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Explain the theme of love in Merchant of Venice
Explain the theme of love in Merchant of Venice
Dramatic plot of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice
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Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is a simple story line with three distinct plot lines incorporated into each other intricately. These three plot lines are the bond plot, the casket plot, and the ring plot, each equally vital to the meaning and conclusion of the play. In this essay, I will discuss the roles of the characters in the plot, the symbols, images, and rhetorical figures central to each plot, and finally how the events of the three plots are intertwined.
The first sign that the three plot lines are intertwined is that the characters involved in each plot overlap. However, each of these characters plays a different role in each plot line. The characters involved in the bond plot are Antonio, Bassanio, and Shylock, although Bassanio is not as involved in this plot as Antonio and Shylock are. It is for Bassanio that Antonio takes out a loan from Shylock so that Bassanio is able to have enough money to win Portia’s hand in marriage. In the next main plot line that arises, the casket plot, Bassanio plays a much more major role as Portia’s suitor. He and Portia are the central characters of this plot. Bassanio and Portia are also two of the central characters in the ring plot along with Nerissa and Gratiano, whose relationship acts as a parallel to the relationship between Bassanio and Portia.
Bassanio has one of the major roles in all three of the main plot lines of the play, but his role in each is different. In the bond plot, Bassanio is dependent on Antonio; he needs money to pay off his debts, and Antonio has the means to get that money. However, in asking Antonio for this loan, instead of becoming more indebted to him, Bassanio hopes to end his dependence on Antonio by marrying Portia, whose wealth could pay off ...
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...s the rings themselves.
Works Cited
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Holmer, Joan O. "Loving Wisely and the Casket Test: Symbolic and Structural Unity in The Merchant of Venice." Shakespeare Studies 11 (1978): 53-76. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Newman, Karen. “Portia’s Ring: Unruly Women and Structures of Exchange in The Merchant of Venice.” The Merchant of Venice: Authoritative Text, Sources and Contexts, Criticism, Rewritings and Appropriations. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 252-70. Print.
Shakespeare, William, and Leah S. Marcus. The Merchant of Venice: Authoritative Text, Sources and Contexts, Criticism, Rewritings and Appropriations. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York; Washington Square Press, 1993.
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Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice.” The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.
Committing deceptive deeds not only hurt others, but also the ones who deceive. The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, is a romantic-comedy play about a Christian merchant named Antonio who agrees to a bond that a Jewish moneylender named Shylock, his enemy, creates to help his best friend Bassanio see Portia, an heiress whom he is in love with. Shylock warns Antonio that if he forfeits the bond, by not repaying him three thousand ducats, he must allow him to remove a pound of his flesh. Throughout the play, deceptive behaviour causes the moral values of individuals to decline. First, this is seen through wealth as it pertains to the desire to have what is valuable. Second, moral values decline when people deceive the family members that they encounter. Finally, deceiving others through love leads to a decline of moral values. In the play, The Merchant of Venice, deception, as seen through wealth, family encounters, and love, causes the moral
Shakespeare, William, Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Andrew Gurr. The Norton Shakespeare. Second ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. Print.
Clark, W.G., and W. Aldis Wirhgt, eds. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol 2. USA: Nd. 2 vols.
Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, An Ideal Prince: And Other Essays in Shakespearean Interpretation Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. Boston: Gorham, 1916. Print.
Dutton, R., & Howard, J.E. (2003). A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works.(p. 9) Maiden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. Boston R.G. Badger, 1916. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2009. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/hamletmelancholy.html >.
Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. Boston R.G. Badger, 1916. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2009. (April 30 2014) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/othello/othelloessay2.html >.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Upon an initial examination of William Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice, a reader is provided with superficial details regarding the moral dilemmas embedded in the text. Further analysis allows a reader to recognize the multi-faceted issues each character faces as an individual in response to his or her surroundings and/or situations. Nevertheless, the subtle yet vital motif of music is ingrained in the play in order to offer a unique approach to understanding the plot and its relationship with the characters. Whether the appearance of music be an actual song or an allusion to music in a mythological or social context, the world of Venice and Belmont that Shakespeare was writing about was teeming with music. The acceptance or denunciation
Everyone is deceived and believes Portia is truly a man therefore showing that she has the capabilities to exert the traits of a man. Portia is described as the “wise young judge” (IV, I, 228) and an “excellent young man” (IV, I, 252) by Shylock showing that he believes in the gender identity of Balthazar. Bassanio, Portia’s husband, is also fooled as he states that Antonio’s life is more valuable to him than Portia. Her credibility in turn gives her power over the men in the scene. She is able to use the balances of justice along with her knowledge in order to save Antonio. The turn in this scene is when she repeats, “A pound of flesh” (IV, I, 315) and states the specific words used in the document as no blood can be dropped from Antonio or else Shylock will be punished and strikes fear into Shylock. This shows that it is possible for a woman to obtain the masculine qualities of being powerful and intellectual. If Portia were to have not dressed as a man, but merely a woman, due to the social constructs of the time she would not have had any power in this situation. Portia tells Bassanio “I pray you, know me when we meet again” (IV, I, 432) which shows her feelings towards Bassanio not knowing her true identity, even through her disguise. Her actions were that of her individual, but due to her altering her appearance of gender it changed the way others viewed her
...s Portia to end up in a position she otherwise would not have been able to achieve and maintain her own wealth and power despite her marriage to Bassanio. Rings and bonds are the hinges on which the play turns, and they are both interlinked and integral to the play.
Antonio and Shylock are both successful entrepreneurs in Venice but they both have different attitudes and experiences. When Antonio is asking Shylock for the loan he says, “Within these two months – that’s a month before this bond expires – I do expect, return of thrice times the value of this bond.” (1.3.169-170). Antonio and Shylock both are well off and successful businessmen. Antonio, being a man who is treats everyone nicely, lends his good name to Bassanio to woo Portia. Shylock on the other hand, could never do that and is a very greedy man who asks for three times the value of the loan. Also, Antonio is a risk taker and thinks things will always go the right way for him and his success will continue, which is shown when he accepts the high interest rate and the bizarre payment if the money isn’t received. Shylock handles his business straightforward and charges interest because it is his job, although being a very high amount and if it isn’t carried out, Shylock gets his payment of one pound of flesh. Shylock is depicted as the greedy businessman while Antonio is the nice man who tries his luck.