The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice Summary
Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew Shylock to help his friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend, dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio.
Activity 1
- Before we begin with the activities, please answer this survey.
- Have a look at your questionnaire results.
- Then, access this padlet board and do the activities.
2. In groups of four, discuss the relationships among these words:
money, love, religion, law, marriage, justice, and mercy.
What connections do these words have with one another?
3. Discussion: What is a stereotype? How do stereotypes originate? Identify
characters in television, film, and literature that are built on a stereotype (of
age, class, region, ethnicity, race, etc.).
Label characters that reinforce negative
images. Which characters break the stereotype? How do they do this? What message do those characters send? What purpose do these stereotyped characters
serve? Should they remain part of our cultural landscape? Why or why not?
A. Match the idioms below to their definitions:
1. cost an arm and a leg
2. make ends meet
3. cheapskate
4. time is money
5. money doesn’t grow on trees
6. money talks
7. loaded
8. make a killing
A. someone who does not like to spend money
B. to make a lot of money very quickly
C. used for saying that time should not be wasted because you lose money as a result
D. very rich
E. to cost a lot of money
F. used for saying that money gives you power
G. used for telling someone that they should not waste money, as it is not easy to get
H. to have just enough money to buy the things you need
B. Fill in the gaps using the correct idiom from the list below.
1. Come on hurry up - __________!
2. He can definitely afford it, he’s ________.
3. You’re such a _________, surely you can afford to buy a new pair of shoes!
4. We’re not buying you another skateboard. ____________________!
5. Of course Donald Trump is powerful, after all ______________ .
6. Her business is very successful, she’s _________________ .
7. If we book our holiday in the school holidays it will ______________.
8. Life is very expensive in London but we’re _______________.
A. cost an arm and a leg
B. making ends meet
C. cheapskate
D. time is money
E. money doesn’t grow on trees
F. money talks
G. loaded
H. making a killing
C. Decision-making
The Merchant of Venice features a scene that has been compared to a TV game show. In the play, the ‘contestants’ are men and the ‘prize’ is to marry to the rich and beautiful Portia. In order to ‘win’ her, the men must choose one of three caskets: one made of gold, one of silver and one of lead. If they choose the correct one, they will marry Portia.
The decisions they make could change their life forever. Through this scene, Shakespeare teaches us to consider our choices and think before we speak and act.
In real life, we make decisions every day – some more important than others.
Discuss with a partner what you would do in the following situations, using I would + verb:
1. You arrive at class and realise you have forgotten to do your homework.
e.g. I would tell my teacher I had left it on the bus, I would tell my teacher the truth and promise to do it for the next day.
2. You are going to be late to meet your friend at the cinema.
3. You find a piece of paper on the floor of your classroom. The paper contains the answers to your next exam.
4. You win £10,000.
5. Your parents have gone away for the weekend and left you in charge of the house.
6. You’ve been invited to a friend’s party but someone who you don’t like is going to be there.
7. Your friend has lost weight and started to get obsessed with exercise.
8. You are offered two jobs. One is your dream job but pays only £20,000. The other is a less interesting job but you would earn £30,000.
D. QUIZ
E. STATUS
The concept of status is important in The Merchant of Venice. The characters are strongly aware of who has money and who hasn’t, who is the most respected in society and who is the least.
In pairs, devise a short scene in which status is really important. Here are some examples:
• A new pupil at school is being bullied by a much older pupil.
• A customer at a restaurant is complaining about the food to the waiter.
• The school headmaster is meeting a new student for the first time.
• A policeman is questioning a suspect.
Now look at the scenes and discuss who has the most, and the least status.
How can you show this physically?
Try the scenes with both actors standing, then again but with one person sitting, and the other standing, and swap over. What difference does it make?
