The Merchant of Venice

Themes:
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!”.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 ring’s monetary value. Some human relationships do indeed matter to Shylock more than
money. Moreover, his insistence that he has a pound of flesh rather than any amount of money shows
that his resentment is much stronger than his greed.

Just as Shylock’s 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 Shylock’s 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, Portia’s long reply, beginning with the words, “The quality of mercy is not strained,”
clarifies what is at stake in the argument . Human beings should be merciful because God is merciful:
mercy is an attribute of God himself and therefore greater than power, majesty, or law. Portia’s
understanding of mercy is based on the way Christians in Shakespeare’s 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 pro-Christian, anti-Jewish
agenda.

A sixteenth-century audience would not expect Shylock to exercise mercy—therefore, it is up to the

Christians to do so. Once she has turned Shylock’s greatest weapon—the law—against 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 Shylock’s 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 Shylock’s
reports, was Antonio’s primary reason for berating and spitting on him in public. Antonio’s 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 Shylock’s 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 over—he is simply applying what
years of abuse have taught him. Responding to Salarino’s 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” . Not all of Shylock’s actions can be blamed on poor teachings, and one could argue that
Antonio understands his own culpability in his near execution. With the trial’s 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.

Friendship

The theme of friendship drives most of the action in The Merchant of Venice. Bassanio needs money and
turns to Antonio, who has already offered him substantial financial support in the past. Antonio
immediately and unquestioningly agrees to do whatever he can to help his friend, including offering a
pound of his own flesh to Shylock if he defaults on the loan. Antonio never rebukes Bassanio for leading
him into the situation that later threatens his life. Instead, Antonio repeatedly says that he is happy to die
for the sake of his friend. In return, Bassanio tells him that “life itself, my wife and all the world / Are
not with me esteemed above thy life” (IV.i.275-276). Thus, the play depicts friendship as one of the
most intense and important emotional bonds humans can experience and suggests that the bond of
friendship between Antonio and Bassanio may even run deeper than romantic love. The importance of
friendship is also displayed between Bassanio and Gratiano and between Portia and Nerissa. Gratiano
and Nerissa show great loyalty to and trust in their friends, and they even fall in love with each other
after being brought together by their friends. The final double marriage means that the four friends will
never have to be separated from one another, which further supports the importance placed on
friendship.

Wealth
The Merchant of Venice highlights the complexities of wealth and treats this theme with ambivalence.
Several wealthy characters are depicted as unhappy despite their vast fortunes. At the beginning of the
play, Antonio is a prosperous merchant on the verge of more financial success, but he still suffers from a
sense of melancholy. As he explains, “And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, / That I have much
ado to know myself”. He cannot figure out why he is so miserable. Likewise, Portia is a wealthy heiress
but complains that “my little body is a weary of this great world”. The uneven distribution of wealth
causes problems for several characters. Bassanio seems to be a noble person, but he suffers from a lack
of money, forcing him to selfishly borrow from Antonio, while the vengeful Shylock makes substantial
profits by exploiting others. Moreover, wealth is presented as fickle and liable to disappear at any
moment. For example, Antonio is confident that he will have more than enough money to repay his loan,
but he ends up losing his fortune.
While money is depicted as a source of greed and dissatisfaction, the play also asserts that wealth gives
individuals freedom and power. For instance, Bassanio is only able to court Portia because he gains
access to money. Then, when Bassanio and Portia find out that Antonio is unable to pay back his loan,
Portia suggests a solution, stating that, “You shall have gold / To pay the petty debt twenty times over”.
Portia’s wealth allows her to help resolve a dangerous situation. At the end of the play, the redistribution
of wealth functions as both a punishment and reward. Shylock is punished for his viciousness by losing
half of his income, which he laments by saying that “you take my life / When you do take the means
whereby I live” (IV.i.392-393). Antonio is rewarded with the surprising news that not all of his ships
were lost after all, and Jessica and Lorenzo secure an income from the money extracted from Shylock.

Prejudice
Prejudice is a force that creates barriers and divisions between the people of Venice. As a Jewish man,
Shylock deeply disdains Christians. When he first appears in the play, Shylock describes his feelings
about Antonio, saying, “I hate him for he is a Christian” . Shylock continuously refers to his animosity
toward Christians, such as when he warns Jessica to shut up the house because he does not trust “the
Christian fools with varnished faces” . Shylock’s strong prejudice against Christians is one reason
Jessica runs away to be with Lorenzo, which permanently destroys the relationship between father and
daughter. For his part, Shylock sees his daughter’s choice to marry a Christian as the ultimate betrayal.

The Christian characters show deep prejudice toward Shylock because of his Jewish identity. Antonio
makes it clear that borrowing money from Shylock does not change his opinion of him, saying that “I
am as like to call thee [dog] again / To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too” . After Antonio’s failure to
repay his loan, many characters prejudicially link Shylock’s Jewish identity to his refusal to compromise
or show mercy, and Antonio’s insistence that Shylock convert to Christianity indicates a desire to
undermine Shylock’s identity. While anti-Semitism is the most apparent type of prejudice in the play,
many characters are also prejudiced against outsiders and anyone who is different than them. After the
dark-skinned Moroccan prince fails to solve the casket riddle, Portia responds with relief by saying, “Let
all of his complexion choose me so”. She does not want anyone who looks like him to correctly solve
the riddle and win her hand in marriage, indicating her deep-seated prejudice against people who look
different from herself.

Revenge
Revenge is a powerful, corrupting, and destructive force in the play. Shylock wants to hurt Antonio
because of Shylock’s desire for revenge against the entire Christian community, which he blames for
persecuting and degrading him and also for stealing his daughter and the money she took when she ran
away. Shylock explains why he feels justified in seeking revenge: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If
you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge?” . The lines indicate that Shylock feels he has been wronged by Christians and is entitled to
seek revenge in response to their dehumanization. He views this revenge as a natural human response to
mistreatment. Because of his desire for revenge, Shylock will not consider altering the conditions of
Antonio’s bond in any way. Ironically, his insistence on the exact nature of the law being enacted is
what leads to his downfall when Portia finds a legal loophole and then uses the same law to condemn
him. Shylock’s desire for revenge makes him behave in an emotional rather than a logical way, and he
ends up losing everything as a result.