merchant of venice essay

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Plays — Merchant of Venice

Essays on Merchant of Venice

The importance of writing an essay on merchant of venice.

Writing an essay on Merchant of Venice is important as it allows students to critically analyze the themes, characters, and messages portrayed in the play. It also helps in developing critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as improving writing abilities.

When writing an essay on Merchant of Venice, it is important to carefully analyze the characters and their motivations. For example, Shylock’s character can be explored in depth to understand the themes of prejudice, justice, and revenge. Additionally, the themes of love, friendship, and loyalty can be examined through the relationships between the characters.

Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the historical and social context of the play, as it provides a deeper understanding of the themes and messages conveyed by Shakespeare. For instance, the portrayal of anti-Semitism in the play reflects the societal attitudes of the time, and this can be analyzed in the essay.

When writing the essay, it is important to provide evidence from the text to support the arguments and analysis. This can include direct quotes, references to specific scenes, and interpretations of the characters’ actions and dialogue. Additionally, it is essential to structure the essay in a coherent and logical manner, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a strong conclusion.

In conclusion, writing an essay on Merchant of Venice is important for students to develop critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills. By carefully analyzing the characters, themes, and historical context of the play, students can gain a deeper understanding of the text and its significance.

Best Merchant of Venice Essay Topics

• The portrayal of Shylock as a villain or victim
• The role of women in The Merchant of Venice
• The theme of mercy and justice in the play
• The symbolism of the bond and the caskets
• The use of language and imagery in The Merchant of Venice
• The significance of the title in relation to the themes of the play
• The role of friendship and loyalty in The Merchant of Venice
• The portrayal of prejudice and discrimination in the play
• The relationship between Antonio and Bassanio
• The concept of appearance vs reality in The Merchant of Venice
• The motif of money and wealth in the play
• The portrayal of love and romance in The Merchant of Venice
• The role of religion in the play
• The use of comedy and tragedy in The Merchant of Venice
• The significance of the courtroom scene
• The portrayal of power and authority in the play
• The role of fate and destiny in The Merchant of Venice
• The theme of deception and manipulation
• The portrayal of outsiders and insiders in the play
• The relevance of The Merchant of Venice in today's society

Merchant of Venice Essay Topics Prompts

• Imagine you are Shylock's defense attorney. Write a closing argument that challenges the court's decision.
• Write a letter from Portia to Bassanio, expressing her feelings about the outcome of the bond and the caskets.
• Create a modern-day adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, set in a different cultural or social context.
• Write a dialogue between Antonio and Shylock, exploring their conflicting views on money and morality.
• Imagine you are a journalist interviewing Jessica after she elopes with Lorenzo. Write a series of questions and answers that reveal her motivations and feelings.

How Shakespeare Presents The Character of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice

The complexity of female roles in the merchant of venice and measure for measure, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

Juxtaposition of Love and Wealth in The Merchant of Venice

The value of loyalty in the merchant of venice, shylock as a hero or villain in the merchant of venice, the construction of portia's character in the merchant of venice, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

The Theme of Inequality in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice

Discrimination in the merchant of venice, a play by william shakespeare, the role of daughter and the historical context, analysis of bassanio's affections in the merchant of venice, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

Shylock's Personality in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"

Depiction of religious and racial prejudice in the merchant of venice, racial and religious issues in the merchant of venice, anti-semitism as a major controversy in the merchant of venice, a study of the theme of mercy in the merchant of venice, questioning anti-semitic ideas in the merchant of venice, being human as a profound paradox in the merchant of venice, the meaning behind portia's trick in merchant of venice, the question of anti-semitism in the merchant of venice, the relationship between father and daughter in the merchant of venice, the merchant of venice and modern connotations of the play, depiction of false love and marriage in the merchant of venice, a theme of deception in the merchant of venice by william shakespeare, shylock’s character and anti-semitism of elizabethan era in the merchant of venice, portia and the three caskets game in the merchant of venice, socisl dilemma in the merchant of venice, others as a mirror: anti-semitism in the merchant of venice and jew of malta, the trial of the rings as a climax of the conflict in the merchant of venice, the fluidity of justice in shakespearean comedy, the contrast of two cities in the merchant of venice.

1596-1599, William Shakespeare

Shakespearean comedy

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.

