The Merchant of Venice - Project

 
In not more than 1500 words, discuss
how the Trial Scene reveals a conflict
between justice and mercy. By supporting
your arguments with relevant
illustrations and justifications, bring in as
well, how this conflict is finally resolved.
1) Introduction on Shakespeare and the theme he deals with
in the Play, The Merchant of Venice. 

Shakespeare
William Shakespeare has become the most famous and influential author in English
literature. Only active as a writer for a quarter-century, he wrote thirty-eight plays, one
hundred fifty-four sonnets, and two epic poems that reinvented and defined the English
language to such a degree that his works are required study all over the world.
 
Very little is known about Shakespeare's early life. He was born around 1564 in Stratford-
upon-Avon to a middle-class merchant family and by the age of eighteen, he was married
with a child on the way. He would later father two more children. By 1592 he had become a
successful actor and playwright in London and was famous among Londoners for the
popularity of his plays.
Shakespeare was an astute businessman as well as an artist. He recognized that he could
broaden his audience by using characters and language that would appeal to both the noble
and the lower classes. He mixed both bawdy and sophisticated humor to appeal to his larger
audience. He also wrote about the human experience with universal themes of love, ambition,
and envy that are still felt and loved by modern audiences.
 
The plays are often categorized as tragedies, comedies, or histories. Tragedies featured
sympathetic protagonists who were doomed by their flaws. Comedies tended to be more
upbeat, with happy endings that often led to marriage. The historical plays were frequently
politically motivated to appeal to the Elizabethan court and featured British and Scottish
kings.
 
As an actor, Shakespeare was present during the production of his plays and therefore wrote
them with very little stage direction. The dialogue was written in blank verse and iambic
pentameter, meaning that each line of speech is ten syllables long and unrhymed. In his early
works, lines were often stressed at the end. As his writing developed, Shakespeare gained an
understanding that a more lyrical style of writing would hold the audience's interest and be
more pleasing to the ear. He developed a characteristic cadence to his dialogue, stressing his
lines in the second syllable to provide a rhythmic pattern to his speeches.
 
Themes
 
Self-Interest Versus Love
On the surface, the main difference between the Christian characters and Shylock appears to
be that the Christian characters value human relationships over business ones, whereas
Shylock is only interested in money. The Christian characters certainly view the matter this
way. Merchants like Antonio lend money free of interest and put themselves at risk for those
they love, whereas Shylock agonizes over the loss of his money and is reported to run
through the streets crying, “O, my ducats! O, my daughter!” (II.viii.15). With these words, he
values his money at least as much as his daughter, suggesting that his greed outweighs his
love. However, upon closer inspection, this supposed difference between Christian and Jew
breaks down. When we see Shylock in Act III, scene I, he seems more hurt by the fact that
his daughter sold a ring that was given to him by his dead wife before they were married than
he is by the loss of the ring’s monetary value. Some human relationships do indeed matter to
Shylock more than money. Moreover, his insistence that he has a pound of flesh rather than
any amount of money shows that his resentment is much stronger than his greed.
Just as Shylock’s character seems hard to pin down, the Christian characters also present an
inconsistent picture. Though Portia and Bassanio come to love one another, Bassanio seeks
her hand in the first place because he is monstrously in debt and needs her money. Bassanio
even asks Antonio to look at the money he lends to Bassanio as an investment, though
Antonio insists that he lends him the money solely out of love. In other words, Bassanio is
anxious to view his relationship with Antonio as a matter of business rather than of love.

Friendship
The theme of friendship drives most of the action in The Merchant of Venice. Bassanio needs
money and turns to Antonio, who has already offered him substantial financial support in the
past. Antonio immediately and unquestioningly agrees to do whatever he can to help his
friend, including offering a pound of his flesh to Shylock if he defaults on the loan. Antonio
never rebukes Bassanio for leading him into the situation that later threatens his life. Instead,
Antonio repeatedly says that he is happy to die for the sake of his friend. In return, Bassanio
tells him that “life itself, my wife and all the world. Are not with me esteemed above thy life”
(IV.i.275-276). Thus, the play depicts friendship as one of the most intense and important
emotional bonds humans can experience and suggests that the bond of friendship between
Antonio and Bassanio may even run deeper than romantic love. The importance of friendship
is also displayed between Bassanio and Gratiano and between Portia and Nerissa. Gratiano
and Nerissa show great loyalty to and trust in their friends, and they even fall in love with
each other after being brought together by their friends. The final double marriage means that
the four friends will never have to be separated from one another, which further supports the
importance placed on friendship.
 
Revenge
Revenge is a powerful, corrupting, and destructive force in the play. Shylock wants to hurt
Antonio because of Shylock’s desire for revenge against the entire Christian community,
which he blames for persecuting and degrading him and also for stealing his daughter and the
money she took when she ran away. Shylock explains why he feels justified in seeking
revenge: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison
us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” (III.i.54-56). The lines
indicate that Shylock feels he has been wronged by Christians and is entitled to seek revenge
in response to their dehumanization. He views this revenge as a natural human response to
mistreatment. Because of his desire for revenge, Shylock will not consider altering the
conditions of Antonio’s bond in any way. Ironically, his insistence on the exact nature of the
law being enacted is what leads to his downfall when Portia finds a legal loophole and then
uses the same law to condemn him. Shylock’s desire for revenge makes him behave in an
emotional rather than a logical way, and he ends up losing everything as a result.

