The Merchant Of Venice Essay Research Paper

The Merchant Of Venice Essay, Research Paper

The play, ^The Merchant of Venice^ by William Shakespeare has two main

settings. One setting is Venice, a city where many businessmen live, a

place full of unhappy and unkind people. It a world of commercial and

law. Venice has been portraited by Shakespeare as the ^real^ world.

The other setting is Belmont, a city which houses a rich, happy and

sophisticated society of beautiful people. Belmont is a fairy-tale

world of music and love. In this play it is evident that, good things

occur in Belmont and not so pleasant events take place in Venice.

In the very first line of the play, Antonio, a rich merchant of Venice

is moved to complain: ^In sooth, I know not why I am so sad^ (I.1),

this shows that money and wealth has not brought happiness to this

man. Shylock, a wealthy businessman who lives in Venice is not happy

because he is an outsider and he is treated badly because of his Jewish

religion. ^I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes. Hath not a Jew hands,

organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions.^ (III.1) All his

money could not buy him the happiness he wanted. Shylock^s daughter

Jessica, in her opening lines, exclaims that ^Our house is hell.^

(II.3) This is a woman who belongs to the privileged leisure class of

Venice but still she is not happy, even with all that money she

possessed. This rich society of Venice is pathetically dependant on

money for support and satisfaction but it still does not bring them to

happiness.

Belmont consists of a more happier society. The young people there

play tricks on each other, wittiness and humour is part of their daily

life style in Belmont. Portia, a beautiful, rich young woman who lives

in Belmont enjoy playing light-hearted tricks on others for amusement,

and everybody has a good laugh at the end. She plays a trick on her

own husband, Bassanio, by dressing up as a lawyer and taking away the

ring she herself gave him when they got married. She had made him

promise that he would never take it off, loose it or give it away.

Afterwards when Portia asks Bassanio of the ring, he has to confess

that he gave it away to a lawyer as a reward for saving his best friend

from an important court case. Then she pretends to be very hurt and

offended by his lack of love, faith and honour towards her by saying:

^If you had known the virtues of the ring, or half her worthiness that

gave the ring, or your own honour to contain the ring, you would have

not parted with! the ring.^ (V.1) But then laughingly she reveals the

truth as to who the lawyer really was. All the people present at the

scene were amused and they all enjoyed the light-hearted trick played

on Bassaio by his own wife. Evidently people are happier in Belmont.

As shown in the play Venetians are unkind people. ^….. you spit on

me on Wednesday last; you spurn^d me such a day; another time you

call^d me dog^ (I.3) says Shylock the Jewish businessman addressing

Antonio, a Christian Venitian who has been so cruel to him simply

because he^s a Jew.

Also the people in Venice mock and laugh at Shylock when his daughter

eloped with his money to marry a Christian. Salarino and Salanio make

fun of him by saying ^….. the dog Jew did utter in the streets: ^My

daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my

Christian ducats! Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter! …..^

all the boys in Venice follow him, crying, his stones, his daughter and

his ducats^ (II.8) They had no sympathy towards the man who has just

lost his only family and his precious money. Maybe he is greedy, but

it was still his money and one would expect people to feel sorry for

him but they were even more cruel to him by laughing at his losses.

Even though one should feel sorry for Shylock, he himself is a very

cruel and vindictive man. He hates Antonio and all Christians and when

he got the opportunity to take revenge he was more than prepared to do

so. He and Antonio had a bond which stated that if Antonio was not

able to pay off the debt of three thousand ducats he borrowed from

Shylock within three months, he would have to pay the debt by letting

Shylock cut a pound of flesh from his body close to the heart. When

Antonio^s ships were lost and he was not able to pay off the debt

Shylock rejoiced in his lose. ^….. other men have ill luck too:

Antonio, as I heard in Genoa, …..hath an argosy cast away, coming

from Tripolis^ (III.1) said Tubal, a friend of Shylock^s informing him

about Antonio^s misfortune. Shylock rejoices saying ^I thank God, I

thank God….. I thank thee good Tubal: good news, good news! ha, ha!

….. I^m am very glad of it: I^ll plague him; I^ll torture him: I^m

glad of it^ (III.1) This ! shows that he was a horrible man. Later

when he was offered the money, he refuses saying

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