THEMES:
MONEY and WEALTH
Most of the action in the play comes from Bassanio’s need for money and all the characters are concerned with it in some way. Miserliness and greed compel Shylock. Antonio is a merchant venturer. Bassanio seeks to clear his debts and impress Portia who already has a fortune. He mentions her money before her beauty. She is “richly left”. The hatred between Shylock and Antonio is because of Antonio’s attitude to interest. For centuries before Shakespeare Landowners and the aristocracy controlled wealth. Lending money for gain was considered irreligious. Only non-Christians could be moneylenders. When Shylocvk is forced to give up his religion, it means he can no longer earn his living because he is no longer a non-Christian. Shakespeare wrote when a new class of businessmen and merchants were emerging. Ventures had to be financed and borrowing became legal in England but still frowned upon because it had to be done from Jews. Many would already have a poor opinion of Shylock’s character, which thinks more about his ducats and gems than his daughter, Jessica. “Would she were hearsed at my foot and the jewels in her coffin.” Antonio annoys Shylock because “he brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice.” Portia turns down payment. “He is well paid that is well satisfied.” The play is laden with images of wealth and riches and the concept of risk and hazard that surround Antonio’s shipment and the caskets.
PARENT and CHILD RELATIONSHIP
There are three father/child relationships in the play. Portia and her dead father, Jessica and Shylock and Launcelot and Old Gobbo. It is interesting to contrast Jessica with Portia. Although Portia’s father is dead, his influences stretch beyond the grave through the caskets test. Portia is compliant with this; Jessica is disobedient towards Shylock. Portia follows her father’s wishes and gives over her wealth to her new husband; Jessica’s marriage is founded on a breach of trust and stolen wealth from her father. Ironically, after Portia has been passed from father to husband her great feat of the trial 11 should display her potential for controlling her life. However, she can take no credit for it because she has had to do it in disguise. One of Jessica’s main roles in the play is to spark emotions from Shylock. She does draw some human feelings but mostly she fuels his revenge. She herself shows little remorse in deserting him, seemingly just because he is a killjoy and she displays no sorrow over the fact that her father has been destroyed and left destitute. Although Launcelot teases his father, there is obviously fondness between them. The comic ‘double act’ provides a taste of the lowly family life to contrast against the wealthy businessman of Shylock and the aristocracy of Portia’s father.
FRIENDSHIP and LOYALTY
“In sooth I know not why I am so sad.” The reason for Antonio’s melancholy is never given. It has been suggested that maybe he is “gay” and is sad because Bassanio has declared his love for a woman. There is nothing in the text to either confirm or deny this. Whatever the reason, there is no doubting Antonio’s loyalty and friendship for Bassanio. He takes his loyalty and generosity to the point of endangering his life. Even as he thinks he faces certain death, his wish is to see his friend before he dies; and after all the trouble he has gone through in helping Bassanio, he is still ready to vouch for his friend’s ability to keep Portia’s ring safe in the final scene. Bassanio does return the friendship and has genuine concern when Antonio is in danger. Presumably the reason Portia comes to the aid of Antonio is because she recognises her new husband’s affection for him. However, Bassanio himself makes no attempt to seek legal advice in order to rescue the friend he has placed in danger. As, good friends of Bassanio and Portia, Gratiano and Nerissa serve to let us hear the thoughts of the protagonists. Other friendships such as Solanio with Salerio and Tubal with Shylock are mainly there to give news and information.
APPEARANCE and REALITY
Choice confronts many characters in the play. Choosing reality does not necessary make it the right choice though Bassanio’s statement that “The world is still deceived with ornament” reinforces the truth that everything is not always what it seems. “All that glisters is not gold.” When Portia’s father posts the messages on the caskets, he obviously intends each suitor to interpret and choose according to their own unique qualities. Shylock pretends to Antonio, “I could be friends with you and have your love” but in Act 1 Scene 3 he declares in his aside, “I hate him for he is a Christian”. Nevertheless, Antonio recognises that “The devil can cite scripture for his purpose” and that he views Shylock as a “Goodly apple rotten at the heart”. Of course, Antonio would not have made the choice to accept the bond had he known his cargo would fail to arrive on time, but Shylock himself cannot have known this either. It really is a “Merry Bond” when he makes it. When Portia appeared as Balthazar, the lawyer, the Elizabethan audience received a double deception. They would be asked to accept Portia pretending to be a boy; what they were seeing was a boy playing himself. And of course the ring plot wouldn’t have worked had Portia and Nerissa not been in disguise to develop it.
