The Merchant of Venice ANALYSIS William Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice ANALYSIS

Plot and Subplots The bond between Antonio and Shylock The main plot: The love between Portia and Bassanio The elopement of Shylock's daughter, Jessica, with Lorenzo The rings story

Stages of the plot Exposition: The opening scenes introduce the main characters, Antonio, Bassanio, Shylock and Portia and the setting in Venice and Belmont. The initial situation is Antonio’s need to borrow money to help Bassanio from Shylock, who hates him. Rising Action: Complications of the main situation between Antonio and Shylock happen. A letter comes announcing that Antonio's ventures have failed. Shylock becomes more enraged when Jessica runs away with his money, which adds to his anger. He becomes more determined on having his bond to the letter of the law.

Climax: In the trial scene, it seems that nothing can save Antonio from Shylock’s knife. Falling Action: Shylock cannot have his bond. He is ordered to convert to Christianity and leave his possessions to his daughter, Jessica and Lorenzo. Portia and Nerissa persuade their husbands to give up their rings. Denouement: Finally, all lovers gather safely in Belmont. Portia and Nerissa forgive Bassanio and Gratiano after teasing them. Antonio’s ships safely return.

Setting TIME: The Sixteenth century PLACE: Venice: A city of trade, of business deals, and of conflicts and intrigues. It represents the world of relentless materialism. Belmont: The romantic city of peace and love, a contrast to Venice. It stands for mercy versus the Venetian veneration of mere justice.

Themes Prejudice and Intolerance The Venetians in The Merchant of Venice express extreme intolerance of Shylock and the other Jews in Venice. It is possible to argue that Shakespeare himself shares his characters’ certainty that the Jews are naturally wicked and inferior to Christians because of Shylock’s ultimate refusal to show any mercy at all. Yet there are also reasons to think that Shakespeare may be actually criticizing the prejudices of his characters. Shylock’s anger and his desire of revenge are the result of years of abuse and mistreatment. Shylock insists that he “learned” his hatred from Christians. It is Shylock alone who argues that all of the characters are the same, in terms of biology and under the law.

Mercy vs Justice The conflict between Shylock and the Christian characters centers around mercy. The other characters acknowledge that the law is on Shylock’s side, but they all expect him to show mercy, which he refuses to do. When, during the trial, Shylock asks Portia what could possibly force him to be merciful, Portia’s long reply, beginning with the words, “The quality of mercy is not strained,” explains that human beings should be merciful because God is merciful: mercy is an attribute of God himself and therefore greater than power, majesty, or law. Shylock, on the other hand, is not capable of showing mercy towards Antonio. He insists on the letter of the bond, asking for a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. He calls for justice and repeats the word as his slogan. Shylock says that Christians pretend to be merciful, but they actually are not. He says that he has learned the lesson on revenge and intolerance from them. Shylock gives many examples on how mercy has never been shown to him by Christians. By the end of the trial, Portia, in spite of her speech about mercy, does not show any mercy towards Shylock.

CHARACTERS Antonio Sad and lonely Generous Has a warm regard for his friend and kinsman Bassanio

Portia A highly intelligent woman She has a keen sense of humor. Her love of Bassanio Her ability to think clearly and quickly – as when she hears about Anontio’s trouble.

Shylock Greedy Vengeful His hatred for Antonio His relationship with his daughter Sympathy for him

Bassanio His love for Portia. His friendship with Antonio His good nature puts him in trouble at the end of the play –the ring.