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| Shakespeare William: The Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare William: The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare
Facts
The Merchant of Venice was written around
1596/97. It is a comedy in 5 acts, written in verse and prose. The first
performance took place in London before 1600. It was first printed in
1600.
Shakespeare used sources like e.g. "The jew of
Malta" by Christopher Marlowe, or "Il Pecorone" by Ser Giovanni Fiorentino.
There appears the pound-of-flesh story for the first time.
Plot
Antonio, a well-off, venetian merchant is
expecting the return of his ships from abroad, he is hoping for major
profits.
His special friend, named Bassanio wants to
propose to a woman. This woman is a wealthy heiress named Portia, whose hand is
to go to whichever of her suitors makes the right choice among three caskets
(like a box) of gold, silver, and lead (Blei).
Bassanio is now asking Antonio for a loan to
impress Portia. Antonio, expecting wealth in the near future, enables Bassanio
to fulfill his phantasy by borrowing 3000 ducats of Shylock, a jewish usurer.
Antonio and Shylock are opponents, first of all because Antonio treats Shylock
as an inferior person. Secondly they are competitors in business. As a way for
taking revenge on the one hand and as a guarantee to get back his money on the
other hand, Shylock demands a pawn (gegenstŠndl. Pfand) from Antonio. "Just
for fun" as Shylock calls it, he wants to save the right to cut out one pound of
Antonios flesh in the case of Antonio not being able to pay him back the money
on time. Antonio agrees.
After other suitors have failed, Bassanio
wins Portia by choosing the plain, leaden casket. At the same time Jessica,
Shylocks daughter, flees with her lover and all her fathers jewels and gold.
There is another couple: Nerissa, Portias waiting-woman, and Graziano, another
one of Antonios friends. Those three couples are enjoying themselves on portias
country estate.
Meanwhile at Venice Antonio is in peril of
his life, for it is said that all of his ships have grounded. After hearing
this, Bassanio hurries home to Venice to help his friend, by giving him some of
Portias fortune, to pay Shylock back his money. Shylock refuses any amount of
money, but insists on getting one pound of Antonios flesh.
The case comes before the Duke of Venice.
Not even he knows how to judge this argument, and therefor seeks for an experts
opinion. This expert is not the famous lawyer Bellario, as everyone thinks, but
Portia, who has disguised herself. She turns Shylock«s inhuman bond against
himself, by noticing that there is not one word said in the contract of Antonio
losing blood. Lawyer Bellario, or Portia admits that Shylock is entitled to get
one pound of Antonio«s flesh. Shylock is already sharpening his massive
knive, when she says, that if he would only spill one tiny drop of
Antonio«s blood, all his fortune would be confiscated. In answer to this
Shylock declares himself satisfied with the amount of money which had been
proposed before. The Duke says "No", because Shylock refused the money before,
he won«t get any now.
Shylock even receives a financial punishment
for having wanted to kill a citizen and all ends happily.
Interpretation
Critics and scholars confirm to the present
date that there is a high difficulty in the text, which makes it hard to find
one single, correct way of interpreting the Merchant of
Venice.
Nevertheless one can say that maybe in no
other of Shakespeares plays the various relationships, bonds and interests are
being investigated. All characters are wrapped up in relationships of either
friendship, love or hatred, and through this all characters are getting into
trouble and conflicts. In the case of Antonio it leads to mortal danger, and in
Shylock«s case to destruction.
There are two main motives in the play,
which are being displayed in two different located spheres.
In the centre of the first sphere, the
commercial world of Venice, stands the main character, the rich, respected
merchant of Venice, Antonio, who risks his life for helping his best friend. In
this action one can see the friendship-ideal of the Renaissance: a special
spiritual relationship of two men, which is charcterized by trust, affection and
attraction.
Antonio also represents the Elizabethan
attitude towards
jews. The reader is shocked by the way Antonio
treats Shylock in public.
