Merchant Essay

In lieu of a wiki (collaborative essay) here is a too vague and grossly informal essay that you can cut and paste into word and write properly. You'll see the topic earlier in the blog.

True and False Values

The main idea in the play is true values versus false values. This is the central idea to a big, big extent. If you look at the three plots, pound of flesh, casket and ring they're all about this, aren't they?

The flesh plot is about Shylock - stubborn old beggar - forgetting everything except his revenge. He thinks money and the letter of the law is more important than being nice to people and the spirit the law was intended in. After all, the law is meant to stop murder, not make it OK. He keeps running around saying "I will have my bond" about a million times. When he's asked if a surgeon should stand by while he cuts out the flesh, he keeps saying, "Is it so nominated in the bond?" I mean, he's just completely lost touch, eh? He thinks he's sworn an "oath to heaven" whatever the hell that means, to keep to that bloody bond but can't he see that Portia's testing him? His last chance to show some goddamm mercy? It's kind of poetic justice that Portia gets him on a legal technicality, eh? She played him at his own game. She says that he can take the flesh but if he "spills one drop of Christian blood", they'll have his guts for garters. I reckon that Shylock had every reason to get back those Christians - good on him I say. I mean, what's so damn special about their blood? BUT, I also reckon that Shylock's got it all wrong. He's got his values all mixed up. Underneath his anger I reckon he loved his daughter more than money even though the Sallies said he cried "O my daughter, oh my ducats!" But he was so bitter about his identity as a Jew being denied and his daughter letting him down that he focussed on surface things like the legal bond and forgot his humanity which, let's face it, is the true value.

Now we come to the second plot which is all about these caskets - Portia's dad's test of her boyfriends' true values. They're gold, silver and lead. The man who chooses the right casket will find Portia's picture in there and will be allowed to marry her. Morocco - he chooses gold cos it is sure to be the only one worthy of Portia and Aragon, he doesn't want gold cos "many men desire" it and he doesn't want to be like the "common multitudes" - he's arrogant - geddit? Anyway, when Morocco opens the gold chest he learns that "all that glister is not gold" - it isn't good to assume that good things come in flash packages - that's a false value. Of course, Bassanio, after a long flowery speech, chooses the leaden casket because he reckons gold is misleading - he actually says "Thou gaudy gold, hard food for Midas, I'll none of thee" (or something like that - why doesn't he speak proper English?) It's quite funny that Bassanio says "the world is still deceived by ornament" because he wooed Portia partly to get out of debt. I also like the way Shylock referred to "his borrowed purse" - he borrowed money to boy flash stuff to woo Portia and now he's saying that money's bad. What the ..? On the other hand, I guess Shakespeare was showing the upper classes and Bassanio is a spokesperson for noble Christian values. Phew! At least he does a good job of showing us true and false values:)

But wait there's more! There's this little funny ring plot at the end where Portia and Nerissa test their guys' love for them. When they are dressed up as a lawyer and her clerk (long story) they save Antonio from that flesh thing and when Bass and Grat offer to reward them they beg for their brand new wedding rings (lol) - just like the flesh plot they take it right up to the wire pretending to be upset about their lost rings and saying "that doctor will be my bedfellow". I reckon this is testing their values. Now they are married they owe their wives a bit more loyalty than their boyfriend Antonio - I mean, come on! But old Portia, you have to hand it to her. She doesn't really go for broke like Shylock, she is teasing her hubby lovingly and forgives him gently. The true value is mercy and love: the false value is hate and revenge.

I don't know how you can argue that true and false values are not the central idea. The opposition of these two things is so basic that a heck of a lot of the other themes cluster around them. I think I'll let the clever rich chick have the last say. "The squalid tea of Mercer is not strained."

Bassanio's character

He is the romantic lead. His wooing of Portia is the springboard of the action. Antonio's love for Bassanio is the trigger for the conflict over the bond. In some ways he is more of a protagonist that Antonio.

On a certain symbolic level he represents the prodigal son whose loving father forgives him and kills the fatted calf to welcome him home as occurred in the New Testament of the Bible (a story told by Jesus to illustrate forgiveness).

Bassanio represents the Renaissance man, as is usual for the heroes of the plays: Hamlet, Romeo etc. A Renaissance man had it all. He was handsome, gallant and strong, a skilled sword-fighter and brave soldier. He was intelligent, well-educated in many fields and adept at writing poetry. (The link in this paragraph will take you to a description of the ultimate renaissance man, Sir Walter Raleigh)

On the negative side Bassanio has spent all his money and seeks the hand of Portia partly to regain the riches ("In Belmont is a lady richly left") that are his due as a Venetian gentleman. Of course he loves her too! ("And she is fair, fairer than that word/Of wondrous virtues")

Shylock talks scathingly of Bassanio's extravagance and gladly parts with Launcelot Gobbo who he says will "help to waste his borrowed purse."

