69). His claim that Christians have taught him to be vindictive may be
arguable, but neither Salarino nor Solanio disputes the claim, interrupted
though they are at this point by a messenger summoning them to Antonio's
house. The scene concludes as Shylock, receiving unwelcome news of
Jessica's spendthrift ways from Tubal, pledges to exact his forfeit if Antonio
defaults on his debt payment.
While this is going on in Venice, at Belmont Portia and Bassanio enjoy an
idyllic time together and have fallen in love. It is questionable whether
Portia's clear preference for Bassanio leads her to assist him in making the
right choice of caskets by having a song sung, whose first three lines rhyme
with lead (3.2.63-65). She overtly insists that though she is tempted to aid
Bassanio, she will not (3.2.10-12), and some critics take her at her word.
Neverthe- less, it is only here, in Bassanio's casket scene and not in the
others, that any music is played. Has Portia thus violated her bond?
Bassanio, of course, may be too engrossed in meditation while the song is
sung, pondering the inscriptions on the caskets and making his decision.
When at length he chooses the right casket, Portia is overjoyed, as everyone
else is, and Graziano and Nerissa also announce their engagement. So the
bonds of matrimony are forged, sealed by the rings that Portia and Nerissa
give their husbands.
Into this scene of festivity intrudes the news from Venice, that Antonio's
ships have all been lost and he is forfeit to Shylock. Bassanio is stunned, but
Portia leaps to his aid as a good, rich wife should, send him immediately
back to Venice with more than enough ducats to satisfy the debt Antonio
owes. She only insists that they be married first, without taking any time to
consummate the act. After Bassanio and Graziano leave, she turns her
household over to Lorenzo and Jessica (3.4.24-40), who have come to
Belmont with Salerio bearing the ill tidings, and she announces her plan to
Nerissa to follow their husbands to Venice disguised as men (3.4.57-84).
Violating the propriety of their sex by doing so, they are bound to a higher
obligation—to help their loved ones where and as they can.
Act 3, scene 3 is a prelude to the trial scene (4.1), showing Shy- lock's
adamant refusal to relinquish his hold on Antonio. He stands on Venetian
justice, he claims, which cannot allow any divergence without risking its
credit in the world. Antonio concedes as much (3.326-29), as later the duke
does, too. A state is bound to observe and enforce its laws, as Shylock well
knows. He thus appears to have the upper hand here and during the first part
of 4.1. When Portia appears in disguise as a doctor of laws with Nerissa as
her clerk, she recognizes the justice of Shylock's claim at first and pleads
with him to show mercy. But Shylock feels no compulsion to be merciful,
whereupon Portia argues that the quality of mercy is not "strained," or forced
(4.1.181-202). Men are not bound to be merciful; mercy issues from a
generous and forgiving spirit. Her words fall on deaf ears, unfortunately, and
Shylock proceeds with his claim to exact his forfeit.
Just as he is about to do so, despite the pleas from all concerned, Portia
interrupts him with another piece of Venetian law about which Shylock is
unaware. The moment resembles that in Genesis, when Abraham, having
bound his son Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord, is interrupted by an angel and
prevented from going through with his act of human sacrifice, which is so
adverse to everything Judaism stands for (see Gen. 22.1-14). By her action,
Portia not only saves Antonio's life, she also saves Shylock from violating
his own humanity by performing an extremely cruel, not to say in- human,
deed. Only she does not stop there. Caught in a web of his own making,
Shylock then tries to leave with the money Bassanio has offered him, but he
is not allowed to receive so much as his principal. The law, which Shylock
has insisted he is bound to, has yet another hold on him: as an alien in
Venice (Jews were not allowed to be citizens), his life and all his
possessions are forfeit to the state, insofar as he had designs against the life
of a true Venetian citizen.
Here the duke's mercy is spontaneous, contrasting directly with Shylock's
refusal earlier to show any mercy at all. Antonio's mercy is more considered
and deliberate, and for modern audiences more problematical. First, Shylock
must agree to bequeath all he possesses at his death to Lorenzo and Jessica;
second, he must convert to Christianity. A careful reading of the play will
show that however difficult Shylock finds these conditions, they are not
impossible. For he has not been a truly religious Jew. He has not been
deeply bound to his religion, for no Jew would insist on such diabolical
vengeance as Shylock has done. That is why when he enters the duke's court
(4.1.14), he enters alone. Neither Tubal nor any other member of the Jewish
community in Venice accompanies him. (In the National Theatre's
production in London in1999, Tubal does enter but leaves when he sees
Shylock deter- mined to go through with his action against Antonio.) His
forced conversion may repel us today, though it probably did not repel
Shakespeare's audience, who may have seen this as Shylock's best chance
for salvation. Nevertheless, Shylock's pain at the end, and his admission that
he is ill, leaves many on stage and off feeling uncomfortable.
The last act is important for restoring the play to something more closely
resembling romantic comedy. The main action involves the rings that Portia
and Nerissa, in their disguises, have extracted from their husbands. Despite
the men's promises never to part with the rings, at Antonio's urging Bassanio
yields and sends Graziano after Portia with his ring (4.1.445-50). We do not
see how Nerissa gets the ring from Graziano, who shows her the way to
Shylock's house to deliver his deed of gift to Lorenzo and Jessica, but it is
she who first denounces her husband for having given the ring away
(5.1.141-65). What follows is an object lesson to the husbands, teaching
them to respect more completely the vows they make to their wives and, by
implication, all of the bonds that unite them as husband and wife. By
accepting Antonio's pledge of his soul to guarantee Bassanio's honor, Portia
also establishes the priorities she feels are necessary for her future house-
hold.

