The Merchant of Venice

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  • Created on: 19-05-17 15:05

Antonio

  • Antonio is the Merchant of Venice of the title. He makes his money from trading costly goods on his ships. He appears to be rich and successful.
  • At the start of the play he is depressed. The reason for this is never made clear.
  • He is a good and generous friend to Bassanio.- He is happy to lend him money, even though Bassanio is in his debt already and Antonio has to borrow money to do so.
  • He is apparently generous to other people too, as he never lends money for profit.
  • However, he is vehemently anti-Jewish (or anti-Semite). He has been cruel to Shylock over a long period of time, even though he is a Christian. 
  • He believes that the laws of Venice should be upheld - even if it means losing his life.
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Bassanio

  • He seems to enjoy life! We know right from the start that he has a sense of humour, since his first words are "Good signors both, when shall we laugh?"He has already spent his own fortune having a good time.
  • He is a great friend of Antonio and is in debt to him.
  • When he first talks of marrying Portia, we wonder about his motives - he seems more interested in her money than anything else. However, when he has to choose between the caskets, he says that he is tortured - "upon the rack" - not knowing whether he can marry her or not. When he sees her portrait inside the lead casket, he praises her highly and calls her a "demi-god"He leaves Portia immediately to return to Venice to help Antonio in prison, but says he won't sleep until he meets her again.He does not recognise Portia in disguise.He is very reluctant to give 'Balthazar' the ring that Portia gave him, yet does so when Antonio asks him to.
  • Like Antonio, he is prejudiced against Shylock.
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Shylock

  • He is a Jewish moneylender who earns his living by charging interest on money he loans
  • He is persecuted by all the non-Jews he knows
  • He is verbally abused and bullied by most characters in the play and is called cruel names including "villain with a smiling cheek, cut-throat dog, bloody creditor, damned inexecrable dog".
  • He is clearly an intelligent businessman:He is very astute and is aware of other people's concerns - he knows all about Antonio's business ventures.
  • He is Jessica's father. His daughter hates him and calls him a "devil". We see him being impatient with her and ordering her around. When she runs away, he seems as upset about the loss of his money as her: "My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! ... My ducats and my daughter!
  • He wants revenge 
  • Caught out by Portia, by the end of the trial he has lost all his money and has to suffer the humiliation of being forced to become a Christian. Shakespeare doesn't give Shylock any lines to tell us how he feels. How should he react? We never find out what happens to him.
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Gratiano

  • He is Bassanio's companion.
  • He's a joker: almost his first words in the play are "Let me play the Fool" .
  • He talks too much! Lorenzo jokes, "Gratiano never lets me speak". Bassanio knows that he can sometimes be an embarrassment: when he plans to go to Belmont, he allows Gratiano to go too only if he mends his ways!
  • He marries Nerissa very quickly, when Portia marries Bassanio. (Their marriage is dependent on Bassanio choosing the right casket too! Is this rash?)
  • Like many Venetians, he hates the Jews. He is vicious in his abuse of Shylock: "thy desires / Are wolfish, bloody, starved and ravenous". He is scornful of Shylock when Shylock is humiliated and delights in throwing Shylock's words back at him: "O upright judge! / Mark, Jew - O learned judge!"
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Lorenzo

  • He is a Christian who falls in love with Shylock's daughter Jessica and elopes with her. We hear of them travelling through Italy, rashly spending huge amounts of money.
  • Portia appoints him to look after Belmont while she is in Venice. (Maybe Lorenzo and Jessica had nowhere else to go.) He praises Portia's "bearing"during Bassanio's absence, saying she has "a noble and a true conceit / Of god-like amity". Does this reflect on his own love for Jessica?
  • When he and Jessica are alone together at the start of Act V, they talk of famous lovers - all of whom are associated with betrayal or tragedy. What does this suggest about their love?
  • He talks passionately to Jessica about "the sweet power of music" - but does not seem to do much that is practical to help her.
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Portia

  • We first hear of her when described by Bassanio as rich, beautiful and full of wondrous virtues.
  • She is bound by her father's will to marry the man who chooses correctly between a gold, silver and lead casket - one contains her portrait.
  • Our first impressions of Portia, as she describes her suitors to Nerissa, show that she is witty and quick-thinking. However, she also shows a racist attitude in her comments: she says that the Prince of Morocco has "the complexion of a devil".
  • She loves Bassanio.
  • She disguises herself as Balthazar, a lawyer, and arranges to go to Venice to help Antonio. This shows courage and ingenuity and her arguments are very intelligent.
  • As she returns to Belmont, she is accompanied by a "holy hermit" and spends a lot of time praying. Is this an extra stratagem to bolster her deceptions 
  • She enjoys mocking Bassanio about his loss of the ring, going as far to say she will sleep with the lawyer Balthazar (which of course she will!), before she reveals the trick. She is very much in control!
  • She causes everyone to be happy at the end: herself and Bassanio, Nerissa and Gratiano, Jessica and Lorenzo 
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Nerissa

  • She is Portia's maid and confidante. Portia confides in her and she is confidant enough to take Portia to task when we first see them together. She obviously knows all about Portia's taste in men! She describes Bassanio as "the best deserving a fair lady".
  • She becomes engaged to Gratiano very quickly, soon after they met. (Will they be happy?)
  • She joins Portia in the deception at the trial, by disguising herself as a lawyer's clerk.
  • She then tests Gratiano with a ring in the same way that Portia tests Bassanio.
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Jessica

  • She is Shylock's daughter and a Jew.
  • She seems cruelly treated. When we first see her, she complains "our house is hell". Shylock orders her around: "What, Jessica! ... What, Jessica! ... What, Jessica, I say!"
  • She elopes with Lorenzo, dressed as a boy, taking with her much of her father's treasure. 
  • Lorenzo is a Christian, and she converts to Christianity on their marriage, rejecting her Jewish roots.
  • She spends a lot of time with other people but says little. They do not talk to her. Is she shy? Or could there be other reasons?
  • Portia leaves Jessica and Lorenzo to look after Belmont while she is away in Venice. She seems to admire Portia a great deal, saying she likes her "Past all expressing"
  • At the start of Act V, Jessica and Lorenzo talk about their love. They compare themselves to other pairs of lovers whom we associate with tragedy and betrayal. What does this suggest for the future happiness of Jessica and Lorenzo?
  • We do not hear her reaction to Portia's news at the end of the play that she and Lorenzo will inherit all Shylock's wealth.
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