The Merchant of Venice
Although Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is considered a comedy, cruelty runs rampant throughout the entire text of the play. Most of the characters exhibit some form of cruel behavior toward one another, including Lancelot who is cruel to his father Gobbio when he runs into him on the street. He engages the old man in belittling word play because his father has very poor eyesight and cannot tell that he is actually speaking to his own son. Everyone is cruel to Shylock; in fact, he is viewed as the outsider and often referred to as the devil. Shylock is the Jewish moneylender who makes a huge profit by lending money with exorbitant interest rates to the Christian population of Venice. I will not touch on the theme of racism and prejudice in the play, but it is common knowledge that Jews were not seen in a positive light in Elizabethan England at the time when Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice. Shylock hates the merchant Antonio in particular, for Antonio lends money to his fellow Christians without charging any interest on the loans, thus he takes away from Shylock's livelihood. I am going to center my discussion of the theme of cruelty to two of the characters in the play-Shylock and Portia. Although both c
It seems that Portia is lucky in this "lottery" however. Bassanio chooses correctly from the three caskets and is to marry Portia, and she is happy with the circumstance. This is when the couple learns of Bassanio's friend Antonio's plight. Antonio had borrowed money on behalf of Bassanio, promising to pay it back when his ships came into port with their cargoes. It seems that Antonio's ships were shipwrecked, and he cannot pay back the bond held by the lender, Shylock. Shylock is very adamant about receiving his payment from the doomed Antonio, which calls for a "pound of flesh", and therefore death, if the bond is forfeited. As I stated earlier, Shylock possesses a hatred for Antonio fueled by the fact that Antonio lends money without charging interest. "I hate him for he is a Christian, but more for that in low simplicity he lends out money in gratis and brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice. If I catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him" (Act 1, Scene 3, line 41). Portia tells her newly wedded husband to rush off to the aid if his friend, Antonio, before the marriage is consummated. It seems that Portia has a plan to disguise herself as a young lawyer and she will also go to help Antonio herself. When Shylock enters the Venetian court to ask for justice, the Duke reproaches him when he addresses Antonio-"I am sorry for thee. Thou art come to answer a stony adversary, an inhuman wretch. Uncapable of pity, void and empty from any dram of mercy" (Act IV, Scene 1, line 3). A little further in the scene the Duke further reproaches Shylock with "Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, that thou but leadest this fashion of thy malice to the last hour of act, and then, 'tis thought, Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse more strange than is thy strange apparent cruelty; and where thou now exacts the penalty, which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh...We all expect a gentle answer, Jew" (Act IV, Scene 1, line 18). Portia further condemns Shylock when she is disguised as Balthazar, a young lawyer dispatched by the learned Bellario. She opines that Shylock should be merciful to Antonio becau
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Approximate Word count = 1466
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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