CONCLUSION
Like any literary artifact, a Shakespearean play is a complex structure that
uses a variety of techniques. Thematic and dramatic structures, including
verse patterns, prose, imagery and metaphor, characters, theatrical
conventions, multiple plots, and the juxtaposition of scenes—each
contributes to the overall design and meaning of the play. Close reading and
analysis of these patterns lead to a richer and fuller experience, bringing us
ever closer to the heart of Shakespeare's work. In addition, analysis of
Shakespeare's source materials and of the ways in which he adapts them to
his own purposes also helps bring us closer. Because Shakespeare's works
are as complex as they are. Involving ambiguities that reflect the profound
depths of human experience, analysis and discussion may seem endless, but
the deeper one probes, the more fruitful the results.
 Questions for Written Discussion
Q: 1. Discuss questions of genre that The Merchant of
Venice raises. What elements of tragedy does it include?
What are its comic aspects? Is Shylock a tragic victim or a
comic villain, like Marlowe's Barabas?
ANSWER:
The Merchant of Venice can be thought of as a stepping stone in
Shakespeare’s career. It has been suggested that it is the first of
Shakespeare’s “dark comedies” in which he infused the simple elements of
light-hearted romantic comedy with a consideration of the darker
possibilities of society. For example, this is one of the first of his comedies
to contain a villain.
The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare raises questions of genre
like, whether this play is Shakespearen comedy, tragedy or both because it
doesnot fit the conventional definitions of a tragedy or a comedy. This play
raises questions that it is multi- faceted and is really a combination of two
plays in one. If we look at this play it raises another question of genre that
whether it is a romantic comedy or not, because romantic comedy was a
popular and much-preferred type in Elizabethan theatre, and all the trappings
of such is present in The Merchant of Venice. Because in a romantic
comedy the conflict is between the lovers on one hand and some barrier to
the fulfillment of their love on the other. In The Merchant of Venice the
barrier is, of course, Shylock’s hold over Antonio, which in turn involves his
friend Bassanio. Though we can technically classified this drama/play as
“problem comedy” because of so much controversary in it or a
“tragicomedy” because it shares features in common with comedy but it
also contains those dark elements that we find in tragedy.
ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY:
This play includes some of the tragic elements as well. As a tragedy it
focuses on the fall of a Jewish moneylender, “Shylock”. His fault is crystal
clear. If we see, in the middle ages Christians were forbidden to lend money
for interest, so the profession of usury was conducted by non-Christians. In
The Merchant of Venice, the usurer is Shylock the Jew. In this play ,
Shylock is the tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw. From the
beginning, Shylock prides himself on being a man of business, not
associating himself with his clients as friends. He used to say: “ I will buy
with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you and so following. But I
will not eat with you, drink with you nor pray with you.” He also attempted
to murder a citizen of Venice. So heis not a citizen because he is a Jew
which means he gets more punishments. This is a tragedy for Shylock
because he hates Christians and he wanted to get revenge on them. The
tragic flaw was that he wanted to get revenge on Antonio but it backfired on
him. Another tragic element is that when Antonio finds out his ships
crashed it was tragic as well when his ship crashed in Tripolis. This is tragic
for Antonio because he needs money from the ships to pay Shylock. Another
tragic scene or element is in the courtroom when Shylock is forced to
become a Christian. This is tragic for Shylock because he dislikes the
Christians.
COMIC ASPECTS:
The comic aspects in “The Merchant of Venice” are the scene about
Launcelot the clown and his father, Old Gobbo. Launcelot debates with
himself about whether or not he should run away from his master, Shylock.
The wordplay and the vacillating self-debate are idiotic and much likes slap-
stick or clownish comedy. After this scene when old Gobbo enters, he is
nearly blind so he does not see his son clearly. Launcelot tries to convince
his father of his identity, but Gobbo still does not recognize him. When
Launcelot tells his father that Margery is his mother, old Gobbo begins to
believe him. In his blindness, the father feels the back of Launcelot's head
and thinks it is his son's beard which sounds idiotic as well. Another comic
aspect can be found in the scene when Portia dressed herself as a man so
that she can provide defense for Antonio. She defeats Shylock by telling him
that the contract between him and the merchant does not allow for any blood
to be shed when he takes the pound of flesh. After that, Bassanio, who does
not recognize Portia's disguise, praises the "young law clerk" for saving
Antonio. He is then pressured by this supposed clerk into giving her his ring
from Portia that he had promised her he would always keep. Likewise,
Gratiano is also tricked by Nerissa, who dressed herself as the law clerk's
assistant. He also gives up a ring given to him. Then, when the men return to
their ladies, they find themselves in an awkward situation. They realize their
women have fooled them.
SHYLOCK A TRAGIC VICTIM OR A COMIC VILLAIN:
There can be many similarities drawn to both the character Shylock in
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and Barabas in the Jew of Malta.
However besides the obvious fact that they were both Jews and the common
stereo-types that were attributed to both of them such as being miserly and
conniving. There are profound differences in Barabas and Shylock. Shylock
has none of the insatiable ambition that makes Barabas for all his grotesque
acts. Barabas is clearly based on the Elizabethan stereotype of the
murderous Jew. He is obviously a villain, lying cheating, poisoning a
entire nunnery, even killing those we thought were close to him, including
his daughter.
Shylock can be interpreted in many ways on the stage. He can be seen as a
simple comic villain who occasionally reveals sympathetic qualities. Or he
can
Be a tragic hero, a spurned and battered victim of oppression, who tries
unsuccessfully to challenge the society that oppresses him. Shakespeare
imitated Marlowe in creating a Jewish character whose violent behavior is
explained by the way Christians treat him. But Shakespeare also seems
concerned with humanizing Shylock, rather than making him into a
caricature. The difference can be seen if we contrast the emotional natures of
the two characters. When Barabas is accused of fornication, he protests “But
that was in another country. And besides, the wench is dead.” His cynical
response is pure black comedy, especially because we suspect Barabas was
the person who killed her. In contrast, when Shylock hears that Jessica has
sold his engagement ring, he says “It was my turquoise. I had it of Leah
when I was a bachelor”. A line that conjures up a moving image of a happier
life that Shylock has lost.
My conclusion is that Shylock cannot be given a label of ‘victim’
or‘villain’; he is a complex mix of both. In the first part of the play, i.e.
before the court scene, he is more of a victim than a villain. But as the plot
unfolds and his plan comes to action, he is more of a villain. We can say he
is the combination of both victim and villain in The Merchant of Venice
because as a villian he is heartless, cruel money lender who wants to take
Antonio’s life. We can also justify his villain role by keeping in mind that he
is more concerned about wealth than his daughter. As a villain he is
vengeful, hotile and selfish. On the other hand he is a victim of
discrimination, because of the main difference that he is a Jew not a
Christian and he is a victim of prejudice becauseb he had to give up his
religion because he wants Antonio’s flesh.