The Merchant of Venice is structured partly on the contrast between idealistic and realistic opinions about society and relationships. On the one hand, the play tells us that love is more important than money, mercy is preferable to revenge, and love lasts forever

Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano, Lorenzo, Portia, Nerissa, Balthazar, Stephano, Shylock, Jessica, Tubal, Launcelot Gobbo, Old Gobbo, Leonardo, Duke of Venice, Prince of Morocco, Prince of Arragon, Salarino and Salanio

The forfeit of a merchant's deadly bond after standing surety for a friend's loan was a common tale in England in the late 16th century. In addition, the test of the suitors at Belmont, the merchant's rescue from the "pound of flesh" penalty by his friend's new wife disguised as a lawyer, and her demand for the betrothal ring in payment are all elements present in the 14th-century tale Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino, which was published in Milan in 1558.

The Merchant of Venice is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare. The play is frequently staged today, but is potentially troubling to modern audiences because of its central themes, which can easily appear antisemitic. Critics today still continue to argue over the play's stance on the Jews and Judaism.

“You speak an infinite deal of nothing.” “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” “All that glisters is not gold.”

1. Shakespeare, W., Shakespeare, W., & Kaplan, M. L. (2002). The merchant of Venice (pp. 25-120). Palgrave Macmillan US. (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-07784-4_2) 2. Lewalski, B. K. (1962). Biblical Allusion and Allegory in" The Merchant of Venice". Shakespeare Quarterly, 13(3), 327-343. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2866826) 3. Halio, J. L. (2006). The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare Bulletin, 24(2), 63-68. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/199046/summary) 4. Ferber, M. (1990). The Ideology of The Merchant of Venice. English Literary Renaissance, 20(3), 431-464. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-6757.1990.tb01442.x?journalCode=elr) 5. Willson, M. J. (1994). View of Justice in Shakespeare's the Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure. Notre Dame L. Rev., 70, 695. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/tndl70&div=24&id=&page=) 6. Metzger, M. J. (1998). “Now by my hood, a gentle and no Jew”: Jessica, The Merchant of Venice, and the discourse of early modern English identity. PMLA, 113(1), 52-63. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/now-by-my-hood-a-gentle-and-no-jew-jessica-the-merchant-of-venice-and-the-discourse-of-early-modern-english-identity/51E9B840D2AB9DB0ABAB356C6FBC0B20) 7. Moisan, T. (2013). " Which is the merchant here? and which the Jew?": subversion and recuperation in The Merchant of Venice. In Shakespeare Reproduced (pp. 196-214). Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315018584-15/merchant-jew-subversion-recuperation-merchant-venice-thomas-moisan-188) 8. Sokol, B. J., & Sokol, M. (1999). Shakespeare and the English Equity Jurisdiction The Merchant of Venice and the Two Texts of King Lear. The Review of English Studies, 50(200), 417-439. (https://academic.oup.com/res/article-abstract/50/200/417/1531451)

Relevant topics

• Macbeth Ambition
• A Raisin in The Sun
• Romeo and Juliet
• Death of a Salesman
• Hamlet Theme
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Macbeth Guilt
• Hamlet Madness

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, and is widely studied and has been subject to considerable analysis. Contrary to what many people think, the ‘merchant’ of the title isn’t Shylock (of whom more below) but the far less famous character, Antonio. So how well do we know The Merchant of Venice ? Below, we offer some words of analysis, but first, it might be worth recapping the plot of the play.

Plot summary

There are two main plot strands to The Merchant of Venice , both closely intertwined. The first involves Portia, the wealthy heiress of Belmont, who decides that she will marry whichever suitor picks the right casket when faced with a choice of three (made of gold, silver, and lead).

The second involves a loan the Jewish moneylender, Shylock, makes to Antonio, the merchant of the play’s title. These two plot lines are connected because Antonio borrows money from Shylock in order to help out his friend, Bassanio, who wishes to finance a trip to Belmont to try his hand at Portia’s ‘three caskets’ trial. (The princes of Morocco and Aragon both choose the wrong caskets, but Bassanio correctly guesses that the lead casket, and the two are engaged.)

The terms of the loan are as follows: Antonio will repay the money to Shylock when his ships return from their voyage; if he fails to pay up then, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s flesh. When Antonio’s ships are declared lost at sea, he cannot repay the debt to Shylock, who promptly demands his pound of flesh.

