The Merchant of Venice .. تاجر البندقية

[~ A7lA DoNiA ~]

Sparknotes
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The Merchant of Venice

Plot Overview

Antonio, a Venetian merchant, complains to his friends of a melancholy that he cannot explain. His friend Bassanio is desperately in need of money to court Portia, a wealthy heiress who lives in the city of Belmont. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan in order to travel in style to Portia’s estate. Antonio agrees, but is unable to make the loan himself because his own money is all invested in a number of trade ships that are still at sea. Antonio suggests that Bassanio secure the loan from one of the city’s moneylenders and name Antonio as the loan’s guarantor. In Belmont, Portia expresses sadness over the terms of her father’s will, which stipulates that she must marry the man who correctly chooses one of three caskets. None of Portia’s current suitors are to her liking, and she and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa, fondly remember a visit paid some time before by Bassanio.
In Venice, Antonio and Bassanio approach Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, for a loan. Shylock nurses a long-standing grudge against Antonio, who has made a habit of berating Shylock and other Jews for their usury, the practice of loaning money at exorbitant rates of interest, and who undermines their business by offering interest-free loans. Although Antonio refuses to apologize for his behavior, Shylock acts agreeably and offers to lend Bassanio three thousand ducats with no interest. Shylock adds, however, that should the loan go unpaid, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s own flesh. Despite Bassanio’s warnings, Antonio agrees. In Shylock’s own household, his servant Lancelot decides to leave Shylock’s service to work for Bassanio, and Shylock’s daughter Jessica schemes to elope with Antonio’s friend Lorenzo. That night, the streets of Venice fill up with revelers, and Jessica escapes with Lorenzo by dressing as his page. After a night of celebration, Bassanio and his friend Graziano leave for Belmont, where Bassanio intends to win Portia’s hand.
In Belmont, Portia welcomes the prince of Morocco, who has come in an attempt to choose the right casket to marry her. The prince studies the inscriptions on the three caskets and chooses the gold one, which proves to be an incorrect choice. In Venice, Shylock is furious to find that his daughter has run away, but rejoices in the fact that Antonio’s ships are rumored to have been wrecked and that he will soon be able to claim his debt. In Belmont, the prince of Aragon also visits Portia. He, too, studies the caskets carefully, but he picks the silver one, which is also incorrect. Bassanio arrives at Portia’s estate, and they declare their love for one another. Despite Portia’s request that he wait before choosing, Bassanio immediately picks the correct casket, which is made of lead. He and Portia rejoice, and Graziano confesses that he has fallen in love with Nerissa. The couples decide on a double wedding. Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a token of love, and makes him swear that under no circumstances will he part with it. They are joined, unexpectedly, by Lorenzo and Jessica. The celebration, however, is cut short by the news that Antonio has indeed lost his ships, and that he has forfeited his bond to Shylock. Bassanio and Graziano immediately travel to Venice to try and save Antonio’s life. After they leave, Portia tells Nerissa that they will go to Venice disguised as men.
Shylock ignores the many pleas to spare Antonio’s life, and a trial is called to decide the matter. The duke of Venice, who presides over the trial, announces that he has sent for a legal expert, who turns out to be Portia disguised as a young man of law. Portia asks Shylock to show mercy, but he remains inflexible and insists the pound of flesh is rightfully his. Bassanio offers Shylock twice the money due him, but Shylock insists on collecting the bond as it is written. Portia examines the contract and, finding it legally binding, declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchant’s flesh. Shylock ecstatically praises her wisdom, but as he is on the verge of collecting his due, Portia reminds him that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed, as the contract does not entitle him to any blood. Trapped by this logic, Shylock hastily agrees to take Bassanio’s money instead, but Portia insists that Shylock take his bond as written, or nothing at all. Portia informs Shylock that he is guilty of conspiring against the life of a Venetian citizen, which means he must turn over half of his property to the state and the other half to Antonio. The duke spares Shylock’s life and takes a fine instead of Shylock’s property. Antonio also forgoes his half of Shylock’s wealth on two conditions: first, Shylock must convert to Christianity, and second, he must will the entirety of his estate to Lorenzo and Jessica upon his death. Shylock agrees and takes his leave.
Bassanio, who does not see through Portia’s disguise, showers the young law clerk with thanks, and is eventually pressured into giving Portia the ring with which he promised never to part. Graziano gives Nerissa, who is disguised as Portia’s clerk, his ring. The two women return to Belmont, where they find Lorenzo and Jessica declaring their love to each other under the moonlight. When Bassanio and Graziano arrive the next day, their wives accuse them of faithlessly giving their rings to other women. Before the deception goes too far, however, Portia reveals that she was, in fact, the law clerk, and both she and Nerissa reconcile with their husbands. Lorenzo and Jessica are pleased to learn of their inheritance from Shylock, and the joyful news arrives that Antonio’s ships have in fact made it back safely. The group celebrates its good fortune.
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[~ A7lA DoNiA ~]

Some Useful Essays
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Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
The question frequently asked after reading The Merchant of Venice is:
is Shylock a victim or a villain? The best way to investigate this
question is to explore the text of the play to find out what
Shakespeare wanted us to believe.