Q: 2. the modern critic Northrop Frye says that in a well-constructed comedy

not all of the moods are comic in the sense of festive. He also says that in
comedy not all of the characters advance toward the new society of the final
scene; a character or two remain isolated from this action like spectators of
it. In The Merchant of Venice who fits this description? Is it important that
such characters should be included in comedy, and if so, why?
ANSWER:
There are three characters that remain isolated and are more likerly to be the
spectators of it, though they are in the play but they are not in the main plot.
SOLANIO:
The first one is “Solanio” who is a friend of Antonio. He is not the part of
the main plot but he is concerned with the main character of the play. He
notices every incident in the play. Solanio is always in favour of
righteousness. He hopes to cheer Antonio’s up but at the same time he is
worries about him especially after witnessing Shylock’s irrational talk in the
street about the loss of his money and daughter. He does not like Shylock in
the slightest, not least because he is rigorously anti-Semitic. So from
Northrop Frye point of view Solania remain isolated throught the play and to
some extent is a spectator.
SALARINO:
The second one is Salarino. He and solanio play the important role of
bringing news to the stage to advance the plot of the audience and the role of
defining the characters in the play to the audience. While still playing the
role of minor characters Salarino and Solanio are the important aspects in
creating less confusion keeping the plot interesting and drawing the audience
into the play. They both discuss each and every incident on stage to bring
news to the audience. Without these two characters the play would be more
confusing for the audience, for they would not know what has happened off
the stage like Antonio ship being wrecked. Because of these two defining
characters, they encourage the audience to side with Antonio and his friends
and hate Shylock.
DUKE:
The third one is the “Duke of Venice” who is not the considered the
character of the main plot but he is the one who is leading the courtcase of
Antonio and Shylock. When it comes to Shylock’s suit against Antonio, the
Duke hopes that the moneylender is merely playing for effect and that he
will relent; even more optimistically, he hopes that Shylock will be kind to
Antonio and halve the amount of the debt. He is an honest man .Though he
knows he has the power to dismiss the court, but he does not know enough
law to find a loophole for Antonio. When Shylock is confounded and finds
himself in danger of Venetian law, the Duke makes a point of pardoning
him. The Duke of Venice observes each and everything happening before
him. So we can say that he is also that character that remains isolated and is
the spectator of the play.
IMPORTANCE OF SUCH CHARACTERS:
In my opinion, I would say that it’s not necessary but to a certain degree it is
important to have such characters that remain isolated of the actions and
they play a role of spectators in the play because these characters are the
keen observer in the play, they knows the flaws of every character, they
knows and they observes each and every incident very keenly, and because
of them the play becomes more artistic. As well as because of such
characters the play gets easy for the audience to understand what is going on
off the stage. They are minor characters but their role is major in explaining
characters and reflecting them in such a way to the audience to keep them
updated.

Q: 3. Another critic, John Baxter, says that Shakespeare reveals "a

complex awareness of life." What do you think he means by that? What are
the identifiable components of this non-simplistic view of life in The
Merchant of Venice, and how are they developed?
ANSWER:
The identifiable components of non simplistic view of life that Shakespeare
shows in The Merchant of Venice is the complex nature of humans or he
reflects the idealistic view of human as well as their realistic view . No
doubt human beings are very complex; we never know how and when
someone changes with a blink of eye. Most probably we can say humans are
very materialistic, they show a persona of themselves to the real world.
Their inner self is quite different from their outer self. Shakespeare has
shown every aspect of human reality in his play. His plays are not famous
because of the vivid characters but because his plays reflects the true colors
of humanbeings and their lives. Through his plays he educates his audience
by his awareness of life and how can on escort them in their lives.
One component is religion, which is the base of conflict in this play. The
question that arises here is how? If we look all over the world there is a
greater conflict on the basis of religion, no one really cares about humanity.
But if one has a different religion and his ways o worship are different, he is
a wreck, bad and worst than enemy. This component can be seen in The
Merchant of Venice where Shylock is a Jew and he has been tortured by
Christians and he is disgraced by them. On the other hand where the
antogonist Antonio, whose character, is shown as the most noble in the play
is a Christian. But if we go in depth Antonio has clashes with Shylock
because of his religion. The play shows just the noble side of him, as I
discussed above that human is complex. Here we can see that Antonio on
onbe hand is very noble and honest merchant but on the other hand he
mistreated Shylock because of the fact that he is a Jew.
Revenge is another component reflected by Shakespeare in the play to show
his audience that every problem and conflicts in life are not solved through
revenge, sometimes we have to cope up with eachother, with the bitter
reality of life and one day we will get the fruit. Shakespeare manifests the
awareness of life in his play through the character of Shylock that too much
hatred can leads to downfall.
Shakepeare, through his convincing power in the play, apprise us that pride
can lead a person from sky down to earth, Shylock carried so much pride
and in the end his pride bows him on his kness to these Christians.
These awareness of life are reflected by Shakespeare in his play to aware his
audience about the reality of life.

Q: 4. Analyze carefully as a piece of poetry Portia's speech on the

quality of mercy (4.1.181-99). What are the principal poetic
devices that she uses? How, for example, is mercy like a "gentle
rain"? What biblical allusions does she employ, and how do they
operate in her speech? Do the same thing for other set speeches in
this play.

