1. The Merchant of Venice
Acts 1-2

2. Context: Publication and Performance
First published in 1600 as a “comical history”
Scholars have long noted tragic elements in the play
Elements that make the play a comedy: ends in marriage instead of death, includes the clown figure (Lancelot Gobbo)
Tragic elements: revenge, the downfall of a central character
The play also includes fairy-tale elements (the three caskets, mysteriously missing merchant trading ships)
Two central plots: Portia’s casket challenge, Antonio vs. Shylock

3. Context: Venice
A 1590 map of Venice published in Cologne
In Shakespeare’s time, Venice was already lauded as a cultural and financial center
Viewed as the crossroads of the early modern world (diversity, luxury goods, trade)
Venice was also famous for its legal system
Notice how the bustling city of Venice is juxtaposed against Belmont, Portia’s estate

4. Anti-Semitism Edward I expelled Jewish people from England in 1290
During the 16th century, a few Jews returned to England to seek refuge from the Spanish Inquisition
Most were known as Conversos, people who had outwardly converted to Christianity from Judaism
German Jews of the thirteenth century. From Herrad von Landsperg, Luftgarten

5. Although there were few Jews living in Shakespeare’s London, Jewishness loomed large in the English imagination
Jewish stereotypes: cruel, greedy, and villainous
Christopher Marlowe’s Jew of Malta (1589)
Anti-Jewish hysteria high around the time of The Merchant of Venice, due to the 1594 trial and execution of Dr. Roderigo Lopez (found guilty of trying to poison Elizabeth I)
As you read the play, consider Shakespeare's depiction of Shylock; Is he endorsing the stereotypical view of Jews? Or is he critiquing these stereotypes?

6. A Few Historical Representations of Shylock
Charles Macklin, 18th century
Henry Irving, 19th century

7. Act 1, Scene 1: Antonio’s Melancholy Disposition
The play begins with Antonio’s declaration of sadness; Why is he so sad? And why doesn’t he know the cause of his sadness?
Although Solanio and Salarino try to cheer him up, eventually one concludes that “Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time” (51); What does he mean by this? How does this contribute to our understanding of Antonio?
Antonio seems cheered by the arrival of Bassanio, who has come to ask for help in wooing Portia
What is Portia’s attraction for Bassanio?
Bassanio admits that he lives beyond his means; Why, then, does Antonio continue to lend him money?

8. From the 2004 Film (dir. Michael Radford)

9. Act 1, Scene 2: Portia’s Sadness
Portia’s opening line echoes Antonio’s opening statement; why is she depressed?
Does Portia’s deceased father’s method of selecting a husband allow her any freedom to determine her own fate? How can she work within these constraints?
Nerissa and Portia mock the potential suitors, reflecting Elizabethan racist stereotypes of different cultures
Lyn Collins as Portia , Michael Radford’s 2004 film

10. Act 1, Scene 3: Enter Shylock
What is your first impression of Shylock?
This scene is primarily concerned with Bassanio’s attempt to secure a loan so that he can woo Portia
What does it mean when Shylock says that “Antonio is a good man” (1.3.12); How does Bassanio interpret it?
Notice Antonio’s description of Usury: “Is your gold and silver ewes and rams?” (1.3.92)
Usury, or charging interest on a loan, was considered wrong for Christians in the medieval and early modern period, especially because it was seen as an unnatural breeding (transgressing the boundary between mineral and animal)

11. The Pound of Flesh
Shylock directly confronts Antonio regarding the way Antonio has treated him in the past. What wrongs has Antonio committed against Shylock? Is Shylock’s hatred justified?
Shylock’s terms of the loan are that “the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh” ( ); Is this a “merry sport” as Shylock claims? How does Antonio take it? How does Bassanio?
Jonathan Pryce as Shylock and Dominic Maftham as Antonio, The Globe, 2015

12. Act 2, Scene 1
The Prince of Morocco arrives at Belmont to take the casket challenge
How does his language reflect Elizabethan perception of Moors?
What is Portia’s response to Morocco?
We learn something new about the casket challenge in this scene: not only do the suitors lose the hand of Portia if they fail the test, they also are not allowed to ever marry

13. Act 2, Scene 2: Launcelot Gobbo
While the audience waits to see if Morocco chooses the right casket, Shakespeare interjects a comic scene
How do you think this scene fits in with the rest of the play?
Does Lancelot have similarities with other characters? If so, what are they?
The scene ends with Bassanio and Gratiano going to Belmont
Mackenzie Crook as Launcelot Gobbo and Ron Cook as his father, 2004 film version

14. Act 2, Scenes 3-6 Why is Jessica ashamed to be a Jew?
Do you think that her decision to run away with Lorenzo is related to her father’s treatment of her or is it because of her lack of faith?
Critics have noted that outsiders in Shakespeare’s plays tend to resemble each other (i.e. Jews and women); if so, is Jessica doubly an outsider?
Notice that like Portia, Jessica is aligned with monetary goods; Lorenzo not only runs off with Jessica but with Shylock’s goods
Jessica by William Quiller Orchardson, late 19th century

15. The Casket Challenge: Morocco and Aragon: Act 2, Scenes 7 & 9
The Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Aragon both “hazard” the casket challenge in these two scenes
The term hazard: “a chance or venture,” “the risk of loss or harm: peril, jeopardy,” or “to endanger a person or thing” (OED); how do these definitions fit in the casket plot?
Where do the priorities of these two men lie based on their words and choices? What is their opinion of Portia?
Shakespeare did not invent the story of the caskets; it is based on a medieval Latin collection of tales, in which a girl makes the choice to win an Emperor’s son
We’ll return to this theme next class

16. Act 2, scene 8: Loss
What is Shylock’s reaction to Jessica’s theft and elopement?
Notice that we don’t actually hear Shylock ourselves; instead we get this information second-hand; Do you believe Solanio is telling the truth? Or is he giving Shylock a stereotypical Jewish reaction?
We learn in this scene that Antonio has lost a number of his ships
We also get a deeper sense of Antonio and Bassanio’s relationship; How would you describe their friendship?
Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes as Antonio and Bassanio, 2004 film