These two threads run through the play, becoming united towards the end of the play, when Portia disguises herself as a male lawyer in order to defend Antonio against Shylock’s knife. She is aided by her maid, Nerissa, who is engaged to Bassanio’s friend, Gratiano; Nerissa is also disguised as a man (Portia’s clerk).

After trying, unsuccessfully, to appeal to Shylock’s ‘quality of mercy’ (a famous speech which we have analysed here ), Portia changes tack, and saves Antonio on a legal technicality: whilst his agreement with Shylock allows the Jewish moneylender a pound of Antonio’s flesh, it does not entitle him to a drop of the merchant’s blood – and if he tries to remove a pound of his flesh and makes him bleed, he will be liable. Shylock is defeated, and Antonio saved.

And Shylock is well and truly defeated: he has to pay ‘damages’ to Antonio – half of his entire wealth – and is also forced to convert from Judaism to Christianity. However, Antonio gives the money he gets from Shylock immediately to Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, who had earlier eloped with Lorenzo, against her father’s wishes.

There is one last, romantic, twist to the plot: before the trial, Portia and Nerissa had made gifts of rings to their betrotheds, Antonio and Gratiano. After the trial is over, to express their gratitude to the lawyer and clerk for saving Antonio’s skin (literally), they both give their rings to the lawyer and ‘his’ clerk as tokens of thanks.

To test (and have a bit of fun with) the two men, Portia and Nerissa, back in Belmont and out of their male disguises, ask the returning Antonio and Gratiano where the rings are which they gave them. The two men say they have lost them, and the two women produce new ones – which are really, of course, the originals. As a final piece of good luck, Antonio learns that not all of his ships were lost at sea, and the two couples celebrate their upcoming wedding.

Venice has a long-standing association with trade, commerce, and money. The materialistic world of this city-state regards people only in terms of their financial worth, and Shylock embodies this cold materialism in the extreme. To him, Antonio is only a debtor, so much flesh, from whom he can extract his pound if Antonio is unable to repay his loan. The great clash in The Merchant of Venice is between money and love, as both Shylock’s trial and Portia’s very different ‘trial’ – the test of the three caskets – demonstrate.

Against this heartlessly materialistic worldview is set the world of mercy and compassion, expressed in the two most famous speeches from The Merchant of Venice : Portia’s ‘The quality of mercy is not strained’ and Shylock’s own ‘Hath not a Jew eyes? If you prick us, do we not bleed?’

The valorisation of wealth and gold above all else is also famously rejected and criticised in Portia’s three caskets: gold and silver seem to promise the suitor wealth (in the form of Portia’s inheritance), but it is only by rejecting these in favour of the relatively worthless lead that Bassanio proves his worth as a potential husband to her.

However, the plot of The Merchant of Venice doesn’t entirely reject the world of money: Antonio borrows money from Shylock in an act of friendship (to help his relatively poor friend Bassanio travel to Belmont to undertake Portia’s three caskets test), but it’s also a financial reality that money is needed to be in the ‘race’.

And it’s worth noting that mercy doesn’t triumph over materialism at the trial: Shylock is deaf to Portia’s appeals, and his contract with Antonio can only be defeated on a technicality which speaks the only kind of language Shylock recognises.

And Shylock is the key to the whole play, as the confusion over him being mistaken for its title character demonstrates. For Harold Bloom, in a persuasive analysis of The Merchant of Venice in his book Shakespeare: The Invention Of The Human , The Merchant of Venice presents a number of difficult problems.

First, there’s no denying it is an anti-Semitic play; second, for Bloom, Shylock should be played as a comic villain and not a sympathetic character for the play to have ‘coherence’ and make full sense; third, to play Shylock this way would no doubt exacerbate the play’s anti-Semitic properties.

Many recent productions of The Merchant of Venice have certainly depicted Shylock more sympathetically than he was probably played when the play was first staged, in the 1590s which gave London not only Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (whose title character, Barabbas, is a cartoon villain too exaggerated to be taken with complete seriousness) but also the execution of the Portuguese Jewish immigrant Roderigo Lopez, physician to Queen Elizabeth I, who was accused of plotting to kill the Queen (he was, almost certainly, innocent).

