Title The Merchant of Venice Setting The Merchant of Venice has two main settings; Venice and Belmont

Characters Major Antonio a merchant of Venice who borrows money from Shylock. Shylock a rich Jew, a money lender who lends money Antonio, father of Jessica Portia a rich heiress disguises herself as Dr. Balthasar acting on behalf of Antonio. Minor Bassanio Antonio's friend; suitor to Portia Gratiano, Solanio, Salerio friends of Antonio and Bassanio Nerissa Portia's waiting maid- in love with Gratiano Beginning Antonio, a wealthy and respected merchant of Venice, loans three thousand ducats to his friend Bassanio in order to assist him in his wooing Portia of Belmont. But Antonio's own money is tied up in business ventures that depend on the safe return of his ships from sea, so he borrows the money from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender whom he has previously insulted for his high rates of interest. Shylock lends the money against a bond whereby failure to repay the loan on the agreed date will entitle Shylock to a pound of Antonio's flesh. Rising Action Problems of the main situation between Antonio and Shylock occur. A letter comes stating that Antonios ventures have failed; his ships lost at the sea. Shylock becomes more furious when Jessica runs away with his money, which swells his anger. He becomes more determined on having his bond to the letter of the law demanding for Antonios flesh if he fails to pay his debt.

Climax Shylock's claim to his pound of flesh is heard in the law court before the duke; it appears that nobody can save Antonio from Shylocks knife.

Falling Action Shylock cannot have his bond and drop his demand due to Portia's ingenious defence that Shylock is entitled to his pound of flesh but not to spill any of Antonio's blood. He is ordered to convert to Christianity and leave his possessions to his daughter, Jessica. Portia and Nerissa then assert their power over Bassanio and Gratiano by means of a trick involving rings that the men have promised never to part with. Theme The play The Merchant of Venice is considered as a Comedy. It shows the divine quality of mercy, hatred and self-interest over love. Tone The play The Merchant of Venice is reflected as comic, romantic and tragic. Advantage The overall advantage of the story is to convey emotional connection to readers, to show the divine quality of mercy and how love affects the wholeness of a person. Disadvantage The story illustrates conflicts on people race, inhumane conduct, self-interest and negative attitudes which may affect the readers thinking on the qualities of each race. Conclusion The merchant of Venice shows conflicts between Jews and Christians, the line between their race and how they think of each other following their traditions and values. It portrays hatred, greed, self-interest and love. It also showed me that a good person understands the principle values that people should follow such as honesty, love, patience, and virtue.

Recommendation The Merchant of Venice illustrates various facets of human behaviour. The play was very interesting yet full of moral message. To Antonio, he must first evaluate what will be the outcome of his decision not only relying to what he has now but on what future brings. To Shylock, he must not think revenge is the way to make Antonio pays back to what he did to him. He was controlled by his vengeance and a pound of flesh is not a wise guarantee for a bond. Changing the Title If I were to make title for this story I would rather entitled it with A pound of flesh, depicting the very core of the conflict between Shylock and Antonio wherein the latter sacrifices a pound of flesh as a payment if he fails to do the bond besides it sounds more attractive to readers.