ANSWER:
PORTIA’S SPEECH ON THE QUALITY OF MERCY:
Portia’s speech ‘The Quality of Mercy’ is a famous work of art found in one
of the scene in the play “The Merchant of Venice”. According to Portia’s
speech, mercy is a form of compassionate treatment and is comparable to
justice, which is applied by man as law. Portia explains the value of “human
mercy” to Shylock and why the virtue is very important. According to the
speech, mercy is an important human virtue which transcends all worldly
powers; it is also divine upon combination with human morality and justice.
The expectation, according to the poem is for everyone to have mercy since
this is the only way one can be like our God, our creator. While justice
appeared bound to the earthly system, it condemns unlike mercy. Portia uses
a very “basic approach” to ask for Shylock’s mercy. In the speech,
Shylock is deeply concerned with justice while Portia preaches the
significance of mercy in human beings. Mercy among human beings
emerges as the best virtue for Christians. While one may think that Portia in
the speech is simply offering a form of appeal, in retrospect we observe that
her speech ends up becoming an ultimatum. By so doing, it becomes the
final chance through which Shylock can adequately save himself. If he does
not do that, then Portia would have the chance to crush all his legal
expectations and arguments. Within all dimensions of life, this speech by
Portia offers a keen analysis and comparison between “justice and mercy”.
By so doing, Portia manages to prove to the reader why the virtue is very
important in our world and the best way to govern human behaviors.
However, the speech stresses the need for individuals ‘to be’ or ‘not to be’
depending on the society there are in. To be on the safe side, having mercy is
the best thing. Therefore the quality of mercy is intrinsic, unrivaled, and very
natural.
POETIC DEVICES:
The poetic devices that Portia uses when she demands Shylock to be
merciful, she states that “the quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as
the gentle rain from heaven/upon the place beneath” In this way, Portia
directly makes an appeal to Shylock to leave Antonio’s life saying that, as
we all pray and plead to God for mercy, to be merciful and kind towards us,
likewise Shylock should be merciful and kind to him, and he will get a
reward from heaven.
She conveys the idea that mercy is a tender and noble feeling, which must
spring suddenly from one’s heart. It is as beautiful as gentle showers that
flow in the heavens, and nourish the earth. It blesses those who show mercy,
which not only makes them feel good, but also brings heavenly rewards.
Mercy is a divine and noble attribute, like when someone imposes harsh
justice, but then opts for mercy; he displays God-like attributes. Poetic
devices that she uses are “Allusion”, allusions to Christian idea of salvation.
Irony is also used because this phrase has irony of situation because it is
used where there is often no mercy. Metaphor is the main poetic device
used; here mercy is shown as “endless rain”.
As in Shylock’s speech, he speaks in prose and uses many poetic devices
like rhetorical question in which he uses words like scorned, disgraced,
mocked, laughed and thwarted to us feels like he is directly addressing the
audience and attacks them because he is very emotional at this time. In his
speech he uses Pathos to humanly appeal to Christians but to prejudice
Christians, his apeal was just an excuse to hides Jews characteristics.
BIBLICAL ALLUSION:
The biblical allusions that she employs in her speech are that it does not
relate to the themes of tension and dispute but also of goldly qualities such
as mercy and generosity. Some other character traits are also associated
with it. For example along with mercy, it also shows qualities of Portio’s
character, though mercy is not primary among them.
From biblical point of view she uses references of Christian belief against
Shylock, a Jew. Therefore, she expresses her religious belief through all this.
She believes that a person can benefit from forgiveness by forgiving others.
OTHER POETIC DEVICES:
Dramantic irony is used many times in The Merchant of Venice. For
example in act four when Bassanio says that he would give everything up for
Antonio including his wife Portia. Now the audience is aware that he is
saying all this in front of Portia who is disguised as a man but bassanio is
unaware of that. After that Bassanio pleads to Portia that if only she knew
who he gave the ring away to and how hard was it for him to give the ring
away, and then she wouldn't be so angry at him. Both Portia and the
audience know that Bassanio gave the ring to the Doctor Balthazar, who is
Portia in disguise, but Bassanio does not know that Balthazar is indeed
Portia in the disguise of a man.In an another scene dramatic irony can also
be found when the audience knows that Portia and Nerrisa are going to a
monastery is to trick other characters of the play into thinking that they are
going to remain in Belmont. Actually, they are going to Venice, disguised as
men. Some allusions to Greek myths are also used in this play when in the
conversation between Jessica and Lorenzo. The moon shines bright. In such
a night as this, When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees and they did
make no noise, in such a night Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls
and sighed his soul toward the Grecian tents where Cressida lay that night,
in such a night Stood Dido with a willow in her hand Upon the wild sea-
banks, and waft her love to come again to Carthage. In such a night did
Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew, and with an unthrift love did run from
Venice. The tales of Troilus, Thisbe, Dido and Jason are compared to
Lorenzo’s and Jessica’s story. Lorenzo draws comparison between these
stories because they all happened in night like the one they are on. This
shows that their love and marriage is as epic as the Greek myth.
Another poetic device used in The Merchant of Venice is simile and it can
be found in an act when Antonio advises Bassanio to beware of Shylock's
words by using "like" to metaphorically compare Shylock to the devil.
Antonio portrays Shylock as a man who is able to sugarcoat bad things and
make them appear acceptable. Hyperbole is also used in one of the scene as
hyperbole is the exagerration claim or statement that adds emphasis without
the intention of being literally true. It is used by Morocco to emphasize the
beauty of Portia, that she is so beautiful and because of her beauty men
travel all acroos the world, crossing desserts, crossing oceans like they were
some small streams for them to take a glimpse of Portia’s beauty and try tpo
woo her. In an another scene when Bassanio states that Portia's eyes are so
beautiful to the extent that the painter would go blind after having painted
one of Portia's eyes, and wouldn't be able to paint the other eye. Repitition is
also used when Shylock repeates his statement “I will have my bond” and
forbids Antonio to speak. His three times repetition of the same statement
emphasizes his mercilessness to take the pound of Antonio’s flesh.
Personfication is also used in thi play in an act when Lorenzo describes
moonlight as a person who sleeps on the bank. He also personifies music by
giving it the human ability of movement, in this case, a person who slowly
approaches him and Jessica.