In a manner full of hatered and contempt, he
shows that the Elizabethan picture of the jew was determined by fairytales of
childmurder or wellpoisoning. Jewish characteristics like the addiction to money
and usury were still regarded as a matter for comedy- as were other national
characteristics like Scotch, Irish, Dutch etc. To the Elizabethans Shylock was
a comic character, though we may think of him as more tragic, because we know
history of the following 400 years.
1934, in a time of general contempt towards
jews, the director Max Reinhardt tried to make Shylock seem as a completely
comical character, but could not convince his audience
anymore.
The contempt for the jews was followed by a
persecution, which resulted in the Holocaust. Therefore when watching the play
we develop different emotions today than people 400 years
ago.
Shylock, first of all a nonviolent person,
is abused physically and psychologically throughout the play. Antonio spits on
him and kicks Shylock just because he is a jew. Antonios behaviour as a
Christian continually contradicts his values of good will, generosity and trust.
Antonio and Shylock have different attitudes
towards money and materialistic goods. Antonio and his friend Bassanio show a
daring, risky behaviour, which aims at profit, but also at spending the money
again e.g. on a friend who needs it. Money in this case can be regarded as a
symbol for love and friendship. In contrast with Shylock, who saves money and
only lends it to make more out of it. For a jew of that time making money and
dealing with it, was the only possibility to reach security, power and an
honorable seat in society. Jews were not enabled to start a career in other
social areas than the economic one.
In the centre of the second sphere stands
Portia, the lovable and rich heiress, whose hand is being won by Bassanio who
choses the right casket. Portias country estate, called Belmont, seems like a
wonderland out of commercial reality. Happiness and fortune, as well as wealth
are being regarded as naturally connected to love. Shakespeare describes the
lifestyle of young, rich venetian society.
Shakespeare portrays here a clash of values
and it is easy to think of the play in terms of contrasts: between the
beautiful, generous, merciful Portia and the scheming, miserly, legalistic
Shylock; between their religions, Christianity and Judaism; between their
settings, the idealized Belmont and the money markets of Venice; even between
the heights of lyrical poetry to which Portia can rise and Shylocks harsh prose.
>>Portia: "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..."<<
>>Shylock (on the question, if he«d
like to dine with Bassanio): "Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which
your prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into: 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..."<<
The two worlds are on the one hand connected
through Bassanio and Graziano who both fulfill their love with women from
Belmont, namely Portia and Nerissa. On the other hand the language creates a
link: The lovers use commercial and legal rhethoric elements, as they are usual
in Venice, in forms of metaphhors to express their feelings.
>>Bassiano: "Look on beauty, and you
shall see «tis purchas«d by the weight...", or, "I come by note to
give and to receive, like one of two contending in a prize...". An example for
Portia: "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...".<<
It has often been claimed that, through the
gloomy character of Shylock, the play loses its comedy character. The Merchant
of Venice is not a play, which proves Shakespeare to be a classical author, but
it shows a kind of experiment. He combines completely different plots and
characters from various societies and religions. Their motives, actions and
values are not to be depicted in black and white, they seem to be ambiguous and
dubious. That is the reason why interpretations are difficult.
Shakespeare never presents a morally
absolute character or theme. That is why he is so realistic, universal, and why
we are talking about this some 400 years after the original opening
night.
Characterization of
Shylock
"I am a Jew. 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?"
In the enlightened Venice of the
finishing16. century, these well calculated words by Shylock must have activated
the conscience of his christian opponents. These words express grief and pain,
which the minority of the european Jews had to bear, because of discrimination
by the majority of the Christians throughout hundreds of
years.
Shylock«s character though is not reduced
to the enduring man. His actions rather reflect the revenge of an injured
person. His idea, to make Antonio forfeit a whole pound of his living flesh,
shows that Shylock is not only victim, but also knows, how to humiliate his
opponent. He takes advantage of Antonio desperately needing the money and
suggests the absurd requirement.
