Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice Analyze the title

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

Analyze the title: Merchant – a buyer and seller of goods (or merchandise) for profit l Venice – Italian city known, in Shakespeare’s time, for its wealth, religious and cultural diversity and world trade. l

The play explores… l The value of money l The value of friendship l The value of justice and the law l The value of religion l The value of love and marriage

Know these terms: usury – the practice of lending money and charging the borrower a high interest rate. Considered illegal and/or unethical. l ducat – standard gold coin used in pre-WWI Europe, introduced in Venice in 1284 and officially sanctioned in 1566. l l In 1913, a ducat was the equivalent of “nine shillings and fourpence sterling” – a little over 2 dollars. The US dollar equivalent of a ducat in 2010 is about $44. (3000 ducats = $132, 000).

Christians and Jews l Why were they separated in Shakespeare’s time? l Jews were deported from England in the Middle Ages and banished from Spain in the fifteenth century. Shakespeare probably never encountered practicing Jews. He could have written The Merchant of Venice either to capitalize on or to criticize the prejudices of his society. (Maus – Intro to the play in The Norton Shakespeare)

l Christians had certain rights and privileges that Jews did not; for instance, Christians were able to own land. Jews were treated as outsiders and stereotyped for their supposed attitudes about money and the law.

Contrasts between Jewish and Christian values (through Shakespeare’s lens): Justice (the law of Moses) l Literal meaning of the law (or “the letter of the law”) l Codes of conduct for diet and dress; for business and the punishment of crimes l Charity l Mercy l Faith in the incredible or the unseen l

Character List (in order of appearance) Antonio: The title character; a wealthy but sad older merchant who claims never to have borrowed money but is willing to lend to friends, especially Bassanio, without benefit of interest. l Salarino and Solanio: Friends of Antonio and Bassanio’s; minor characters who comment on the action and inform the audience about the action that has occurred offstage. l

l Bassanio: A young man with expensive tastes and rich friends; borrows money from Antonio to court Portia, a rich, intelligent and beautiful woman. l Gratiano: Bassanio’s friend who has a clownish demeanor. Accompanies Bassanio to Belmont to court Portia and falls in love with Portia’s servant, Nerissa.

l Lorenzo: Bassanio’s friend who falls in love with Shylock’s daughter Jessica. l Portia: a widely pursued noblewoman who is as intelligent as she is rich and beautiful. Her father’s will demands that her husband be selected through a test involving three caskets: one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead. Portia’s mind allows her to find loopholes in legal matters, thus rescuing her new husband’s friend from his debt (or “bond”) to Shylock.

l Nerissa: Portia’s handmaid who falls in love with Gratiano, Bassanio’s friend. l Shylock: The Jewish merchant of Venice who lends Antonio the money on his friend Bassanio’s behalf. Shylock is cast as the “villain” of the play and also its most tragic figure.