If the casual anti-Semitism that was widely tolerated as recently as the early twentieth century is anything to go by, Shakespeare’s original audience would probably have viewed Shylock as a money-grubbing villain.

But as is so often with Shakespeare’s characterisation, the character can be interpreted more sympathetically (his famous ‘If you prick us, do we not bleed?’ speech is one example of where we can find evidence for this interpretation), and this is the line most modern productions of the play have taken. And it must be a hard-hearted reader or spectator who can watch Shylock being forced to convert to Christianity (by Antonio) and not feel a twinge of uneasiness.

What’s more, the parallels between Antonio and Shylock arguably don’t end with that popular misconception over who the title character is. Antonio is just as money-driven as Shylock, and – as his insistence that Shylock be made to convert to Christianity shows – not exactly overflowing with Christian charity. This is the mentality that Venice seems to engender: a world of financial interests, account books, and hatred and mistrust of others.

The Merchant of Venice has become Shylock’s play, eclipsing all else, and whilst there may not be much else besides him that makes the play interesting, the one exception here is Portia, who is one of Shakespeare’s finest female roles from the 1590s.

4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice”

Definitely one of Shakespeare’s problematic plays. I view it more as a tragi-comedy and believe Shakespeare provided ambiguity towards Shylock in that he did not lampoon him but gave him full characterization. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted the audience to see beyond the culture and see a person.

Problematic indeed! Thank you for your most interesting exploration of the issues.

VERY CLEAR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO READ IT AS ONE PART OF MY READINGS

Wouldn’t thou allow such mercy to Shylock if he show an ounce of pennant thought, or would it rather be rendered he suffer the harsh justice he demanded upon Antonio that you, in your fraudulent identity, chastised him for. You ask that Shylock grant mercy, but you refuse him such the like. Surely, you present him the harshest of consequences. Perhaps, opportune his chance of recompense and change of heart. Allow the man his beliefs and as well an example to present to his like minded. Allow him at least the the humane existence, some mere portion of fortune. There must be thoughts and consistency of mercy , although through consequential reasoning, placed upon both arguments.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Discover more from interesting literature.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

The Merchant of Venice

William shakespeare, everything you need for every book you read..

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Merchant of Venice: Introduction

The merchant of venice: plot summary, the merchant of venice: detailed summary & analysis, the merchant of venice: themes, the merchant of venice: quotes, the merchant of venice: characters, the merchant of venice: symbols, the merchant of venice: literary devices, the merchant of venice: quizzes, the merchant of venice: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of The Merchant of Venice

Other books related to the merchant of venice.

• Full Title: The Merchant of Venice
• When Written: 1596–8
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1623
• Literary Period: The Renaissance
• Genre: Comedy/tragicomedy; Revenge tragedy
• Setting: Venice, and the nearby country estate of Belmont
• Climax: The trial of Antonio, the merchant, and Shylock, the Jewish moneylender
• Antagonist: Shylock

Extra Credit for The Merchant of Venice

"Which is the merchant here? And which the Jew?" Modern audiences of Merchant of Venice often mistake Shylock for the "merchant" of the title—which actually refers to Antonio.

The Merchant of Venice

42 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Act Summaries & Analyses

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

What role does blood play as a symbol in the text? How do characters like Shylock think of blood compared to how Christian noblemen think of it? As a concept, how does blood unite humanity? How does it divide it?

How do you view Bassanio’s courtship of Portia? Clearly, it financially benefits him to marry her. Moreover, doing so will help his best friend Antonio . Do you think Bassanio has true affection for Portia? What about Portia for Bassanio? Is the relationship entirely transactional or perhaps somewhere in-between?

What is the broader thematic relevance of the three caskets? And how do deceptive appearances play into the behavior of the Christian noblemen? Are their appeals to Christian mercy truly Christian or merely self-serving?

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By William Shakespeare

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Antony and Cleopatra

As You Like It

Henry IV, Part 1

Henry IV, Part 2

Henry VI, Part 1

Henry VI, Part 3

Julius Caesar

Love's Labour's Lost

Measure For Measure

Much Ado About Nothing

Featured Collections

Appearance Versus Reality

View Collection

Elizabethan Era

Forgiveness

Required Reading Lists

Shakespeare

Tragic Plays

Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare

Merchant of Venice literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Merchant of Venice.