His one-sided, direct language does not have
anything in common with the antithetic, easy going, metaphorical speech of all
other characters.
His character is emphasized so much that the
inner balance of the play almost seems to be disturbed. His appearence causes
feelings of pity and horror in the audience.
But still, as devilish as his words are, he
actually does not practically do anything wrong. One may say that it was his
intention to do a bloody act. But then one must admit that he does it in a
stupid way. Another motive (apart from revenge) for insisting on the bloody
contract might therefore be, to draw attention upon himself by putting Antonio
down.
To his daughter Jessica he does not have an
intimate relationship at all. Her acceptance of his moral code is essential to
his peace of mind. It makes him feel sad that his daughter flees from him to
marry the venetian Christian Lorenzo, but rather because she takes all his
jewels and gold than because he loves her so much. Jessica now is like an
immoral child of the devil to him.
>>Jessica: "To be ashamed to be my
father«s child!
But though I am a daughter to his
blood
I am not to his
manners..."<<
He even claims that he would gladly see her
dead at his feet, if only his jewels were safe. Shylock«s impotence over
Jessica then turns into a neurotic lust for vengeance on
Antonio.
Throughout the trial-scene he behaves like
someone mentally unbalanced, suffering a nervous breakdown, and when the trial
is over he stumbles out of Venetian business life, and out of the
play.
Characterization of
Portia
Portia, the witty and funny owner of
Belmont, in some ways equals other superior heroines of Shakespeare«s
comedies, e.g. Othellos Desdemona. Still she shows traits of character which
make her appear not only charming and lovable. This is proved by the way she
refuses her proposers. She has a lot of prejudices towards other nations and
races, which makes her seem immature and narrow minded.
Situation: Portia wants her waiting-woman
Nerissa to name all the suitors and she will then describe them. Nerissa should
then according to Portia«s description, level them at her
affection.
>>Nerissa: "What say you then to
Falconbridge, the young baron of England?"
Portia: "You know I say nothing to him: he
hath neither Latin, French, nor Italien, and you will come into the court and
swear that I have a poor pennyworth in the English: he is a proper man«s
picture, but alas! who can converse with a dumb-show? How oddly he is suited! I
think he bought his doublet in Italy, his rond hose in France, his bonnet in
Germany, and his behaviour everywhere."<<
Portia plays a central part in both plots.
She and her world of music and beauty are the antithesis of the harsh commercial
world of Venice.
In the courtroom-scene she presents herself in
a dominant, clever way.
She even seems to enjoy her speech on mercy,
after which she does not show any for Shylock. She destroys his life with a
smile on her face.
*
QUOTATIONS
from THE MERCHANT OF
VENICE
1) >>PORTIA: "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..."<<
>>SHYLOCK (on the question, if he«d
like to dine with Bassanio):
"Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation
which your prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into: 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..."<<
*
2) >>BASSANIO:
"Look on beauty, and you shall see «tis
purchas«d by the weight...", or, "I come by note to give and to receive,
like one of two contending in a prize...". An example for PORTIA: "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...".<<
*
3) >>SHYLOCK:
"I am a Jew. 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?"<<
*
4) >>JESSICA: "To be ashamed to be my
father«s child. But though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not to his
manners..."<<
*
5) Situation: Portia wants her waiting-woman
Nerissa to name all the suitors and she will then describe them. Nerissa should
then according to Portia«s description, level them at her
affection.
>>NERISSA: "What say you then to
Falconbridge, the young baron of England?"
PORTIA: "You know I say nothing to him: he
hath neither Latin, French, nor Italien, and you will come into the court and
swear that I have a poor pennyworth in the English: he is a proper man«s
picture, but alas! who can converse with a dumb-show? How oddly he is suited! I
think he bought his doublet in Italy, his rond hose in France, his bonnet in
Germany, and his behaviour everywhere."<<
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