2)Persecution of the Jews in the Elizabethan era

Jews had come to England following the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of
1066. The expulsion of Jews from England by Edward I initiated a further decline in the
reputation of the Jews. Jews were looked upon as heretics. In Europe, the Catholics treated
both Protestants and Jews as heretics. The Spanish inquisition set days for interrogating
heretics and those who were not acquitted were burnt at the stake.
Throughout history Jews were treated like objects and thoughts rather than actual human
beings. . There have been many events against the Jews just because of the way they look,
what they believed in, or what they did. The Jews have gone through so many hardships.
They have been treated so poorly and cruel even to this day.

How did Christians Treat Jews?

The people from the Elizabethan Era thought that Jews were associated with the Elizabethan
witches because the Jews celebrated Sabbath and the witches celebrated at their Sabbat. They
also thought they were associated with one another because they both had long, hooked noses
and had a dark complexion. It was also said that the Jews were hated because they were
becoming renaissance men and taking over the jobs of Christians.
Elizabethan England was a power that resisted the persecutors and that the Elizabethan
imperial reform included Christian Cabala as an ingredient of the Elizabeth cult, perhaps
making possible for a patriotic English Jew an easy transition to the religion of his adopted
country.

Venice in Elizabethan Times

In 1593, a few years before The Merchant of Venice was written, Queen Elizabeth I’s
physician Roderigo Lopez was accused of trying to poison her. Lopez, allegedly in league
with the King of Spain, was convicted of treason, hung, and drawn and quartered in 1594. His
was a very public execution, and the fact that he was a Marrano led to an outbreak of anti-
Jewish sentiment in the country.
During the Elizabethan era, Jews were allowed few roles in society, one of them being a
moneylender. In his 1597 play, The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare wrote a comedy about
the greed of one Jew, Shylock. In the play, Shylock is undermined, forced to lose his religion,
and loses most of his material belongings.
 
3)Persecution of the Jews in the play
 
Shylock quoted, “[Antonio] hath disgraced me [Shylock] and hindered me half a million,
laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled
my friends, heated mine enemies—and what’s his reason? I [Shylock] am a Jew. (3:1:52). "
While Jews were scorned because of their religious beliefs, Shakespeare made it clear that
each religious group hated each other. For example, Shylock says, “I hate him for he is a
Christian (1:3:40). ” Therefore, although Shylock is made the “bad guy” in this play, he isn’t
the only one guilty of religious discrimination.
Shakespeare makes it clear that both Antonio and Shylock have no religious tolerance for
each other and are prejudicial toward each other’s religion. Although William Shakespeare
leads you to believe that Shylock is prejudiced toward Christians, the reason for his hatred
becomes clear when you learn that he is a man who is abused by the Christians surrounding
him. Shylock has a reason for his hatred, “You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And spit
upon my Jewish gaberdine. 1:3:121)” Shylock defends his hatred when he says, “Hath not a
Jew Eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same
means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us,
do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if
you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in
that.
If a Jew wrongs a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what
should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge! (3:1: 52)” Therefore, it is
Shylock’s human nature that leads him to despise Christians, not because of their religious
beliefs directly, but because of their hatred of him simply because of his religious beliefs.
Shylock defends his humanity by showing the Christians that they are no different from the
Jews they treat with such disrespect.
Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause, But since I am a dog, beware my fangs. ”
Shylock's actions are justified because of the way the other characters treat him. . Christian
revenge is typical; therefore, Jewish revenge can’t be faulted. While Shylock is mean because
of the cruel treatment he has received throughout his life, Antonio has no excuse. Shylock
makes you realize that while Shakespeare may give the appearance that he is an anti-Semitist,
he believes that all people are equal and hatred is universal.

4)Circumstances that led to the state wherein there’s a conflict

between justice and  mercy in the Trial Scene. 

a) Nature of the solution: The solution to the conflict is an example of as you sow so shall
you reap. Portia first asks Shylock to be merciful and receive money but when he does not
(he becomes evil and tries to kill Antonio – he sowed seeds of immorality) she puts him in an
uncomfortable and makes him economically deprived which hurts his career as a
moneylender, and makes him a Christian (thus Shylock reaps his fruit of immorality). 

b) Nature of the conflict – Justice is not shown at all since as explained Shylock is degraded
and Antonio, the real villain is glorified.

5) Personal view on how the conflict was solved. 

My personal view is that the conflict was never solved. The conflict has been solved in a
dark, racist, anti-semitic, biased way, but not considering equality. The scene even violates
common sense, Portia, a woman who has lived in Belmont for her whole life, suddenly can
act and look like a man, talk and walk like a man, and also become a Venetian civil lawyer.

 The trial scene does not portray mercy and justice but ruthless injustice. Initially, Shylock
was the wrongdoer by seeking to kill Antonio but his Vengeance is justified, for a person like
Antonio does not deserve to live but later we realize that Portia is the person who is the devil
in this scene. Initially, Portia requests Shylock to be merciful and take money instead (which
is a kind gesture), however when Shylock refuses, she becomes a savage and resorts to ironic
justice by giving him justice but also making him bankrupt.

Towards the end of the scene, Shylock is humiliated and degraded inhumanly. Portia even
gives justice in a biased manner, she bent in Antonio’s favor and began to add premise less
and baseless amendments to the bond without Shylock’s consent, which is morally incorrect.

By the end of the scene, Shylock is converted to a Christian (the religion he hates the most)
forcibly and is almost bankrupt. He also is forced to give all his money to his daughter’s
husband, the one who eloped against Shylock, her own father’s wishes (the same daughter
who traded her late mother’s turquoise ring (one of Shylock’s possessions) for a monkey and
also stole hundreds of ducats from her father).

In summary, for absolutely no righteous reason Shylock is forcibly converted to Christianity,

made Bankrupt, and forced to give his money and estates to the daughter who humiliated
him. In summary, this is not justice, but complete injustice.