Q: 5. Analyze Shylock's prose speech at 3.1.50-69. How does his

use of rhetorical questions work? What effect do his repetitions or
parallel- isms have? How powerful is the speech, and to what do
you attribute its overall effectiveness?
ANSWER:
SHYLOCK’S SPEECH AND USE O RHETORICAL WORKS:
The speech by Shylock is essentially a reprisal of Shylock’s gloating over
Antonio. But now there is no humor in it; Shylock’s mood has become
serious. Infuriated by what he sees as Antonio’s complicity in Jessica’s
elopement, he is now contemplating revenge on Antonio. Shakespeare
creates a sinister effect with Shylock’s repetitive speech patterns, as he
insistently repeats, “Let him look to his bond”. The bond is no longer
“merry,” as it was. Shylock has been so tormented that he is now prepared
to take it seriously. Shylock’s famous speech in this scene is the moment in
the play that vindicates it for modern audiences, whose sensitivity toward
anti-Semitism is greater than audiences in Elizabethan times. Shylock’s
speech is immensely powerful, especially when spoken to a couple of
nonentities such as Salerio and Solanio. The speech articulates strongly and
fully the underlying questions that have been expressed more subtly
elsewhere in the play. Shylock protests that he is a human being, just like the
Christians are, and that he should not be disgraced, hindered, mocked, and
thwarted simply because of his religion. However, as many have pointed
out, the ultimate point of Shylock’s argument comes when he says “ And if
you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” He is using his plea for tolerance to
justify something appalling, the mutilation of another man. Yet, this is not
the end of the story. Shylock points out the hypocrisy of Christians like
Antonio, who show no humility toward him. He, therefore, justifies his
revenge by showing no humility to them in return. The key line is, “ The
villainy you teach me I will execute. With this line, Shakespeare lifts
Shylock out of the stereotype of the wicked Jew. Not only does Shylock
have a reason for his anger (the loss of his daughter), but he makes us aware
that his desire for revenge is fueled by the intolerance that he has suffered
for years at the hands of Christians. Shylock is evil because people have
done evil to him.
Shylock uses rhetorical questions and the use of this rhetorical question is to
draws our attention towards antisemitism and the common humanity shared
by the Christian and Jews. He basically suggests that the distinctions of class
and race are superficial in comparison.
EFFECT OF PARALLELISM:
The repition of parallelism in Shylock’s speech creates rhetorical interest for
the reader to draw their attention towards this simple fact that he is a human
being as Christian are, and he should not be disgraced because of his
religion. Through the use of rhetorical questions and pararllelism, his speech
becomes more effective by saying no doubt we are of different race, cast and
religion but it does not change the fact that we are humans and we should be
treated the same as Christians.
He uses Ethos, Pathos and Logos in the speech with parallelism structures.
Which means that Ethos is the appeal to Shylock’s honesty, Pathos is the
apeal to the emotions o audience which he already gained and logos is the
logical apeal which he makes by giving proofs of anti semitism.
OPINION:
In my opinion Shylock speech is very powerful because it uncovers the
hypocrisy reflected in the play. For me his speech is very effective because
through his this speech we can easily determine that he has been targeted in
some places of the play and is tragic victim. Because the way Antonio treats
him because of his religion show that Antonio here plays the role of a racist.
Through this speech we can also conclude that he is not just a villain but an
opressed individual who suffered a lot. This speech is effective in many
ways as at this point it reveals his true side because he essentially showed
that he is tired of treated as a wrecked and bad just because he is a Jewish.
This speech reveals his emotional side being tortured by Christians.

Q: 6. Organize a debate about the song, "Tell me where is fancy

bred" (32.63-72) as Bassanio decides which casket to choose. Have one
side argue that Portia unfairly leads Bassanio to make the right choice,
because she has fallen in love with him. Have the other side argue that
the song is a harmless interlude used simply to vary the casket-choosing
episode; moreover, Portia has already explicitly said that she will not
teach Bassanio how to choose (32.10-12) and that if he loves her, he will
choose correctly (2.2.41).
ANSWER:
DEBATE ABOUT THE SONG AND
OPINION ON THE FIRST ARGUMENT:
The song that Portia sings is a warning against “ fancy.” To an Elizabethan,
the word “fancy” meant a superficial desire for a trivial object. The song
tells us that fancy is the kind of desire that comes not from the head or the
heart, but from the eyes. In other words it is the desire for something simply
because it is beautiful, not because it has any worth in and of itself. The
subject of the song is obviously important when played alongside Bassanio’s
decision-making. Indeed, some people think that Portia deliberately stages
this song in order to give a hint to Bassanio that he should not choose the
gold or silver caskets (after all, she didn’t present the song to her other
suitors). Although this could be amusing in performance, a humorous
portrayal could spoil the scene’s romantic tone. For the scene to work as an
idealistic romance, Bassanio must figure out the answer to the riddle
himself. Bassanio comes to the correct conclusion straight away. He knows
already that the gold and silver caskets cannot be the right answer because
“outward shows” often have the least substance within. Shakespeare now
uses this idea to satirize the world in general. Bassanio notices that a good
lawyer can persuade a court that something is true even when it isn’t; the
Bible can be cited to justify evil; and cowards can put on a show of bravery.
Throughout the world, beauty can be used to disguise corruption and danger.
Bassanio is aware of the dangers of gold and silver, and he is reminded of
the story of King Midas, whose love of gold brought him to his death. This
must inevitably remind us of the far-off world of Venice, where gold caused
all of the characters’ problems. Despite the attractions of gold and the
intense desire for it, which has motivated all the characters, gold has brought
them nothing but danger and suffering. Bassanio has seen all this, and
perhaps that is why he instinctively knows to choose the leaden casket,
which is not beautiful or valuable, but contains treasure that is not
dangerous.
OPINION ABOUT THE SECOND ARGUMENT:
I am not in the favour of the second argument because this song by Portia
was not a harmless interlude, because Portia did not present it for the other
suitors. It was just for Bassanio which clearly means that it was a hint for
Bassanio, nothing entertaining, or we can say that this was basically a
thematic song that’s why it can refer to a harmless interlude.
But as far as from the connection between Portia and Bassanio clearly
indicates that she wants Bassanio to choose the right casket, thatswhy she
present this song to give him a hint that he should not choose them by their
appearance.
Its true that Portia explicitly said that she will not teach him how to choose
the correct casket but here it does not matter at all because o the fact that,
both want to be with eachother as they already fall in love. So here it does
not matter whether she said it or not. Bassanio was clever enough to choose
and she from her side gives him a hint so that if he might slip to another
casket, through her song he would get the idea of which one is correct.