Life for the Jews in the Elizabethan period was often very hard. In
England Jews were viewed with distaste, suspected of a number of
heinous crimes such as child murder. They were also distrusted by
Christians for the rejection of Christ as the Messiah and because they
did not lend money gratis. Many Christians were financially beholden
to the Jews.

Roderigo Lopez was a Jew of Portuguese decent, who fled to England in
1559 where he worked as a physician. His practice grew, and in time he
was appointed physician to the Queen of England. But the Earl of Essex
found what he believed to be evidence that Lopez had accepted a bribe
from the King of Spain to poison Queen Elizabeth. It is true that
Lopez had underhand dealings with Spanish spies, but it is to this day
unproven if Lopez ever intended any harm towards the Queen. However,
he was found guilty and in 1996 he was hung, drawn and quartered for a
crime he probably was never going to commit. The Merchant of Venice
was written two years later in 1596, and the treatment of Shylock is
similar to that of Lopez. Shylock is shunned by the Christians and
treated as an outcast. Possibly, Shakespeare wrote this play as the
Lopez case was fresh in people’s minds, and he knew that a play about
a detested Jew would be of great interest.

In Italy, where The Merchant of Venice is set, the Jews were being
greatly prejudiced against; they were being expelled from the country,
they were made to wear demoralising items such as ‘badges of shame’
and Jewish synagogues were turned into Christian churches. They were
made to wear cloaks, caps or badges which indicated that they were
beneath the Christians, and they were condemned to live in just one
part of the city, the Ghettos, which were often of bad condition. The
only place they were allowed to commune with Christians was on the
Rialto where they could do business. The Rialto is where we first meet
Shylock.

Many people say that Shakespeare drew ambiguous characters, and that
Shylock is neither a victim nor a villain. In fact Shakespeare’s
characters are very fairly created, nobody is entirely evil, none
entirely good, which makes for greater realism. Shakespeare seems to
deliberately try to make it hard for the audience to decide if Shylock
is a victim or a villain, as he does with all the characters. For
example, Antonio appears to be the perfect Christian, but is
un-Christian towards Shylock. Bassanio is more feckless, but he learns
through his mistakes. When Shakespeare first brings Shylock onto the
stage he shows us someone who, at first sight, appears to be a
stereotypical Jewish character: vengeful and grasping. Shylock’s
assertion that Antonio is a ‘good’ man refers not to Antonio’s moral
standing, but to his financial standing, and Shylock later says of
Antonio:

“How like a fawning publican he looks.

I hate him for he is a Christian:

But more, for that in low simplicity

He lends out money gratis, and brings down

The rate of usance here with us in Venice.”



This makes Shylock seem to be an unpleasant character who dislikes
Antonio just because he is a Christian and has different moral views,
but Shakespeare later shows us that Antonio’s treatment of Shylock is
just as bad, for he hates Shylock for exactly the same reason; that he
is of a different religion: ‘…he hath disgrac’d me, and hinder’d me
half a million,” Shylock says of Antonio, “laugh’d at my losses,
mock’d at my gains, scorned my Nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my
friends, heated mine enemies, and what’s his reason? I am a Jew.”
=========================



When Shylock justifies usury by quoting from the Bible, Antonio also
says Shylock is like a devil citing scripture for his own purpose, “An
evil soul producing holy witness…” and “a villain with a smiling
cheek. A goodly apple rotten at the heart’. Shylock reminds Antonio of
the names he has called him in the past: a ‘misbeliever’ a ‘cut-throat
dog’ and ‘all for use of that which is mine own’. In other words
Antonio hates Shylock for loaning him and others money. Shakespeare
makes the injustice which Shylock feels clear later in the speech:
===========================


“What should I say to you? Should I not say,
========================

Hath a dog money? Is it possible


A cur can lend three thousand ducats? or
----------------------------------------

Shall I bend low, and in a bondman’s key

With bated breath, and whisp’ring humbleness

Say this: Fair sir, you spet on me on Wednesday last;

You spurn’d me such a day; another time

You call’d me dog: and for these courtesies

I’ll lend you thus much moneys.”

This speech shows that Shylock feels, rightly so, that Antonio’s
treatment of him is unjust; Antonio treats him very badly, but then
expects him to lend him money.

Another factor which induces sympathy towards Shylock is the scene in
which Shylock talks about the ring his partner Leah gave him, ‘it was
my turkis, I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have
given it for a wilderness of monkeys.’ However, Bassanio the Christian
gives away the ring Portia gave him without too much regret, and this
shows that Shylock is definitely not lacking in emotion or love, and
in comparison shows Bassanio in a poor light.