MERCY and JUSTICE
In Portia’s trial scene speech, Shylock learns that as salt and pepper flavours food, “Mercy seasons justice”. This sums up this important theme. She tells Shylock mercy cannot be forced from someone; it must be freely given. Ordinary people are seldom asked to display this quality. It is a gift given from kings and rulers. This links to the idea the Elizabethans had that rulers are direct representatives of God on earth, with a “Divine Right”. Shakespeare explores the tension between justice and mercy through the attitudes of Shylock and Portia. The interplay is stylised rather than realistic. The abstract qualities are dwelt upon rather than the fact that a girl is disguised as a lawyer. On one side of the scale Shylock justly asks for his bond, legally agreed. On the other side, Portia asked for mercy. Justice overrides mercy and then the situation is reversed. However, most Elizabethans would probably think that Shylock receives mercy by being spared his life. Making him change his religion was probably giving him salvation.
LOVE and HATE
In contrast to money greed and hate, the love theme runs throughout the text. Three pairs of lovers, Portia/Bassanio, Gratiano/Nerissa, and Lorenzo/Jessica carry it. Shakespeare shapes the plot so that we know Bassanio will choose the right casket. Gratiano and Nerissa reflect the elegant couple. The purpose of Lorenzo and Jessica’s elopement is to provoke Shylock’s revenge; hate grows from love. The idea that friendship is more important than romantic love is shown in the relationship between Antonio and Bassiano. In preparation of his death Antonio says, “Say how I loved thee”. Bassanio replies, “Life itself, my wife and all the world are not with me esteemed above thy life”. Shylock is portrayed as the “typical” Jew, to whom money is more important than even his own daughter. But when he is offered many times what is owed to him, it is his hatred that makes him prefer revenge.
RACE and RELIGION
SHYLOCK - Act 3 Scene 1: “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses affections passions? - 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?”
Jews were banned in England from 1290 until the mid 1500s and the few that were around in Elizabethan times were barely tolerated. Shakespeare reflects the plight of the outsider in this society. Antonio does not deny it when accused of insulting and spitting on Shylock. In fact he reinforces the accusation by saying he will probably do so again. The justification of this reaction suggests it comes from someone who obviously feels superior. It is sometimes argued that the play itself is racist. Certainly by today’s standards it is understandable if some people take offence at what many of the characters say and do. However, if Shakespeare wrote the play because he wished to voice his own anti-Semitic feelings, why would he put such words as the “Hath not a Jew” speech into Shylock’s mouth? Racial tension and religion has no boundaries in either time or place as the cause of bitterness and inequality. The attitudes shown to Shylock and the Prince of Morocco could just as easily be shown today as they were then. Race or religion has been the backcloth to events from the Crusades to the Holocaust, from “Apartied” to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Prince of Morocco expects to be met with a negative response to his skin colour. “Mislike me not for my complexion.” His assessment is accurate. Before she meets him, Portia already speaks of a suitor who may have “the complexion of a devil”. When his suit has failed she says, “A gentle riddance - let all of his complexion choose me so”. It could be seen as salvation or the final insult when Antonio insists that Shylock becomes a Christian. In the same way it may seem that Jessica’s conversion is her only hope. On the other hand, in the marriage of Lorenzo and Jessica, Shakespeare may be saying that unity and equality is possible between two people with great differences.