Q: 7. What is Shylock's motive at 4.1.84-86 for rejecting the money

offered him and insisting on the forfeit of the bond? When the moneylender
is frustrated in his attempt to kill the merchant, why does Shakespeare
continue the episode, bringing in additional penalties against Shylock,
including the requirement that he convert to Christianity?
ANSWER:
SHYLOCK’S MOTIVE:
At first when Antonio asks Shylock to lend him some money, he signed a
bond by saying that if he does not pay him the money on time, he will cut a
pound of flesh from Antonio. Here he is enjoying his position of power. As
we know that religious hatred is a characteristic of both Shylock and
Antonio. Even so, Shylock’s speech is ominous and reveals him to be a
dangerous man with an “ancient grudge” against Antonio. Is aside, he
continues to gloat over his new customers. The hatred between Antonio and
Shylock exists for two reasons. The first is that Antonio disapproves of
usury on principle and often lends money to people without charging
interest. . The second reason is the religious differences between Antonio
and Shylock. But the two reasons are linked. Antonio disapproves of usury
because the Christian faith forbade it, whereas the Jewish faith did not.
Shylock motive behind all this is that, once Shylock describes the way he
and all his “tribe” are treated by the Christians. He is abused, disdained, spat
on, and even kicked.This speech has the important effect of giving Shylock a
reason for his hatred.
REVENGE:
Here the audience thought that Shylock is desperate to extract his bond from
Antonio; he is “keen and greedy” for it. Shylock’s response recalls his
gloating behavior; but now his jovial attitude has been transformed into a
frightening desire for revenge. Shylock has been longing to extract the bond
from his enemy and would prefer to take the pound of flesh rather than
receive twenty times the sum that he is owed. Shylock is often thought to be
a symbol of the desire for money above everything else, but as this scene
illustrates, some things do come before money for Shylock, primarily
revenge. Shylock is not interested in money at this point; he is interested in
revenge. No money can draw Shylock away from his chance to inflict pain
on the man who spurned him and treated him like a dog.
Bassanio tries to pay Shylock off with three times the sum owed him by
Antonio, but Shylock will not accept it. Shylock does not want money in the
court scene. He wants to exact his revenge on Antonio, and he wants to feel
that the law of Venice is on his side when he does it. It is the Christians who
are baffled by Shylock’s refusal to accept the money as a payment. This is
the basic motive of not getting the money back but to cut the pound of flesh.
After portia tells him that he in only able to cut the pound of flesh and blood
should not bleed and nothing more and less can he cut off from Antonio’s
flesh. At this moment Shylock realizes that he has lost He still thinks he can
escape, however. He asks to be given the money instead, and when that fails,
Shylock tries to leave without taking anything. But again, his inflexible
stance is now counting against him; when he asks if he can just take the
money, Portia tells him that he cannot, because he had earlier refused it.
From here onwards Shakespeare continues the episode because he wants the
audience to know how the pride and mercilessness of Shylock falls. The
final scene demonstrates the power of mercy. Shylock must now beg for the
thing he rejected. The Duke has clearly taken note of Portia’s speech about
mercy: he pardons Shylock from execution. This pardoning is an illustration
of the power of mercy that Portia had described in her speech. Portia now
turns to Antonio and asks him also to show mercy. Showing mercy toward
Shylock is a very difficult thing for Antonio to do. After the terror and pain
that Shylock had subjected Antonio to, it would be very difficult for him to
forgive Shylock in any way. Yet, that is what Portia asks of him. When
Antonio agrees to do so, the effect is therefore very powerful and
demonstrates very convincingly the virtue of Portia’s speech about mercy.
Antonio’s solution is to insist that Shylock’s money go to Lorenzo and
Jessica when he dies. Again, this is poetic justice. The elopement, which had
turned Shylock into a revenger, must now be consolidated with his own
money. However, the final instance of poetic justice is more disturbing for a
modern audience: the stipulation that Shylock must become a Christian. It is
quite probable that the Elizabethan audience would not have found this
offensive; indeed, they might have regarded it as a kindness, believing that
conversion would save Shylock’s soul. However, Shakespeare does direct us
to feel some sympathy with Shylock, who has now been defeated in every
way. His final exit has none of the energy and spirit with which he began.
By continuing the episode, Shakespeare did a favour to Shylock because the
venetian law would imposed death penalty the, so by coverting to
Christianity Shylock‘s soul is forgiven.

