Merchant of Venice, The, is a five-act play by the English dramatist William Shakespeare. It belongs to the second period of his artistic development. He wrote it between 1596 and 1598, and it was first published in 1600.
The Merchant of Venice is a comedy based mainly on a story from Il Pecorone (The Ram, 1558), a collection of tales by the Italian author Giovanni Fiorentino. Shakespeare also used material from Zelauto (1580), a long prose romance by the English writer Anthony Munday, and the Gesta Romanorum, a collection of fictitious stories in Latin that was first assembled in the 1200’s but was still popular in Shakespeare’s time.
The Merchant of Venice is set in the maritime republic of Venice, Italy. It nominally concerns the affairs of Antonio, the merchant of the title, but for many readers and audiences the central character, who carries most of the dramatic interest, is Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. Shylock’s attempt to obtain redress for a wrong and his victimization by the other characters form the serious elements in a play that is otherwise categorized as a romantic comedy.
The play opens with Antonio’s friend Bassanio asking to borrow some money so that he can woo the beautiful and gifted heiress Portia in a proper manner. In order to help Bassanio, Antonio himself has to borrow the money from Shylock, a man whom he has often attacked. In negotiating the loan with Shylock, Antonio agrees that if he fails to pay back the loan in three months, Shylock will claim a pound of his flesh. The three months pass, and Shylock demands his money. But Antonio, whose cargo ships are overdue, cannot repay him. Shylock then demands the pound of flesh.
Meanwhile, Bassanio, funded by Antonio, courts Portia. According to her father’s will, she is to marry only that suitor who correctly selects a casket that contains her portrait. There are three caskets to choose from: one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead. Bassanio chooses correctly, by selecting the lead casket, and thus wins and marries Portia.
News now comes that Shylock is going to court to demand his pound of Antonio’s flesh. Portia, disguised as a learned lawyer, appears at the court and asks Shylock to reconsider his demand. In a famous speech that begins, “The quality of mercy is not strained,” she attempts to move the implacable Shylock but fails. Shylock remains firm. Portia then warns him that he may take Antonio’s flesh but not his blood. If Shylock spills any blood in taking the flesh, he will lose both his property and his life. Shylock drops his demand, and Antonio is saved. Shylock is punished for seeking the death of a Venetian citizen, but his life is spared. Antonio, who has been awarded half of Shylock’s property, lets him keep it on various conditions, one of which is that he must accept the Christian faith. Shylock accepts the terms and leaves, a broken man. The play ends with general rejoicing and news that Antonio’s ships have safely arrived home.
In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare combined comic intrigue with a vivid portrait of hatred and greed. Although the play ends happily for everyone except the revengeful Shylock, it is not a light-hearted comedy. In Shakespeare’s time, both the church and the state considered moneylending at high interest a crime. Shylock was thus a natural object of scorn. On the surface, Shakespeare’s view of him reflected the attitudes of the day. But the dramatist treated the moneylender as a very human and even sympathetic person. For example, Shakespeare provided Shylock with an eloquent statement of how it feels to be part of a harshly treated minority: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”
