Head v. Heart in the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Head v. Heart in the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

The first problem posed in The Merchant of Venice is that of Antonio

who is wondering the reasons for his feeling weary and down. Like a

typical, well-respected Renaissance gentleman, Antonio goes about his

predicament in an intelligent manner. He looks within himself, down to

his centre of being to try and discover the rational meaning of his

emotions - he searches to the very core of his soul. With clear

objectives, Antonio uses his head and thinks philosophically. There is

no hint of rash self-pity or bemusement, only incisive cogitation.

This shows how Antonio can be a calm, measured man, capable of

carefully thinking things over in order to come to the best conclusion

- he can control his natural impulses and uses his intellect to

reason. It reflects his attitude to his job and Antonio is evidently a

competent and successful businessman. He deliberately fathoms out the

cause of his sorrow and is able to comprehend the true meaning of

things. Antonio eloquently dismisses his friends' reasoning, ignoring

Salerio's vivid scaremongering imagery and responding with the

measured, "My ventures are not in one bottom trusted" (I, i, l. 42).

However, Antonio's response to a later problem provides a stark

contrast to his apparent shrewd composure and calculated deliberation.

Although he is clearly able to comfortable and skilfully trade with

large sums of money in business, when it comes to personal relations,

Antonio's apperception of important issues is rather lacking. His lack

of concern in relation to loaning the indebted Bassanio an exorbitant

amount of money is so absurd...

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...ttentive had

personal issues not been involved. As it is, he swiftly agrees without

even an infinitesimal pause for thought and says, "I'll seal to such a

bond," even though Bassanio objects. This is unusually harebrained and

unwise for a businessman such as Antonio, again demonstrating how he

lets his heart rule his body.

Throughout the play, we can observe conflict within characters between

their heads and their hearts. When people rely on just their head,

they are successful but often miss out on more subtle sensitivities,

whereas always following your heart means imprudent judgements are

made and it is foolish at best - especially when people are unable to

return or understand your love. As the story progresses, the

compromisers tend to come out best as they can balance their brain and

their emotions equally.