Q: 8. What is Graziano's dramatic function in The Merchant of Venice? He

is Shakespeare's invention, not found in any of his sources. So is Nerissa.
What does their relationship add to the development of the play,
thematically as well as dramatically?
ANSWER:
Gratiano is what Elizabethan would have called gallant. A gallant was a
rich, aristocratic, unmarried man. Today we call such people “eligible
bachelors.” Having no occupation, gallants would occupy themselves with
pleasurable activities such as drinking, dancing, and playgoing. He is one
among Antonio’s friend. r. Gratiano is the most outrageous of the group, and
his jovial banter sums up the careless attitude of these young men.
DRAMATIC FUNCTION:
Though Gratanio is a loquacious and humorous man. No doubt his loquacity
is his triking trait; and this trait would have repelled us if his talk had not
been humorous. He has a good sense of humor an infinite capability to talk.
He is never short of words and whatever he says is entertaining in one way
or another. Even though his friends Antonio and Bassanio do not enjoy his
never ending talk. For them his talks are like chatter to their ears.  Bassanio
expresses the view that the sense in Gratiano’s talk may be compared to two
grains of wheat hidden in a large heap of chaff. This play is a Romantic
comedy which means it contains both romantic and comic elements in ample
measure. Gratonio play a significant contribution to the comedy of the play.
He contributes equally greatly to the play’s comic character.  By contrast
with Antonio’s role as a sad man on the world-stage, Gratiano’s role is that
of a “fool” (or a jester) who would like to grow old with cheerfulness and
laughter. Gratiano mocks men who try to win respect by remaining silent so
as to appear thoughtful and wise. He shows his intelligence even in the court
scene which is very serious one, circling almost on tragedy. In this act his
intelligence is ironic and sarcastic. In thuis act his inteligence has an incisive
quality which produces a devastating effect on the Jew.   His intelligence is
very extensive. Sometimes he can be very jolly but another time he can be
bitterly sarcastic. He can be cheerful and jovial and then he can make witty
comments to add cheerfulness and laughter to the event. This pleasant side
of his wit comes to our notice more particularly in the concluding scene of
the play when the comedy of the rings reaches its climax. Here he defends
himself against Nerissa’s claim with a humorous disparagement of Nerissa’s
ring and tries to turn the argument into an insignificant and frivolous
manner.
NERISSA AND MARRIAGE:
Gratiano’s visit to Belmont does not prove to be pointless. He is able to win
Nerissa as his wife; and he is able to do so without having to go through the
ordeal which Bassanio has to go through in order to win Portia. He was able
to wheedle Nerissa by agreeing with her that if Portia said yes to Bassanio
then she would also marry him. He is a pleasing young man, with
considerable knowledge of the world and of human nature. Nor do we have
any doubt that he would make a good husband for Nerissa who is herself a
highly intelligent woman with as penetrating a judgment of human character
as her mistress Portia is. He and nerissa are, indeed, well-matched and make
an excellent pair. Nerissa is a maid of Portia but she is to a greater degree an
ally to Portia than a maidservant. The primary concern to note about Nerissa
is that she has practically each one of those characteristics which Portia has.
In her discussion and her activities, she is very nearly a reverberation of her
courtesan. We could even call her an impersonation Portia. Nerissa has a
strong sense of humour and is capable of making witty comments just as she
is capable of making wise ones. She also fully enjoys the comedy of the
rings devised and started by Portia. She takes Gratiano to task for having
given away her ring to somebody though he had sworn to keep it always
with him. She pretends to disbelieve him entirely when he says that he had
given the ring not to any woman but to a man who had functioned as the
judge’s clerk in the court at Venice. 
THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLAY:
After Bassanio choose the right casket and is able to marry Portia. Nerissa
feels almost the same happiness of getting marrioed to Gratianio. In fact
Gratinio face the same amount of difficulty in winning Portia’s maid as his
wife.
This couple plays a very developmental role in The Merchant of Venice
because without them the play would be as tragic as the tragedy of Shylock.
Thematically Nerissa and Gratiano are the comic characters of this play, as
this play is a tragic comedy. These two characters play the role of very
humorous and cheerful actors. Because of them, the play becomes a more
comic and less tragic one. They had a huge impact on bringing the audience
to a cheerful mood and making them laugh by their humrous and jolly
personalities.
Dramatically Nerissa and Gratiano is another pair of love birds as Portia and
Bassanio. They are as well matched as the incomparable Portia and her
splendid lover. They prove the meaning o true love and loyalty in this play.
As lovers they don’t give up on each other and tested each others loyalty and
finds out that they both have a very good humor and can be a happy couple.
Inspite of all Gratiano friendship and loyalty to his friend Bassinio proved to
be very pure and he stands by him in every kith and kin. On the other hand
Nerissa loyalty to Portia is a perfect exampleof a true companion and maid
who cares for Portia in a way she would care for her sister.
From the above discussion we can conclude that these two characters play a
developmental role in this play by their comic personalities.

