The play: The Merchant of Venice (1596-98)
The author: William Shakespeare

Main characters:
Antonio, a Merchant of Venice
Bassanio, his friend and suitor to Portia
Shylock, a Jew
Jessica, daughter to Shylock
Lorenzo, in love with Jessica
Portia, an heiress of Belmont
Nerissa, her waiting-woman
Gratiano, a friend to Bassanio in love with Nerissa
The Duke of Venice
Magnificoes of Venice and Officers of the Court of Justice

The story is set in:
Venice and Portia’s house at Belmont.



Theme of the Jew who is looking for revenge because of his hate towards Christians.
Antonio is the Merchant of Venice and Shylock is an old, sarcastic usurer who has no time to enjoy himself.
He’s the villain; he is called a devil many times. Antonio’s active opposition to usury is one of the main reasons for Shylock’s hate.
He is also an old man with a young daughter who deceives him: she escapes from him to marry the man she loves, a Christian.
However, he never shows any tenderness towards his daughter. He loves money before all else.

Half of the play is set in Venice, where Shylock lives. He refuses the sum that he lent Antonio and insists on taking Antonio’s life.
An important theme is Antonio and Bassanio’s friendship: Antonio puts his life in Shylock’s hands in order to help Bassanio and he gives a bond to the Jew for his own flesh. When Antonio seems to be victim of a catastrophe (the loss of his ships), Shylock insists on his rights. In turn, when Bassanio hears of Antonio’s danger, he leaves his wife on their wedding day and goes to Venice where he would lose his life, wife and the entire world to save his friend.
The other half of the play is set in Belmont, a palace which is reached across the sea. Its owner is Portia who combines beauty and intelligence.
The contrast between Venice and Belmont represents the contrast between usury and love, between money and friendship.
At the end of the trial scene Portia, disguised as a young man, defeats Shylock’s projects: he must take his “pound of flesh” and cut it without one “drop of Christian blood” or his money will be confiscated by the State of Venice.

The trial scene, where Justice and Mercy are opposed, is the cardinal point of the play.
It is set in the Court of Justice in Venice.
Old Venetian law is strict and condemns to death and confiscation of goods everyone who plots against the life of citizen of Venice.
Finally, Shylock has to accept conversion to Christianity and the idea that after his death everything he owns will be given to Jessica, his daughter, and her Christian husband.

CLOZE TEST - Fill in the gaps

The Merchant of Venice is about the story of the relationship between a rich Venetian merchant, Antonio, and an old Jew whose name is Shylock. He is a usurer who lends money to people for profit. The both live in Venice. The noble Venetian Bassanio asks his friend Antonio for a loan: he needs three thousand ducats in order to go to Belmont, where Portia lives. Antonio asks Shylock, the Jew that he has often reproached because he practised usury, to lend him the money. Shylock offers the sum on condition that Antonio accepts a strange and cruel pact: if he fails to play on the established day, the Jew will have the legal right to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio’s breast near his heart. Antonio, who expects his ships home, signs. But the fatal day comes: Antonio’s ships are reported lost at sea because of a storm and Shylock wants him to pay his debt. Portia, the heiress of Belmont, comes to Venice disguised as a judge: during the trial scene, first she asks the Jew to accept the money offered by Antonio’s friends. After Shylock’s refusal, she invites him to cut his pound of flesh without one drop of blood, or he will be condemned to death. This is of course impossible. The judge then decides to spare Shylock’s life, but his property shall be confiscated by the State of Venice. Everything takes place while Antonio’s ships are returning to Venice.

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

Why does Shylock choose such a strange and cruel pact?
Shylock chooses such a strange and cruel pact because he hopes that Antonio will not be able to repay the bond and in this way he will finally have the chance to take revenge on his enemy Antonio, and Christians in general.

What is Shylock’s relationship with his daughter Jessica like?
Shylock doesn’t have a good relationship with his daughter Jessica, and prefers his gold to her. In fact she escapes from him to marry a Christian.

Is the Court of Justice strict with those who plot against Venetian citizens’ life?
The Court of Justice condemns to death and confiscates the goods of those who plot against the life of Venetian citizens.

Why is Shylock represented as a “villain”?
Shylock is represented as a “villain” because he insists on having his bond but, above all, because he is a usurer and a Jew living and working in the strongly Christian Venetian state. (Classe II D)