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    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"
    Ebook56 pages47 minutes

    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Shakespeare for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Shakespeare for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 20, 2016
    ISBN9781535838351
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"

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      A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" - Gale

      1

      The Merchant of Venice

      William Shakespeare

      1596

      Introduction

      The Merchant of Venice (c. 1596–1597) ranks with Hamlet as one of William Shakespeare's most frequently performed dramas. It is a puzzling play. Many critics debate if the play is anti-Semitic in and of itself or if it is a play about anti-Semitism. There are several lines in the play that are hard to listen to because of the hatred, the Christian and Jewish mistrust and dislike of one another, that is portrayed on both sides of the issue. The plot line, as well as the complexity of some of the major characters, draws producers and audiences alike to this drama. Rather than creating stock characters that are easily mocked, Shakespeare has positioned his characters so that empathy is aroused. His characters have flaws; but that is what makes them human.

      Although Antonio, the Christian shipping merchant whose flesh is at stake in this drama, is often referred to as the title character of the play, it is Shylock, the Jewish moneylender who is the source of much of the critical discussion. Some of Shylock's speeches point out the same prejudices that were alive in Elizabethan times and are still alive today in any culture that creates stereotypes of a particular race or religion and then establishes laws that discriminate against them. This is one of the elements that makes this play not only controversial but timeless.

      The date that Shakespeare wrote this play is not certain. Scholars generally try to place it somewhere between 1596 and 1597, after Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet, but before he wrote Hamlet.

      This play is said to have been based, in part, on Il PecoTone (1378), a collection of tales and anecdotes by the fourteenth-century Italian writer Giovanni Fiorentino. One of the stories in this Italian collection focuses on a rich heiress who is living at Belmont. She marries a man who has a friend who owes money to a Jewish man, who demands a pound of flesh in payment. The young woman saves the day in court. The plot is the backbone of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. There is another story contained in this play, that of a riddle that suitors of the beautiful heiress Portia must solve in order to win her hand. This part of the play might have come from another collection of fairy-tale type stories—a book, whose author is unknown, called Gesta Romanorum. The English translation of this book was very popular in Shakespeare's England. Another possible influence might have come from one of Shakespeare's contemporaries, the popular play The Jew of Malta (1589) by Christopher Marlowe. Critics are quick to point out, however, that Marlowe's Jewish character was more ruthless and much less human than Shakespeare's Shylock.

      In spite of the controversies caused by The Merchant of Venice, it continues to fascinate its audiences. The characters are complex, leading to several interpretations of their personalities and actions. The play is harsh but fascinating, exposing some of humanity's greatest shortcomings.

      Plot Summary

      Act 1, Scene 1

      The first act of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice opens in Venice. Antonio, a merchant who owns several cargo ships, is talking about a sadness that he feels but cannot explain. Bassanio, a dear friend of Antonio's, arrives; they greet one another, and shortly afterward, Bassanio asks Antonio if he can borrow some money. Bassanio has devised a plan, he says, by which he can pay back all his debts. There is a beautiful woman in Belmont, Bassanio tells Antonio, whose father was a king. The father has died, leaving all his wealth to his daughter, Portia. Suitors, wishing to become Portia's wife, are lining up at her door, hoping to win her hand. However, they first must guess a riddle that Portia's father has devised. Bassanio needs

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