The Merchant of Venice
(Written and performed in 1596)
In studying this wonderful play, readers make many decisions for themselves. Is it anti-Semitic? Is Bassanio worthy of Portia? Why is Antonio, the protagonist, so reprehensible in many ways to people today?
As with the majority of his other plays, Shakespeare borrowed from sources to create The Merchant of Venice. He interwove them seamlessly, and to some critics, flawlessly, creating a perfect plot. The two Italian short stories he used are "Il Pecorone," the hate story, and "Gesta Romanarum," the love story.
Just as we see and enjoy films with ridiculous and unlikely events, so must we approach The Merchant of Venice with an open mind and eye. A romantic comedy, the play is riddled with events that would not take place in real life. We must willingly accept the suspension of disbelief. In such a play, what should one expect? Romantic carries two meanings: romance for lovers, moonlight and music; but also romance in the other sense of unrealistic, an illusion. It is a comedy. From the introductory lecture you know what that means: no one dies no matter how dire the circumstances. All the lovers marry. And even armed with this knowledge going in, Shakespeare still creates marvelous suspense!
To understand the play, we must first look at the setting. The play is not set in the year it was written. Instead, Shakespeare looks back in time to the beginning of the Renaissance. Venice, a city-state in Italy, was richer than many other countries. It had fallen from this glory by Shakespeare's lifetime.
Venice was a crossroads for Crusaders, a money-lending center of Europe. Only the Jews could loan money for interest since usury is restricted by the New Testament. Thus, Jewish moneylenders were rich and probably notorious for greed, yet by Christian law, usury was the only profession open to Jews, with all others prohibited.
Jews lived apart in the ghetto (the word originates from Italian, gheto, meaning a foundry). They were hated for their isolationism even though this isolation was required by Christian law. Jews wore uniforms even in this time long ago; Hitler did not originate the idea of identifying Jews. They were also hated when bubonic plague swept across Europe, decimating populations. Kosher laws kept Jewish communities relatively cleaner than their Christian neighbors' homes. When the Jewish people did not die in such huge numbers as the Christians, the Christians said that the Jews had caused the plague.
A second setting of the play transports us to Belmont, which contrasts with Venice in its sunny outlooks and musical interludes. It is in Belmont that love blooms.
The characters of the play are relatively straightforward. We should remember the presence of allegory in reading the play, however.
Shylock, the allegory of vengeance, is a Jewish money lender. People associate this play with Shylock although he is not the Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare has given him humanity beyond his allegorical status. Shylock is hated because he is hateful. He is someone who cannot bend for mercy. He insists on the letter of the law; nevertheless, he carries scenes of great sympathy as we watch his treatment at the hands of his Christian neighbors.
Portia, the female protagonist, is the allegory of mercy and a suitable foil to Shylock. She is intelligent and strong, witty and loving. That she falls in love and gives herself in marriage to Bassanio may baffle the women of our era. Bassanio, Portia's suitor, is something of a wastrel, a man with money problems, who will take all of what is Portia's as his own upon marriage. Does he deserve this?
The Merchant of Venice is Antonio, who fits in as the final point of the allegorical triangle. He is the allegory of noble friendship in his willingness to give all he has for his friend, Bassanio. His melancholy temperament and his ill treatment of Shylock make him a rather dark hero.
Other characters in the play include two pairs of lovers. The Christian Lorenzo loves the Jewish Jessica, daughter of Shylock. Jessica is a beautiful girl, one who utters the famous line, "Love is blind." This love affair gives Shylock another reason to hate the Christians. Nerissa, Portia's lady-in-waiting, is suitably quick and warm. Her instantaneous love and marriage to a lout, Gratiano, is simply part of the play.
We come to the question that pervades the play today, causing some to choose not to teach the play at all. Is this play anti-Semitic? Harold Bloom argues yes, by all the standards of Shakespeare's time. I disagree with Bloom as noted below.
The play has a happy ending, an ending we might not agree with, but happy nonetheless. Shakespeare has humanized Shylock, earning our sympathy and understanding. He does not parade Shylock as his contemporaries paraded their Jewish villains, as comic characters with red beards and wigs and red, huge noses.
Christianity is the norm. Shylock is outside the norm. Shakespeare himself knew no practicing Jews, for they had been expelled from England by edict in 1290 under Edward I and did not return until Cromwell's Commonwealth if 1655. Though there were non-practicing Jews in England, Shakespeare had no personal ax to grind with them.
One last note, the motifs. Motifs unify each play. The Merchant of Venice includes motifs of music (who has it is good, who lacks it is bad), good and bad gold, nature and animals. Most important are the motifs of the meaning of justice and vengeance and also the dictum that one must give and hazard all for love. With these in mind, happy reading!
I taught Shakespeare online for several years. This play was one of the students' favorites. This lecture, posted to Amazon by the writer, will be part of my introductory book about Shakespeare, anon.