Merchant of Venice Material

• Study Guide
• Lesson Plan

Join Now to View Premium Content

GradeSaver provides access to 2357 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11005 literature essays, 2763 sample college application essays, 926 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.

Merchant of Venice Essays

A failure, a success, and a lesson: the significance of the rings in the merchant of venice isabel acedo college, merchant of venice.

Though it spans back centuries, nonconvention is often regarded by people as a trait belonging solely to the present day. Famous playwright William Shakespeare’s works exemplify this truth. In particular, Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice ...

Double Trouble: Dramatic Characters as Foils in The Merchant of Venice and Volpone Sara Benesova College

Renaissance dramas still remain among the most popular pieces of literature of today. The ability to create a piece of writing which surpasses time with its wit and humour comes as one of the main reasons why it still does not fail to astonish its...

‘I Am Not Well’: The Unjust Punishment of Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice Summer Jade Dolan College

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the character of Shylock begins the play with firm control over his daughter, his money, and his Jewish religion. Yet by the play’s conclusion, he is daughterless, has lost half of his wealth, and has been...

The Role of Storytelling in the Human Experience Anonymous 12th Grade

Human experiences are inevitably complex as they are compacted with inconsistencies and paradoxes in human behavior and motivations. Storytelling serves as a vehicle where we may share these experiences. This idea is evident in William Shakespeare...

The Victorious Woman in Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice Anonymous

In Shakespearean plays, the female roles are consistently more complex than the male ones, and though the protagonists are often male, the action is frequently directed by a woman. Though the female characters are often perceived to have a...

Father-Daughter Relationships in The Merchant of Venice Matt Abrams

Despite the lack of a strong paternal figure in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, two separate father-daughter relationships play an integral role in the central plot of the play. The strained relationship of Venetian moneylender Shylock and...

Mercy and the Masquerade: Trial and Performance in The Merchant of Venice Nadia Berenstein

According to the evidence we have, it seems Shakespeare wrote his plays exclusively to be performed. We are repeatedly reminded of this fact; there are throughout many of his plays moments of self-conscious performance, performance that reflects...

Christianity and Judaism in The Merchant of Venice: Imperfect Faith Michael Burns

Though William Shakespeare accurately portrays both Christianity and Judaism in his play The Merchant of Venice, the characters in the play do not represent their religions well. A reader unfamiliar with these religions could easily misinterpret...

The Anti-Semitic Question in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice Calli Rector

Few Shakespearean plays have aroused such controversy and debate throughout the centuries, as has The Merchant of Venice. This potentially tragic play masks itself in comedy, giving its audience a glance at the inherent social prejudices of...

Guffaws of a Shakespearean Nature Krista Walker

As a playwright, William Shakespeare has few, if indeed any, colleagues of equal renown. He skillfully created works of incredible diversity; some tragic, others historical, and yet others comedic. Of this last genre, Shakespeare's play, The...

The Role of Daughters in 'The Merchant of Venice' Eleanor Bance

The daughters of Elizabethan England were predominantly subject to their father's wishes. This is particularly evident in terms of the main female character, Portia, who must obey her father even after his death:

O me, the word 'choose'! I may...

A Comedy of Horrors: Mercy Gone Mercenary in The Merchant of Venice Kathryn Halpenny

There is a method to the madness that is Shakespearean Comedy. Every Comedy has an outline and "The Merchant of Venice" is no exception. This highly social dilemma centers on the pursuit of love and money and concludes with the joyous acquisition...

The Merchant of Venice: All That Glisters Is Not Gold Kasey Schneider

In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice it is important to notice that the title is not The Tragedy of the Merchant of Venice, but rather, just The Merchant of Venice. Although many people find it a rich tapestry of controversial topics,...

Venetian Prejudice Christophe Dorsey-Guillaumin

Enter the Jew. In this way does Shakespeare usher the character Shylock into his play The Merchant of Venice, and here begins the greatest controversy that plagues this work. The Elizabethan era, the time in which Shakespeare lived, was a time...

Shakespeare and Homosociality: Defying Elizabethan Comformity Huong Pham

Although considered light and delightful entertainment, Shakespeare's plays of comedy often address serious issues confronting Elizabethan values of propriety and social decorum. Anti-Semitism, death and homosexuality are frequent themes woven in...

