PLOT

Initial Situation Antonio loves Bassanio, and Portia's father has set up the game of the caskets. Everything is in a relatively uncomfortable place to begin with. In Venice, Antonio is sad, likely because he knows he's losing Bassanio to Portia. Portia, meanwhile, is not in her natural state either. Her father has died, and her biggest problem is this awful lottery he's set up, rendering her unable to choose her own husband. Conflict Bassanio is poor and needs Antonio to help him woo Portia. Antonio can only turn to Shylock, who is Jewish and thus hated. Antonio has to sign away a pound of his flesh as a guarantee on Bassanio's loan. Bassanio finally gets a go at Portia, but he's got to pick the right casket. Everyone has at least one conflict here. Antonio knows he's losing Bassanio, but he'll still do anything in his power to make Bassanio happy. He asks for money from Shylock, but Shylock explains the twisted past the two have together, full of hatred and mutual religious animosity. Shylock is willing to lend Bassanio the money on the weird condition that Antonio sign away a pound of his flesh. Bassanio senses this is a bad idea, but Antonio is pretty sure it will all work out. As he's already confessed he is meant to play a sad part, we're sure something will go awry here. Bassanio, at Portia's house, is faced with the fact that he must pick the right casket or never see her again. Tortured by this uncertainty, Bassanio insists on playing the casket game as soon as possible. Complication Antonio's not good for the money and is going to be killed. Jessica has run away. Portia has to postpone marital bliss to save Antonio. And Shylock seems hell-bent on having Antonio's flesh instead of his money back. No sooner than Bassanio wins Portia, a letter arrives announcing Antonio's sad fate: his ventures have failed and Shylock wants his flesh. Shylock seems to be more enraged than ever, and the fact that Jessica ran away with his money adds to the anger he seems to take out on Antonio. Shylock seems perversely committed to having Antonio's hide, not the money, and Antonio is resigned to his fate. He asks only that Bassanio come and see him before he dies (which complicates Bassanio's good luck he has to immediately leave his new bride to see his old friend). As Portia is insistent on having everything turn out her way, she sets out after the men with Nerissa in disguise to see what they can do about Antonio's case. Not only is the case complicated, but this further confusion of the cross-dressed women is sure to add some drama. Climax The trial: many are tested, few will win.

The play builds to the point where Antonio is practically shirtless in anticipation of the knife. Need we say more? Suspense Shylock is put out in the street. Bassanio and Graziano break faith by giving away their rings, and the women rush home. The Christians of Shakespeare's time would have seen Shylock's ending as a cliffhanger. Sure, he's been ruined, but will he find salvation in his new religion (Christianity)? Meanwhile, Graziano has stopped Portia on the street and handed over Bassanio's ring. Nerissa wrings Graziano's ring out of him too. The women have just done a great (if secret) service to the men by saving Antonio, and they can rightfully expect the men's gratitude and loyalty in return. Instead, the men give up their rings to the seemingly random doctor and clerk. This shows that they put their friendship and their own affairs above their wives, and they might be faithless in marriage after all. We've yet to see how the ring situation will pan out and whether the women will forgive their men for breaking their promises and offering up their lives to save their friend. The last task is for the women to get home before their husbands and remind everyone to keep their absence a secret so they can further toy with the ignorant minds of their menfolk. Denouement Everyone gets home to Belmont and seems happy enough. The couples squabble but reconcile. Antonio is sorry to have caused so much trouble. There's a merry greeting at Belmont, and everything seems to be winding down until Graziano and Nerissa get in a squabble over the ring issue. Portia lets on that she won't let this get out of hand, which keeps us nicely calm and denouement-y as she eggs Bassanio on to admit that he too has given away his ring. As Portia is rather lighthearted about the whole affair (she promises to sleep with the doctor, which we know is impossible), we get the hint that the whole thing might not end too badly. Most important, this squabble gets Antonio to finally apologize, as he's been at the root of this particular trouble (and arguably would have been a pain through Bassanio's whole marriage). When he comes around to Portia's side by pledging Bassanio's faithfulness to her, we know everything will be OK. Conclusion Portia reveals everything. Antonio is rich again. Portia finally reveals the whole gig by presenting letters that explain how she was Balthazar and Nerissa his clerk. She accepts Antonio's apology and goes even further, ensuring that, even if he's lost his friend, he's got his money back. (This is where she delivers the news of his ships' success.) The whole play ends in relative harmony and all the marriages are consummated (though Antonio and Shylock are left in the proverbial cold).