However, Bassanio has his virtues and is a spokesman for good in the main. Antonio says he is a man of honour when he lends him the money.

He chooses the leaden casket because he realises that the "outer surface" is misleading. He says "The world is still deceived by ornament"

He represents loyalty too and is quick to spring to Antonio's defense when the latter is to be trialled as a debtor. His bond with his friend is so strong that he vows that he would sacrifice all, even his new wife to help his friend.

It is because of this that Portia plays the ring trick on him. Bassanio is very endearing as he protests his innocence.

Bassanio et al

Today we looked at Antonio and Portia and their roles in the play: tomorrow Bassanio and Gratiano and a quick look at minor characters.

Characters are not just people. They are used in the play to represent different forces and opposing ideas. Think of them as threads in the tapestry of the play or notes or lines of melody in the symphony of its story. (After all, as real people, the play's characters are a little contradictory - if that's the right word.)

First, some fabulous links. Wikipedia has a most interesting entry on the play. Media students, you will finally understand "readings" when you look at it. It contains some very strong interpretations so you have to take it with a pinch of salt. It also contains info about characters.

Here is a link to OpenSource Shakespeare in which you can search for all the lines said by Bassanio etc

Relevance of MOV to present day

1. The conflict between justice and mercy is always relevant in a civilised society.The concern with the letter and the spirit of the law shown in The Merchant of Venice is not peculiar to Shakespeare's time. In a recent case a mother of three fell asleep at the wheel causing the death of three of her children. The distraught woman was severely injured herself but was prosecuted. Most people saw this as unmerciful. Had she not suffered enough? Why did police have to keep to the letter of the law?
2. Anti-semitism is alive and well today. Every now and then there is a spate of defiling Jewish graves and synagogues here in NZ. The Nazi-driven Holocaust of the 1940s is still very recent. MOV provides a surprisingly fresh and vivid look at this issue.
3. Racism and prejudice itself is ever present. There is always an in-group in society - usually white men (sorry guys). In America they used to be called WASPs = white anglo-saxon protestants - even Catholics are somewhat on the edge! Anyone not in this group is often treated as the "Other". The "Other" is a sociological term for social groups which are dehumanised because they are different. Shylock's plea for identity as an equal human being has huge resonance in the world today: "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" etc

What will be in the external exams for Shakespeare?

Shakespeare exams are based on the set plays. For The Merchant of Venice like the other plays, there will be one extract question and one general question. You choose ONE and write the normal 600 word essay. For the extract question, you need to learn a slightly different skill, in that you have to see the extract as a microcosm of the play and refer to it as well as the rest of the work. Below is the question from 2006 - I will post previous years as time goes by.

QUESTION FOUR: THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

Either: Option 5(a)

Use the two following passages as the starting point for a discussion of the moral issues raised by the play. Your discussion should involve comparison of the passages AND some consideration of the play as a whole.

ACT ONE, SCENE THREE SHYLOCK Signor Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you have rated me About my moneys and my usances. Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, For suff’rance is the badge of all our tribe. You call me misbeliever, cut-throat, dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine own. Well then, it now appears you need my help. Go to, then. You come to me, and you say ‘Shylock, we would have moneys’— you say so, You, that did void your rheum on my beard, And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold. Moneys is your suit. What should I say to you? Should I not say ‘Hath a dog money? Is it possible A cur can lend three thousand ducats?’ Or Shall I bend low, and in a bondsman’s key, With bated breath and whisp’ring humbleness Say this: ‘Fair sir, you spat on me on Wednesday last; You spurned me such a day; another time You called me dog; and for these courtesies I’ll lend you thus much moneys’?

ACT THREE, SCENE THREE ANTONIO Hear me yet, good Shylock. SHYLOCK I’ll have my bond. Speak not against my bond. I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond. Thou called’st me dog before thou had’st a cause, But since I am a dog, beware my fangs The Duke shall grant me justice. I do wonder, Thou naughty jailer, that thou art so fond To come abroad with him at his request. ANTONIO I pray thee hear me speak. SHYLOCK I’ll have my bond. I will not hear thee speak. I’ll have my bond, and therefore speak no more. I’ll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield To Christian intercessors. Follow not. I’ll have no speaking. I will have my bond. Exit SOLANIO It is the most impenetrable cur That ever kept with men. ANTONIO Let him alone. I’ll follow him no more with bootless prayers. He seeks my life.

Or: Option 5(b)

Using detailed supporting evidence, discuss the extent to which ONE of the following is a central theme or motif in the play:

Hate, Love and Marriage, True and False Values

Head your answer with your chosen theme or motif.