The Monster in the Man - Rediscovering Shylock Eve Broffman

Perhaps no other play in Shakespeare's repertoire has provoked greater controversy regarding its fundamental moral and religious attitudes than The Merchant of Venice. To understand Shakespeare's treatment of the Jews in this play, we need to...

Shakespere's Typological Allegory: Legalism in The Merchant of Venice Anonymous

Elizabethans studied the Bible according to typological doctrine. Typology sought to resolve the problem of broken continuity between Old and New Testaments by positioning the Old Testament (the Old Law) as the foreshadowing of its own fulfillment...

Winning Bassanio Anonymous

Among the many and varied plotlines interwoven throughout Shakespeare’s comedy, The Merchant of Venice, the story of Bassanio’s rivalled affections for his friend Antonio and for his eventual wife Portia is one of the more significant. Bassanio...

Questioning Anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice Kristin Look

The Merchant of Venice has been interpreted over time as both a defense and an attack on Jews. (“Shylock”) While it would seem improbable that Shakespeare was forward thinking enough to completely reject the anti-Semitic sentiment of his time, the...

Discuss the function of cross-dressing in Renaissance drama. Anonymous

Cross-dressing on the early modern stage was a highly exploited theatrical device. It subverted the traditional conceptions of gender, evoking a recurring sense of dramatic irony. Jean E. Howard explains that “behavioural differences” and “...

A Critical Analysis of Egeus, Hippolyta and Shylock in Filmic Shakespeare Tyler Fuller

In ‘The Motives of Eloquence’, Lantham describes Shakespearean drama as the art of “superposition”. One arc of action is performed over others so that “[d]ramatic motive is stronger than ‘real’, serious motive”. The justification of a characters...

Shakespeare's Portia Anonymous

In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare crafts a dynamic female character uncommon to his collection of plays. Portia, the lovely and wealthy heiress, exemplifies stereotypical feminine qualities but also exhibits independent and intelligent...

Tragicomic Irony in The Merchant of Venice Anonymous

There are many instances where if one were not laughing, they would be crying; that is to say, the difference between the laughable and the lamentable is oftentimes narrow. In fact, the irony behind what is tragic and what is comedic is naturally...

Covenants in the Merchant of Venice Anonymous College

In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare explores the concept of covenants through several motifs including marriage, inheritance, filial piety, and justice. While revenge is personal, justice intends to right societal wrongs, but The Merchant of...

Common – The Merchant Of Venice – Essay

DOWNLOAD THE RESOURCE

Resource Description

Essay that compares and contrasts the characters of Shylock & Portia (Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice.)

William Shakespeare’s masterful storytelling in his play The Merchant Of Venice (MOV) allows audiences to introspect and gain insight into the anomalies which epitomise the human experience. Accordingly, the Bard’s treatment of Shylock and Portia’s individual experiences is unique because as the plot progresses, these seemingly dichotomous become increasingly alike due their paradoxes. Ultimately, this story has impacted audiences across time by providing a perspective which authentically reflects the human condition.

Shakespeare contrasts Shylock and Portia’s individual experiences through the audience’s surface level perception of their characters, as a bloodthirsty Jew and an empowering Heroine, respectively.  The Jew’s antagonistic tendencies are established whilst creating the bond with Antonio, “In merry sport, if you repay me not … let the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh.” Although Shylock maintains the comic genre of MOV by stating that the agreement is “a merry sport,” it is highly inconsistent because when he later uses the phrase “merry bond,” he incorporates an oxymoron, as a bond which legalises murder is hardly merry. Ultimately, the bond is a symbol which encompasses Shylock’s revenge and disregard for Antonio’s life, which coincides with the Elizabethan myth of Jews being barbaric enough to practice ritual murder. Shylock’s jest is virtually absent later in the play, as he demands, “I’ll have my bond. I will not hear thee speak … I’ll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool… I will have my bond.” Through pairing anaphora with the imperative mood of the verb “I will,” the playwright utilises Shylock’s ire-filled monologue to solidify him as a bloodthirsty Machiavellian adamant to receive justice and witness Antonio suffer. Comparatively, Shakespeare contrasts Shylock against Portia, who is indirectly introduced at the start of the play through Bassanio as, “a lady richly left, and she is fair, and fairer than that word, of wondrous virtues.” In this line, Bassanio’s hyperbolic language exalts Portia as a paragon of Renaissance womanhood in whom the classical graces of beauty, chastity and passion are perfectly balanced and combined. However, the fact is she “left” implies that Portia is abandoned and vulnerable in the patriarchal society, with a fortune coveted by many suitors. By the climax, however, Portia subverts such assumptions by crossdressing as a lawyer to save Antonio, in which the dramatist juxtaposes Portia against the men she is subservient to, but less capable. Portia exercises her intelligence in the monologue, “The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven… it is enthroned in the hearts of kings, it is an attribute of God.” Portia instills her argument with ethos and religious imagery to prove that “mercy is above” the law of common men as it is “in the hearts of kings” who have a Divine Right to rule; hence, “it is an attribute to God himself” which even a Jew must respect. Evidently, the dramatist skillfully depicts the disparities in these opposing individual experiences before revealing their similarities.