THEMES
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Self-Interest Versus Love On the surface, the main difference between the Christian characters and Shylock appears to be that the Christian characters value human relationships over business ones, whereas Shylock is only interested in money. The Christian characters certainly view the matter this way. Merchants like Antonio lend money free of interest and put themselves at risk for those they love, whereas Shylock agonizes over the loss of his money and is reported to run through the streets crying, O, my ducats! O, my daughter! (II.viii.15). With these words, he apparently values his money at least as much as his daughter, suggesting that his greed outweighs his love. However, upon closer inspection, this supposed difference between Christian and Jew breaks down. When we see Shylock in Act III, scene i, he seems more hurt by the fact that his daughter sold a ring that was given to him by his dead wife before they were married than he is by the loss of the rings monetary value. Some human relationships do indeed matter to Shylock more than money. Moreover, his insistence that he have a pound of flesh rather than any amount of money shows that his resentment is much stronger than his greed. Just as Shylocks character seems hard to pin down, the Christian characters also present an inconsistent picture. Though Portia and Bassanio come to love one another, Bassanio seeks her hand in the first place because he is monstrously in debt and needs her money. Bassanio even asks Antonio to look at the money he lends Bassanio as an investment, though Antonio insists that he lends him the money solely out of love. In other words, Bassanio is anxious to view his relationship with Antonio as a matter of business rather than of love. Finally, Shylock eloquently argues that Jews are human beings just as Christians are, but Christians such as Antonio hate Jews simply because they are Jews. Thus, while the Christian characters may talk more about mercy, love, and charity, they are not always consistent in how they display these qualities. The Divine Quality of Mercy The conflict between Shylock and the Christian characters comes to a head over the issue of mercy. The other characters acknowledge that the law is on Shylocks side, but they all expect him to show mercy, which he refuses to do. When, during the trial, Shylock asks Portia what could possibly compel him to be merciful, Portias long reply, beginning with the words, The quality of mercy is not strained, clarifies what is at stake in the argument (IV.i.179 ). Human beings should be merciful because God is merciful: mercy is an attribute of God himself and therefore greater than power, majesty, or law. Portias understanding of mercy is based on the way Christians in Shakespeares time understood the difference between the Old and New Testaments. According to the writings of St. Paul in the New Testament, the Old Testament depicts God as requiring strict adherence to rules and exacting harsh punishments for those who stray. The New Testament, in contrast, emphasizes adherence to the spirit rather than the letter of the law, portraying a God who forgives rather than punishes and offers salvation to those followers who forgive others. Thus, when Portia warns Shylock against pursuing the law without regard for mercy, she is promoting what Elizabethan Christians would have seen as a proChristian, anti-Jewish agenda.

The strictures of Renaissance drama demanded that Shylock be a villain, and, as such, patently unable to show even a drop of compassion for his enemy. A sixteenth-century audience would not expect Shylock to exercise mercytherefore, it is up to the Christians to do so. Once she has turned Shylocks greatest weaponthe lawagainst him, Portia has the opportunity to give freely of the mercy for which she so beautifully advocates. Instead, she backs Shylock into a corner, where she strips him of his bond, his estate, and his dignity, forcing him to kneel and beg for mercy. Given that Antonio decides not to seize Shylocks goods as punishment for conspiring against him, we might consider Antonio to be merciful. But we may also question whether it is merciful to return to Shylock half of his goods, only to take away his religion and his profession. By forcing Shylock to convert, Antonio disables him from practicing usury, which, according to Shylocks reports, was Antonios primary reason for berating and spitting on him in public. Antonios compassion, then, seems to stem as much from self-interest as from concern for his fellow man. Mercy, as delivered in The Merchant of Venice, never manages to be as sweet, selfless, or full of grace as Portia presents it. Hatred as a Cyclical Phenomenon Throughout the play, Shylock claims that he is simply applying the lessons taught to him by his Christian neighbors; this claim becomes an integral part of both his character and his argument in court. In Shylocks very first appearance, as he conspires to harm Antonio, his entire plan seems to be born of the insults and injuries Antonio has inflicted upon him in the past. As the play continues, and Shylock unveils more of his reasoning, the same idea rears its head over and overhe is simply applying what years of abuse have taught him. Responding to Salarinos query of what good the pound of flesh will do him, Shylock responds, The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction (III.i. 60 61 ). Not all of Shylocks actions can be blamed on poor teachings, and one could argue that Antonio understands his own culpability in his near execution. With the trials conclusion, Antonio demands that Shylock convert to Christianity, but inflicts no other punishment, despite the threats of fellow Christians like Gratiano. Antonio does not, as he has in the past, kick or spit on Shylock. Antonio, as well as the duke, effectively ends the conflict by starving it of the injustices it needs to continue.