In the courtroom Bassanio also says to Antonio:

“…life itself, my wife, and all the world,

Are not with me esteem’d above thy life.”

Shylock finds the Christian view on marriage shocking, as he feels
that husbands should give all to their wives, and love them more than
anybody else:

“These be the Christian husbands: I have a daughter,

Would any of the stock of Barrabas

Had been her husband, rather than a Christian.”

This tells us that perhaps Shylock has higher morals than Bassanio,
and indeed though the lead casket stated that Bassanio should ‘give
and hazard all he hath’, Bassanio is putting his friend in front of
his wife which is challenging the vows he has recently made.

One of the most important scenes in The Merchant of Venice is the
court scene, as this reveals a lot about Shylock and the other key
characters. The overwhelming feeling is that Shylock wants justice. He
lives in a community of Christians, who shun him at every opportunity
and treat him like a dog. Maybe Shylock does act villainously and
inhumanely by demanding a pound of flesh, but that could be because
he’s been victimised for so many years. Shylock wants justice for
justice sake, even though he knows all he will ever gain is his moral
victory: “…if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge…”.
There seems to be great bitterness in this speech, as is
understandable; Bassanio might say that Antonio is the best of men,
but although Antonio treats Bassanio with kindness and friendship, he
treats Shylock quite the opposite. Shylock goes on to say:

“The pound of flesh which I demand of him

Is dearly bought, ‘tis mine, and I will have it.

If you deny me: fie upon your Law

There is no force in the decrees of Venice;

I stand for judgement, answer. Shall I have it?”

So Shylock is after justice, a justice which has been denied him and
his kind for a long time.



When Portia enters the court disguised as Balthasar, one of the first
things she says is, “Which is the Merchant here? and which is the
Jew?” Shakespeare has put that comment in for a reason; he might be
saying that neither is better than the other, and in the laws of
equality they are both the same.
====================

During the court scene Portia makes an important speech:

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d…

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes,

‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest…

It is an attribute to God himself…”

At face value, Portia is saying that Shylock should be merciful
towards Antonio, and release him from the bond, but Shakespeare is
also trying to put across a message that all mankind should be
merciful and accept mercy, and that nobody is entirely good or evil
but a combination of both.

In conclusion I feel that Shylock is more a victim than a villain,
although he does have a lot of unpleasant qualities. However, he seems
to be emotional and has a strong sense of morality, as is shown when
he talks about Leah and his views on marriage. The audience feels
sympathy for Shylock because it appears everybody is against him, even
his own daughter. Nothing seems to go right for him. In Shylock,
Shakespeare has created a character who is a villain in appearance but
a victim at heart.

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[عزيزي الزائر يتوجب عليك التسجيل للمشاهدة الرابطللتسجيل اضغط هنا]]] >

[~ A7lA DoNiA ~]

Injustice in The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is horrid, cruel, and one of the most popular plays of Shakespeare. After a close reading of the play, I find it impossible to think of Shylock negatively; he is just better quality stuff than any of the Christians in the play. The Christians are truly vile, heartless, money-grabbing monsters, and when Shylock makes his final exit, destroyed by defeat, one should sense that our Christian brothers are at last completely ashamed of themselves.



I was hesitant to have anything to do with The Merchant of Venice after I first read it; all possible intrigue had dissolved as I read passages such as the following:



"He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed

at my losses, mocked my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my

bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies, and what's his

reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,

organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? ...If you prick

us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you

poison us, do we not die?" (III.1.49-55, 58-60)



This passage tears at my very soul!!! This play was to me a biting farce written to satisfy a bloody crowd.



While researching for this paper, I found two seemingly opposing facts about The Merchant of Venice - the Shakespearean play which have sparked the most controversy. This play is the most controversial and the most studied play in Israel. It is difficult to understand how this play could be beloved by the very people who are struck down. Apparently there are various readings of The Merchant of Venice which I had not considered.



Perhaps the play is neither pro-Jewish, nor pro-Christian. Sure, Shylock is painted as a money-hungry Jew throughout the Merchant,



"My daughter, O my ducats!

My ducats, O my daughter!"



Shylock is enraged his daughter has eloped with a Christian, but perhaps he is more concerned with the fate of his money.



Antonio, a Christian, has borrowed money from Shylock and refuses to pay it back. Here the reader may find a Jew-hating man who publicly spits on Shylock, and suffers from the grief of an unfullfilled homo-erotic relationship. Plainly, it can be seen that the Christians in this play are far from holy or perfect.


The illustrations which show neither the Jew nor the Christian to be perfect are countless. I feel better reading the play now that I have the option to view Shakespeare as a man of his time who was able to step away from the prejudices of the world in which he lived, and present injustice as he saw it.

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[عزيزي الزائر يتوجب عليك التسجيل للمشاهدة الرابطللتسجيل اضغط هنا]]] >