By exposing the dualities of these multifaceted characters, Shakespeare is able to establish their collective human experience. Throughout MOV, casual abuse is shown towards Shylock by constantly referring to him by the vocative “the Jew,” which completely dehumanises and alienates him from Venetian society. Furthermore, a large array of deprecatory nouns and adjectives are added before this, to augment how uncivilised and subhuman Shylock is from a Christian perspective, including, “dog,” “villain,” “faithless,” “currish,” and “harsh.” Moreover, Antonio expresses the highly discriminatory line, “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek, a goodly apple rotten at the heart.” By religiously alluding to “the devil,” Antonio  explicitly personifies Shylock as the figure of true evil. Moreover, the juxtaposition of light and dark imagery, shown through “holy witness” and “evil soul,” makes the rigid hierarchy between Christianity and Judaism in Renaissance Italy apparent to modern audiences. However, these acts of prejudice are paradoxical to this group’s collective human experience, as they do not agree with the quality of mercy, which is inherent to Christianity. Shylock’s situation particularly appeals to modern responders due to minimal tolerance towards racism, yet, perhaps the dramatist intends to mock his contemporary audience’s values through this irony.  Although Shylock is solely accused of conspiring to trap “good Antonio,” his villainous actions can be equated with Portia’s in the climactic trial scene, which illustrates their shared human experience. Portia carefully plots her attack against the Jew by waiting until the final moment before revealing the flaw in the bond, “Take thou thy pound of flesh, but in the cutting it, if thou dost shed one drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods are … confiscate.” Rather than employing the imperative, Portia issues this line with conditional language and an ironic politeness to mark a poignant moment of peripeteia. Moreover, by deliberately prolonging the trial and repeatedly giving Shylock the chance to forfeit beforehand, the Bard’s nuanced storytelling highlights Portia’s cruelty as she intentionally exacerbates his humiliation. Despite appealing to audiences across time as a heroine by saving Antonio and challenging Tudor gender roles, the playwright evokes a strong sense of irony by exposing Portia’s paradoxical actions, as Shylock is shown little mercy despite it previously being so earnestly endorsed. His punishment is ruthless as it thieves him of everything he cares for; his family and his religious identity, and has worked tirelessly for; his wealth and status. Ultimately, Shakespeare deliberately creates a sense of ambiguity at the play’s conclusion, allowing audiences for four-hundred years to dispute whether the Jew is a villain or a victim of his context, and whether Portia really is an empowering heroine or a hypocritical racist.

Through challenging perceptions of Portia and Shylock’s individual experiences, Shakespeare’s efficacious storytelling in MOV allows audiences to realise that it is these inconsistencies which connects all humans to forge a universal human experience.

Report a problem

Popular HSC Resources

• Speech on George Orwell ‘1984’ – Human Experiences
• How To Survive the HSC
• One Night the Moon – Analysis (Video)
• 2020 – Physics – PHS (Trial Paper)
• Business Studies Influences on HR (Quiz)
• Sci Ext – Portfolio Pack
• 2020 – Science Ext – Exam Choice (Trial Paper)
• Domino’s Marketing Case Study

Become a Hero

Easily become a resource hero by simply helping out HSC students. Just by donating your resources to our library!

What are you waiting for, lets Ace the HSC together!

Join our Email List

No account needed.

Get the latest HSC updates.

All you need is an email address.