A comedy about bigotry?
Comedies end in weddings, and, true, The Merchant of Venice closes with three happy couples. But is Shakespeare’s play a comedy? Shylock, a moneylender from Venice’s Jewish ghetto, makes a loan, interest-free, to an upper-class Christian merchant. When the deal goes bad, years of discrimination surface as Shylock makes a harsh demand for repayment. If this is comedy, it is a fearless, ironic one in which, amidst comic moments, the quality of mercy is cross-examined and complex issues of difference are unmasked.
Age Recommendation: The play ends happily for some, unhappily for others, and grapples with many more types of alienation and "otherness" than many people realize. It is suitable for well-prepared 10-year-olds and up who are able to handle these complex themes. Please view our full age recommendation here.
Run Time: 3 hours and 1 minute and includes one 15 minute intermission.
e-Luminations: Is
Merchant Anti-Semitic?
Click here to read an excerpt from
Illuminations, OSF's 64-page guide to the plays.
Synopsis:
Bassanio, a cheerily profligate young Venetian, has dug himself into debt. Eager to mend his fortunes, he resolves to win an heiress for his wife: the “richly left” Portia of Belmont. He asks his merchant friend, Antonio, for a loan to subsidize the courtship.
Antonio’s assets are tied up at sea, but for Bassanio’s sake he swallows his hatred of usury (and of Jews) to borrow the sum from a moneylender. Shylock offers the loan interest-free—surprisingly, as Antonio has often baited and humiliated him. He sets one condition: If Antonio cannot repay the debt within three months, he must forfeit a pound of his flesh. Antonio consents, sure of his ships’ quick return.
In Belmont, an unhappy Portia faces a flock of would-be husbands. She laments the terms of her late father’s will, which tie Portia’s fate to a guessing-game. Each suitor must pick from among three caskets. The one who chooses the casket containing her portrait may marry her; the rest must stay single forever.
To Portia’s delight, Bassanio chooses correctly. The two quickly marry, as do his friend, Gratiano, and her gentlewoman, Nerissa. But there is bad news from Venice: Antonio’s ships have been lost. He cannot repay the loan, and a fearful Bassanio sets off for home. Portia decides to follow in disguise and do what she can for his friend.
Indeed, Antonio’s fortunes look bleak. Shylock’s daughter, Jessica, has eloped with Bassanio’s Christian friend, Lorenzo, taking much of Shylock’s wealth with her. Shylock will have what vengeance he can; he takes Antonio to court to claim his due.
Posing as a lawyer, with Nerissa disguised as her clerk, Portia affirms that the law is on Shylock’s side. She appeals to a higher quality—mercy—but Shylock will not listen. Rebuffed, Portia turns the tables on him. Shylock may take his pound of flesh, but he cannot shed a single drop of blood. Portia then states that since Shylock is an “alien” (Jews were not citizens), he can be executed for plotting a Venetian’s death. The court spares Shylock’s life, but gives half his wealth to Antonio, to be held in trust for Lorenzo. In a final blow, Shylock is ordered to convert to Christianity. He leaves the court shaken and ill.
Still disguised, Portia asks Bassanio for a ring she had given him—one he’d sworn he would never remove. Bassanio finally relents. Gratiano, too, gives in to Nerissa's similar request. Back in Belmont, the two wives accuse their husbands of giving the rings to other women. At last, Portia reveals their deception. The lovers are reunited, and as the play closes, Antonio learns his ships have come safely home.