1. cost an arm and a leg
2. make ends meet
3. cheapskate
4. time is money
5. money doesn’t grow on trees
6. money talks
7. loaded
8. make a killing
A. someone who does not like to spend money
B. to make a lot of money very quickly
C. used for saying that time should not be wasted because you lose money as a result
D. very rich
E. to cost a lot of money
F. used for saying that money gives you power
G. used for telling someone that they should not waste money, as it is not easy to get
H. to have just enough money to buy the things you need
B. Fill in the gaps using the correct idiom from the list below.
1. Come on hurry up - __________!
2. He can definitely afford it, he’s ________.
3. You’re such a _________, surely you can afford to buy a new pair of shoes!
4. We’re not buying you another skateboard. ____________________!
5. Of course Donald Trump is powerful, after all ______________ .
6. Her business is very successful, she’s _________________ .
7. If we book our holiday in the school holidays it will ______________.
8. Life is very expensive in London but we’re _______________.
A. cost an arm and a leg
B. making ends meet
C. cheapskate
D. time is money
E. money doesn’t grow on trees
F. money talks
G. loaded
H. making a killing
C. Decision-making
The Merchant of Venice features a scene that has been compared to a TV game show. In the play, the ‘contestants’ are men and the ‘prize’ is to marry to the rich and beautiful Portia. In order to ‘win’ her, the men must choose one of three caskets: one made of gold, one of silver and one of lead. If they choose the correct one, they will marry Portia.
The decisions they make could change their life forever. Through this scene, Shakespeare teaches us to consider our choices and think before we speak and act.
In real life, we make decisions every day – some more important than others.
Discuss with a partner what you would do in the following situations, using I would + verb:
1. You arrive at class and realise you have forgotten to do your homework.
e.g. I would tell my teacher I had left it on the bus, I would tell my teacher the truth and promise to do it for the next day.
2. You are going to be late to meet your friend at the cinema.
3. You find a piece of paper on the floor of your classroom. The paper contains the answers to your next exam.
4. You win £10,000.
5. Your parents have gone away for the weekend and left you in charge of the house.
6. You’ve been invited to a friend’s party but someone who you don’t like is going to be there.
7. Your friend has lost weight and started to get obsessed with exercise.
8. You are offered two jobs. One is your dream job but pays only £20,000. The other is a less interesting job but you would earn £30,000.
D. QUIZ
E. STATUS
The concept of status is important in The Merchant of Venice. The characters are strongly aware of who has money and who hasn’t, who is the most respected in society and who is the least.
In pairs, devise a short scene in which status is really important. Here are some examples:
• A new pupil at school is being bullied by a much older pupil.
• A customer at a restaurant is complaining about the food to the waiter.
• The school headmaster is meeting a new student for the first time.
• A policeman is questioning a suspect.
Now look at the scenes and discuss who has the most, and the least status.
How can you show this physically?
Try the scenes with both actors standing, then again but with one person sitting, and the other standing, and swap over. What difference does it make?
THEMES:
MONEY and WEALTH
Most of the action in the play comes from Bassanio’s need for money and all the characters are concerned with it in some way. Miserliness and greed compel Shylock. Antonio is a merchant venturer. Bassanio seeks to clear his debts and impress Portia who already has a fortune. He mentions her money before her beauty. She is “richly left”. The hatred between Shylock and Antonio is because of Antonio’s attitude to interest. For centuries before Shakespeare Landowners and the aristocracy controlled wealth. Lending money for gain was considered irreligious. Only non-Christians could be moneylenders. When Shylocvk is forced to give up his religion, it means he can no longer earn his living because he is no longer a non-Christian. Shakespeare wrote when a new class of businessmen and merchants were emerging. Ventures had to be financed and borrowing became legal in England but still frowned upon because it had to be done from Jews. Many would already have a poor opinion of Shylock’s character, which thinks more about his ducats and gems than his daughter, Jessica. “Would she were hearsed at my foot and the jewels in her coffin.” Antonio annoys Shylock because “he brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice.” Portia turns down payment. “He is well paid that is well satisfied.” The play is laden with images of wealth and riches and the concept of risk and hazard that surround Antonio’s shipment and the caskets.
PARENT and CHILD RELATIONSHIP
There are three father/child relationships in the play. Portia and her dead father, Jessica and Shylock and Launcelot and Old Gobbo. It is interesting to contrast Jessica with Portia. Although Portia’s father is dead, his influences stretch beyond the grave through the caskets test. Portia is compliant with this; Jessica is disobedient towards Shylock. Portia follows her father’s wishes and gives over her wealth to her new husband; Jessica’s marriage is founded on a breach of trust and stolen wealth from her father. Ironically, after Portia has been passed from father to husband her great feat of the trial 11 should display her potential for controlling her life. However, she can take no credit for it because she has had to do it in disguise. One of Jessica’s main roles in the play is to spark emotions from Shylock. She does draw some human feelings but mostly she fuels his revenge. She herself shows little remorse in deserting him, seemingly just because he is a killjoy and she displays no sorrow over the fact that her father has been destroyed and left destitute. Although Launcelot teases his father, there is obviously fondness between them. The comic ‘double act’ provides a taste of the lowly family life to contrast against the wealthy businessman of Shylock and the aristocracy of Portia’s father.
