The Doomed Antonio of The Merchant of Venice

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The Doomed Antonio of The Merchant of Venice

The secondary characters of The Merchant of Venice (Shylock, Portia and Bassanio) are so intriguing and so vocal, that the central figure, the merchant Antonio, is often largely ignored. This neglect is perfectly appropriate to the play's theme and the protagonist's struggle, for Antonio is an outsider. The play's theme is marriage and Antonio is both a stranger to the world of marriage, for he has no desire to partake of it, and he is an enemy to marriage, for it steals his one true love, Bassanio.

The play's opening line presents a mystery: the source of Antonio's gloom: "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad /...And such a want-wit of sadness makes of me, / That I have much ado to know myself" (I.i.1-7). Antonio claims to be ignorant of the source of his woe, and he may so be, but to the audience, this source will eventually come to light. His comrades Salarino and Solanio question if he might be worried about his ships, but they are assured that he is confident in these financial ventures. Their second guess is, "Why, then you are in love," to which Antonio only responds, "Fie, fie!" (I.i.46) This curt reaction is very revealing. Either the idea of being love is offensive to Antonio, or his love is such that he dares not speak of it, perhaps even to himself (Midgley 126).

The friends accept that Antonio is just gloomy, without particular cause. He himself suggests that he is simply doomed to melancholy: "I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano / A stage, where every man must play a part, / And mine a sad one" (I.i.78-79). However, it does not seem very likely that Antonio is just sad by disposit...

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...ve, and if he could, it seems doubtful that he would find any fulfilment in the society of women. Antonio is sad because his love is to be wed to a woman. His lament echoes the narrator of the sonnets, with a vital exception: the sonneteer sees that marriage would be good for his lover and encourages it. Antonio, a selfish and possessive merchant will not let go, and is doomed to his gloom.

Works Cited

Midgley, Graham. "The Merchant of Venice: A Reconsideration." Essays In Criticism vol. X no. 2 (1960): 119-133.

Pequigney, Joseph. Such Is My Love: A Study of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.

Rosenheim, Judith. "Allegorical Commentary in The Merchant of Venice" Shakespeare Studies vol. XXIV (1996): 156-210

Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth, 1996.

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