Q: 9. How do Venice and Belmont contrast with each other? In what

sense is Belmont a pastoral retreat from the world, especially the world
of business, lawsuits, politics, and the like?
ANSWER:
In the modern world, Venice is a scenic tourist destination, but the
Elizabethan audience would have thought of Venice as a powerful trading
city with a vast fleet of merchant vessels. The city was believed to have
achieved its success by being exceptionally tolerant toward foreigners, who
were treated as equals in its laws. This belief is important to the play,
because Shakespeare uses it as a plot device at in one of its scene although
he invents an exception at some lines in another scene. Venice was also
famous for its tolerance toward religions other than Christianity. The
audience would have known that Venetian Jews were permitted to practice
their religion freely, whereas in London it was illegal. However, Venetian
“tolerance” was actually a myth; the Jews were forced to live in a special
part of the city, called the ghetto. They had to wear a distinctive “uniform,”
which included the yellow badge later revived by the Nazis. However,
Shakespeare does not mention these restrictions in his play, indicating that
he may not have known about them. The action of the play would, therefore,
have agreed with the Elizabethan audience’s image of Venice as a
mercantile city that was tolerant of foreigners and non-Christians.
BELMONT:
A second setting exists in the play: “Belmont”. We never learn where
Belmont is, and we never see any of it beyond Portia’s house. Shakespeare
portrays these two settings in very different ways. He gives “Venice” a
“dark” and murky atmosphere of mercantile dealings and nighttime
escapades, but he withholds any description of Belmont. It seems as though
Belmont’s only inhabitants are an “incredibly rich lady and her household”.
This raises some important points that may illuminate the way the play is
structured. Shakespeare organizes the shifts between “idealism and realism”
by associating the two concepts with the play’s two locations. “Venice” is
depicted as a city of merchants, usurers, and cynical young men. Belmont, in
contrast, is the land “where fairytales come true”. Only in Belmont could a
woman be won by means of a simple test, and only in Belmont could we be
certain that the test will be defeated by the only man she ever loved.
Belmont is a land where idealistic love can still exist; Venice is not. We can
observe the effect that these differences have on the characters by watching
the behavior of Gratiano. In Venice, Gratiano is a cynic who sneers at
Lorenzo’s love for Jessica. Yet as soon as he arrives in Belmont, Gratiano
falls in love with Nerissa and reveals that he has a romantic side after all.
Belmont is a safe, idyllic world where “ money” is “limitless” and, therefore,
“irrelevant”. Venice is a “dark, dangerous” world, which is much more
similar to the city of London.
Q: 10. Organize your thoughts about the issue of Christian anti-
Semitism in the play. Is it adequate grounds for Shylock's revenge?
Or does Shy- lock go too far? What about his conversion to
Christianity? Is Antonio justified in making this a condition of
Shylock's reprieve?
BACKGROUND AND THOUGHTS ABOUT ANTI SEMITISM:

After Shakespeare’s death, the play was not staged until the beginning of the
eighteenth century, and even then it was in heavily adapted versions.
Eighteenth-century productions tended to treat the play as a simple romantic
comedy, with Shylock as a manic villain. Shylock was always played with a
bright red wig; this tradition did not end until 1814. During the nineteenth
century, audiences became increasingly uncomfortable with the play’s anti-
Semitic aspects, and by the 1870s, Shylock had become a tragic hero. The
play came to be “about” Shylock, which intensified audience sympathy for
Shylock. World War II has completely altered our attitude to the play.
Portrayals of Shylock that appear antiSemitic can be profoundly upsetting to
modern audiences. But this play has continued to be staged, and the ease
with which performances can make Shylock sympathetic has made many
people argue that the original productions may not have been as
simplistically anti-Semitic as had been thought.
The Merchant of Venice is in most cases viewed as ananti-Semitic and
hence, taken to be in a shoddier light than other plays that have been
compiledby Shakespeare. Nonetheless, the extent to which the play is
viewed as completely anti-Semitic or whether it is just a demeaned social
commentary which is still prevalent in the contemporary world is quite
debatable if not questionable. The manner in which Shylock is presented in
the play is what can be termed as the basic prototype of critics with regard to
anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, the obliviousness that has consumed the best
part of human beings in the present-day society haslimited their aptitude to
envisage the play as racist, opting to denounce the anti-Semitic standpoint
on marginal influences, and unsound interpretations. The statement does not
imply that anti-sematic is not prevalent in the play, in fact it is well
substantiated by quite a number of events, a good example can be derived
from Lancelot’s testimonial “the Jew master is a kind devil” There are not
efforts that can be exhibited to masquerade and camouflage the detestation
and abhorrence of Shylock. A lot of hatred is heaped on him; this is despite
the fact that he isLancelot’s master. It is undeniable that he ought to
appropriately command some amount of respect.
SHYLOCK’S REVENGE:
It was not an adequate ground for Shylock to take revenge because the first
reason is that Shylock was a Jew not a Christian so it was not good for him
to take his revenge because it later on back fired him. The second reason is
that Shylock was very merciless and he was very proud and egoitic man so
everyone in Venice hates him because of his cruelty and so much pride.
SHYLOCK MISTAKE:
Obviously Shylock goes too far because he should not have signed a werid
bond by Antonio because it does not make a sense at all to cut someone’s
pound of flesh in not returning the money in a given time. But if he signed it
by Antonio he should not grab this matter to the court because his bond was
very cruel act than any other. And later on when Portia tells him that the
bond is about the flesh not the blood so he stucked there and then when
things goes against him, he then realized that he went too far. This results in
a very huge loss to him.
COVERSION TO CHRISTANITY AND ANTONIO’S JUSTICE
The bond and the pound of flesh cost Shylock a great damage in both his
religion and his livelihood. The genre of comedy demands that Shakespeare
dispatch his villain before ushering in a happy ending. But because of his
inhuman wretch he was defeated.  Indeed, Shakespeare’s sixteenth-century
audience never doubts Shylock’s fate. Neither the duke, who begins
proceedings by declaring Shylock an “inhuman wretch,” nor the disguised
Portia are impartial judges. It was very obvious that Shylock must fall.  In a
society that not only craved cultural homogeneity but took drastic measures
to attain it, few would have been troubled by the implications of Shylock’s
forced conversion. Shakespeare’s contemporaries, the majority of whom
assumed that eternal damnation was the fate of any non-Christian, would
have witnessed Shylock’s conversion as a vital contribution to the play’s
happy ending. By turning Shylock into a Christian, the Venetians satisfy
themselves with their own kindness in saving the soul of a heathen. The
duke spares Shylock’s life, but takes away his ability to practice his
profession and his religion.
All this is a masterstroke of simple understated pathos, he has shown us how
hate breeds hate. Shylock is left stripped of his daughter, his property and his
religion that seems a harsh judgement. And here we see Shylock as nothing
but a figure of pathos. I think Antonio justified himself at this point because
the decision that Shylock becomes a Christian would have pleased
Elizabethan audience immensely. They all genuinely believed that only a
Christian could achieve salvation. Basically the court’s decision is a chance
for Shylock to achieve salvation. Thus the judgement was imposed, quite
literally, for the good of Shylock’s soul.