FRIENDSHIP and LOYALTY
“In sooth I know not why I am so sad.” The reason for Antonio’s melancholy is never given. It has been suggested that maybe he is “gay” and is sad because Bassanio has declared his love for a woman. There is nothing in the text to either confirm or deny this. Whatever the reason, there is no doubting Antonio’s loyalty and friendship for Bassanio. He takes his loyalty and generosity to the point of endangering his life. Even as he thinks he faces certain death, his wish is to see his friend before he dies; and after all the trouble he has gone through in helping Bassanio, he is still ready to vouch for his friend’s ability to keep Portia’s ring safe in the final scene. Bassanio does return the friendship and has genuine concern when Antonio is in danger. Presumably the reason Portia comes to the aid of Antonio is because she recognises her new husband’s affection for him. However, Bassanio himself makes no attempt to seek legal advice in order to rescue the friend he has placed in danger. As, good friends of Bassanio and Portia, Gratiano and Nerissa serve to let us hear the thoughts of the protagonists. Other friendships such as Solanio with Salerio and Tubal with Shylock are mainly there to give news and information.
APPEARANCE and REALITY
Choice confronts many characters in the play. Choosing reality does not necessary make it the right choice though Bassanio’s statement that “The world is still deceived with ornament” reinforces the truth that everything is not always what it seems. “All that glisters is not gold.” When Portia’s father posts the messages on the caskets, he obviously intends each suitor to interpret and choose according to their own unique qualities. Shylock pretends to Antonio, “I could be friends with you and have your love” but in Act 1 Scene 3 he declares in his aside, “I hate him for he is a Christian”. Nevertheless, Antonio recognises that “The devil can cite scripture for his purpose” and that he views Shylock as a “Goodly apple rotten at the heart”. Of course, Antonio would not have made the choice to accept the bond had he known his cargo would fail to arrive on time, but Shylock himself cannot have known this either. It really is a “Merry Bond” when he makes it. When Portia appeared as Balthazar, the lawyer, the Elizabethan audience received a double deception. They would be asked to accept Portia pretending to be a boy; what they were seeing was a boy playing himself. And of course the ring plot wouldn’t have worked had Portia and Nerissa not been in disguise to develop it.
MERCY and JUSTICE
In Portia’s trial scene speech, Shylock learns that as salt and pepper flavours food, “Mercy seasons justice”. This sums up this important theme. She tells Shylock mercy cannot be forced from someone; it must be freely given. Ordinary people are seldom asked to display this quality. It is a gift given from kings and rulers. This links to the idea the Elizabethans had that rulers are direct representatives of God on earth, with a “Divine Right”. Shakespeare explores the tension between justice and mercy through the attitudes of Shylock and Portia. The interplay is stylised rather than realistic. The abstract qualities are dwelt upon rather than the fact that a girl is disguised as a lawyer. On one side of the scale Shylock justly asks for his bond, legally agreed. On the other side, Portia asked for mercy. Justice overrides mercy and then the situation is reversed. However, most Elizabethans would probably think that Shylock receives mercy by being spared his life. Making him change his religion was probably giving him salvation.
LOVE and HATE
In contrast to money greed and hate, the love theme runs throughout the text. Three pairs of lovers, Portia/Bassanio, Gratiano/Nerissa, and Lorenzo/Jessica carry it. Shakespeare shapes the plot so that we know Bassanio will choose the right casket. Gratiano and Nerissa reflect the elegant couple. The purpose of Lorenzo and Jessica’s elopement is to provoke Shylock’s revenge; hate grows from love. The idea that friendship is more important than romantic love is shown in the relationship between Antonio and Bassiano. In preparation of his death Antonio says, “Say how I loved thee”. Bassanio replies, “Life itself, my wife and all the world are not with me esteemed above thy life”. Shylock is portrayed as the “typical” Jew, to whom money is more important than even his own daughter. But when he is offered many times what is owed to him, it is his hatred that makes him prefer revenge.
RACE and RELIGION
SHYLOCK - Act 3 Scene 1: “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses affections passions? - 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?”
Jews were banned in England from 1290 until the mid 1500s and the few that were around in Elizabethan times were barely tolerated. Shakespeare reflects the plight of the outsider in this society. Antonio does not deny it when accused of insulting and spitting on Shylock. In fact he reinforces the accusation by saying he will probably do so again. The justification of this reaction suggests it comes from someone who obviously feels superior. It is sometimes argued that the play itself is racist. Certainly by today’s standards it is understandable if some people take offence at what many of the characters say and do. However, if Shakespeare wrote the play because he wished to voice his own anti-Semitic feelings, why would he put such words as the “Hath not a Jew” speech into Shylock’s mouth? Racial tension and religion has no boundaries in either time or place as the cause of bitterness and inequality. The attitudes shown to Shylock and the Prince of Morocco could just as easily be shown today as they were then. Race or religion has been the backcloth to events from the Crusades to the Holocaust, from “Apartied” to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Prince of Morocco expects to be met with a negative response to his skin colour. “Mislike me not for my complexion.” His assessment is accurate. Before she meets him, Portia already speaks of a suitor who may have “the complexion of a devil”. When his suit has failed she says, “A gentle riddance - let all of his complexion choose me so”. It could be seen as salvation or the final insult when Antonio insists that Shylock becomes a Christian. In the same way it may seem that Jessica’s conversion is her only hope. On the other hand, in the marriage of Lorenzo and Jessica, Shakespeare may be saying that unity and equality is possible between two people with great differences.
PART ONE-Questions
- How does the film portray Shylock in this scene? What are your initial impressions of him?
- What is the dynamic between Shylock and Antonio? Is there any foreshadowing?
- What themes are introduced in this scene (e.g., prejudice, revenge, justice)?
PART TWO-Questions
Focus on:
- Shylock's emotional state and reasoning.
- The reactions of other characters (Portia, Antonio).
- The legal and ethical complexities of the situation.
- Key questions:
- How has Shylock's character developed throughout the film? What motivates him?
- How does Portia intervene in the trial? What is her role?
- What are the wider implications of the courtroom scene in terms of justice and prejudice?
- Analyze Portia's intervention and her role in the trial.
- What are the legal and ethical complexities of the "pound of flesh" demand? What does this scene reveal about justice and prejudice?
- Do you think the punishment issued to Shylock is fair?
- How does the film resonate with contemporary issues and society?
Shylock: A Complex and Compelling Figure
Shylock, the moneylender in "The Merchant of Venice," is one of Shakespeare's most complex and nuanced characters. Analyzing him requires acknowledging multiple facets:
Victim of Prejudice: Throughout the play, Shylock faces constant discrimination and insults due to his Jewish faith. This mistreatment fuels his resentment and motivates his actions. His famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech powerfully highlights the pain and exclusion he endures.
Seeking Justice: Shylock demands the fulfillment of the "pound of flesh" contract not solely out of revenge, but also as a twisted pursuit of justice. He argues that since Venetian law allows the contract, he deserves his pound, defying the hypocrisy of those who preach mercy while discriminating against him.
Tragic Figure: Despite his flaws and vengeful actions, Shylock evokes sympathy. His forced conversion at the play's end feels like a cruel victory for his tormentors, highlighting the tragedy of prejudice and intolerance.
Ambiguity and Interpretation: Shakespeare leaves Shylock's motivations and ultimate fate open to interpretation. Is he a villain driven by revenge, a victim seeking justice, or a tragic figure caught in a cycle of hatred? This ambiguity contributes to the character's enduring fascination.
Contemporary Relevance: Shylock's portrayal and the themes of prejudice, justice, and revenge resonate even today. His experiences raise questions about tolerance, the law's fairness, and the consequences of societal hatred.
Comments
Post a Comment