For other uses, see. When the play was first produced and published, it was classified as a comedy since its “[…] main thematic and structural elements […] seem to belong to the category of romantic comedy rather than elsewhere.” (Holderness 1998: 24). The play has elements of both genres, but one is clearly prevalent. The Nazis used the usurious Shylock for their propaganda. Angela Yi. The Merchant of Venice is technically classified as a comedy because it has a happy ending. The Merchant of Venice Characters: The main character is the merchant, Antonio who fails and becomes indebted to the merciless moneylender, Shylock. - William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 3 There is something about Shylock that I absolutely love. David Mirsky, "The Fictive Jew in the Literature of England 1890–1920", in the, "The Three Sallies – Salarino, Solanio, and Salerio", "A Jewish reading of The Merchant of Venice", Information about Sullivan's incidental music to the play, "Venice Film Festival: Lost Orson Welles Film to Get Pre-Opening Showcase", "2 Shakespearean Classics To Be Televised by A.B.C. There is one other such idolator in the play: Shylock himself. [53], Ralph Vaughan Williams' choral work Serenade to Music (1938) draws its text from the discussion about music and the music of the spheres in Act V, scene 1. The Merchant of Venice is, by structural definition, a romantic comedy. In all these plays, the chief In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a … Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan. At Belmont, Bassanio receives a letter telling him that Antonio has been unable to repay the loan from Shylock. Draft 1:. What is unusual, however, is the fact that the lovers overcome their obstacles and marry each other midway through the play, before the main conflict has been resolved in Act IV. Other plays that fall into this category include The Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night. With its substantive themes of religious tolerance, mercy and cruelty, and women's subordination to the patriarchy, Merchant of Venice presages the serious turn of the Bard's comedies. This third marriage only has significance insofar as it makes it possible for Portia and Nerissa to play a parallel trick on their new husbands in the final act. The play is frequently staged today, but is potentially troubling to modern audiences because of its central themes, which can easily appear antisemitic. One of the last shots of the film also brings attention to the fact that, as a convert, Shylock would have been cast out of the Jewish community in Venice, no longer allowed to live in the ghetto. The Christians in the courtroom urge Shylock to love his enemies, although they themselves have failed in the past. From the very beginning of The Merchant of Venice, we see the comedic element of lovers being separated time and time again. [3] The story of the three caskets can be found in Gesta Romanorum, a collection of tales probably compiled at the end of the 13th century.[5]. To some critics, Shylock's celebrated "Hath not a Jew eyes?" Both suitors leave empty-handed, having rejected the lead casket because of the baseness of its material and the uninviting nature of its slogan, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath". As in many comedies, the conflict at the heart of Merchant has the potential to end tragically. The Duke then threatens to recant his pardon of Shylock's life unless he accepts these conditions. In his plays and poetry Shakespeare often depicted strong male bonds of varying homosociality, which has led some critics to infer that Bassanio returns Antonio's affections despite his obligation to marry:[19], ANTONIO: Commend me to your honourable wife: Braham Murray directed. There is no rest nor slumber to his antipathy. [71][72], Sarah B. Mantell's Everything that Never Happened is a play first produced in 2017 at the Yale School of Drama. Whether Bassanio had not once a love. When the play was first produced and published, it was classified as a comedy since its “[…] main thematic and structural elements […] seem to belong to the category of romantic comedy rather than elsewhere.” (Holderness 1998: 24). Portia is a fine example of a romantic heroine in Shakespeare’s mature comedies: she is witty, rich, exacting in what… time and place written 1598; London, England. The date of composition of The Merchant of Venice is believed to be between 1596 and 1598. Weber played Portia and Smalley, her husband, played Shylock. If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Kean's Shylock established his reputation as an actor. In one sense, The Merchant of Venice falls into the literary genre of a drama or play. Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Portia's cousin, Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua. The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play written by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Classifying ‘The Merchant of Venice’ as a tragedy or comedy is difficult since it resembles both. [56][57], Arnold Wesker's play The Merchant (1976) is a reimagining of Shakespeare's story. Revenge. His hatred and his disdain for Venice's Christians throbs like a heart ready to burst. Although Merchant shares the basic structure of Shakespeare’s other comedies, they play also makes subtle deviations from typical comedic form. She cites a law under which Shylock, as a Jew and therefore an "alien", having attempted to take the life of a citizen, has forfeited his property, half to the government and half to Antonio, leaving his life at the mercy of the Duke. Read The Merchant of Venice in simple, modern English. Michael Radford, director of the 2004 film version starring Al Pacino, explained that, although the film contains a scene where Antonio and Bassanio actually kiss, the friendship between the two is platonic, in line with the prevailing view of male friendship at the time. Read The Merchant of Venice in simple, modern English. The title page of the first edition in 1600 states that it had been performed "divers times" by that date. Although the trial scene is mainly about the punishment and saving of Antonio but there is a fight between Portia and Shylock. Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? speech to his brother Władysław in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation in World War II. Characters are always hinting at their own complexity: Portia is obedient but devious, Antonio is self-sacrificing but self-pitying, and … Part of the BBC's Shakespeare Festival, the play also marked that 500 years had passed since the Venetian Ghetto was instituted. As a piece of theatre, this version is well-paced and well-cast - Maggie Smith as Portia, Christopher Gable as Bassanio, Charles Gray as Antonio, Frank Finlay as Shylock. As already mentioned in the introduction, it is difficult to define the genre of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The great thing about Shakespeare and why he's so difficult to pin down is his ambiguity. Both Antonio and Shylock, agreeing to put Antonio's life at a forfeit, stand outside the normal bounds of society. Lecture by James Shapiro: "Shakespeare and the Jews". If you poison us, do we not die? [11], Regardless of what Shakespeare's authorial intent may have been, the play has been made use of by antisemites throughout the play's history. Although Merchant shares the basic structure of Shakespeare's other comedies, they play also … Antonio has taken this potentially fatal turn because he despairs, not only over the loss of Bassanio in marriage but also because Bassanio cannot requite what Antonio feels for him. Antonio's feelings for Bassanio are likened to a couplet from Shakespeare's Sonnets: "But since she pricked thee out for women's pleasure,/ Mine be thy love, and my love's use their treasure." After all the other characters make amends, Antonio learns from Portia that three of his ships were not stranded and have returned safely after all. Critics today still continue to argue over the play's stance on the Jews and Judaism. [12], In a series of articles called Observer, first published in 1785, British playwright Richard Cumberland created a character named Abraham Abrahams, who is quoted as saying, "I verily believe the odious character of Shylock has brought little less persecution upon us, poor scattered sons of Abraham, than the Inquisition itself. The last suitor is Bassanio, whom Portia wishes to succeed, having met him before. In the first act of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the Jewish moneylender Shylock proposes a “merry sport” to the merchant Antonio: he will lend Antonio the money he needs if Antonio agrees to let Shylock take a pound of his flesh should he default. Why, revenge. The doctor is Portia in disguise, and the law clerk who accompanies her is Nerissa, also disguised as a man. In 1741, Charles Macklin returned to the original text in a very successful production at Drury Lane, paving the way for Edmund Kean seventy years later (see below). While the story hits upon the tragic element of despair, The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, is a comedy because lovers are separated, characters are in disguise, and the story has a happy ending. Shylock has become more determined to exact revenge from Christians because his daughter Jessica eloped with the Christian Lorenzo and converted. He's not saying they're gay or they're straight, he's leaving it up to his actors. The Merchant of Venice: Tragedy or Comedy? Tell her the process of Antonio's end, However, Shylock adamantly refuses any compensations and insists on the pound of flesh. Jeremy Irons, in an interview, concurs with the director's view and states that he did not "play Antonio as gay". The play continues the story of Shylock's daughter Jessica, who lives in an anti-semitic Venice and practices her Jewish faith in secret. This resolution is certainly devastating for Shylock, but nevertheless, the lack of fatalities marks the play’s ending as an appropriately “comic.”. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. One example is the Shakespeare-aficionado Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), a Klingon, who quotes Shylock. Although few unclear elements of tragedy are apparent in this play, The Merchant … Many modern readers and theatregoers have read the play as a plea for tolerance, noting that Shylock is a sympathetic character. A date of 1596–97 is considered consistent with the play's style. Today, The Merchant of Venice is often read and played more like a problem play or even a tragedy. The Merchant of Venice has been filmed for television several times, and despite its questionable anti-semitism, remains one of the most popular and solid of Shakespeare's plays. The Merchant of Venice (c. 1596–97) uses a double plot structure to contrast a tale of romantic wooing with one that comes close to tragedy. The Merchant of Venice is structured partly on the contrast between idealistic and realistic opinions about society and relationships. [58] In this retelling, Shylock and Antonio are friends and share a disdain for the crass anti-Semitism of the Christian community's laws. [70], Naomi Alderman's The Wolf in the Water is a radio-play first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2016. Comedy; Drama. Mercy. For me, the problem with the re-timing of the story is that much of the logic fails to work with the later time period. [59], David Henry Wilson's play Shylock's Revenge, was first produced at the University of Hamburg in 1989, and follows the events in The Merchant of Venice. The language is comparatively easy than most of his plays. As the court grants Shylock his bond and Antonio prepares for Shylock's knife, Portia deftly appropriates Shylock's argument for "specific performance". We don't mean "drama" in the sense that intense stuff goes down (although that's very true), but in the "dramatic" sense. [60], The Star Trek franchise sometimes quote and paraphrase Shakespeare, including The Merchant of Venice. The author of The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare, has revolutionized the literary world with his tragic and comical plays.However, it has been long debated whether The Merchant of Venice should be identified as a tragedy or a comedy. Edmond Haraucourt, French playwright and poet, was commissioned in the 1880s by the actor and theatrical director Paul Porel to make a French-verse adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Having squandered his estate, he needs 3,000 ducats to subsidise his expenditures as a suitor. It is difficult to know whether the sympathetic reading of Shylock is entirely due to changing sensibilities among readers – or whether Shakespeare, a writer who created complex, multi-faceted characters, deliberately intended this reading. [17] In the trial Shylock represents what Elizabethan Christians believed to be the Jewish desire for "justice", contrasted with their obviously superior Christian value of mercy. Looking at The Merchant of Venice, through the above definitions we find that it can be classified as both a … [4] Elements of the trial scene are also found in The Orator by Alexandre Sylvane, published in translation in 1596. Bassanio needs a loan of 3000 ducats to sponsor his marriage. "The Merchant of Venice – World premiere", Bregenzer Festspiele. "Our English Homer; or, the Bacon-Shakespeare Controversy". Here to this devil, to deliver you. speech to Nazi soldiers. While many of Shakespeare’s plays can be easily categorized, some, like The Merchant of Venice, are unclear because of the combination of tragedy elements mixing in with the comedy. On the one hand, the play tells us that love is more important than money, mercy is preferable to revenge, and love lasts forever. And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? Such a miscarriage of justice is no small problem, particularly given the play’s emphasis on the sanctity of Venetian law. In addition to this Shakespeare gives Shylock one of his most eloquent speeches: Salerio. BASSANIO: But life itself, my wife, and all the world [27] Jacob Adler was the most notable of the early 20th century: Adler played the role in Yiddish-language translation, first in Manhattan's Yiddish Theater District in the Lower East Side, and later on Broadway, where, to great acclaim, he performed the role in Yiddish in an otherwise English-language production. Those who see the speech as sympathetic point out that Shylock says he learned the desire for revenge from the Christian characters: "If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? The cast included. [21] In 1701, George Granville staged a successful adaptation, titled The Jew of Venice, with Thomas Betterton as Bassanio. [23], Arthur Sullivan wrote incidental music for the play in 1871. In the 19th century, an emphasis was put on the fairy tale elements in the play. It is the climax of the play where good prevails and evil gets punished. He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies – and what's his reason? Antonio's frustrated devotion is a form of idolatry: the right to live is yielded for the sake of the loved one. [3] In addition, the test of the suitors at Belmont, the merchant's rescue from the "pound of flesh" penalty by his friend's new wife disguised as a lawyer, and her demand for the betrothal ring in payment are all elements present in the 14th-century tale Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino, which was published in Milan in 1558. If you look at the choice of language ... you'll read very sensuous language. The Merchant of Venice. Bassanio warns his companion to exercise self-control, and the two leave for Belmont. The Merchant of Venice is a typical example of a Shakespearean comedy in that its central conflict finds resolution before real harm comes to anyone. Her father’s will stipulates … Caldecott, Henry Stratford (1895). Antonio agrees, but since he is cash-poor – his ships and merchandise are busy at sea to Tripolis, the Indies, Mexico and England – he promises to cover a bond if Bassanio can find a lender, so Bassanio turns to the Jewish moneylender Shylock and names Antonio as the loan's guarantor. Her father left a will stipulating that each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets, made of gold, silver and lead respectively. [14], The depiction of Jews in literature throughout the centuries bears the close imprint of Shylock. With its substantive themes of religious tolerance, mercy and cruelty, and women's subordination to the patriarchy, Merchant of Venice presages the serious turn of the Bard's comedies. Shylock's fatal flaw is to depend on the law, but "would he not walk out of that courtroom head erect, the very apotheosis of defiant hatred and scorn? Poet John Donne, who was Dean of St Paul's Cathedral and a contemporary of Shakespeare, gave a sermon in 1624 perpetuating the Blood Libel – the entirely unsubstantiated anti-Semitic lie that Jews ritually murdered Christians to drink their blood and achieve salvation. Antonio also asks that "for this favor" Shylock convert to Christianity and bequeath his entire estate to Lorenzo and Jessica. Shakespeare’s Sources for Merchant of Venice. Does the play belong to the category of comedies or shall it rather be identified as a tragedy or problem play? Shylock, re-threatened with death, accepts with the words, "I am content." After a few days, Shylock hears that his daughter Jessica is squandering her stolen wealth in Genoa. Shylock. She tells him that he must cut precisely one pound of flesh, no more, no less; she advises him that "if the scale do turn, But in the estimation of a hair, Thou diest and all thy goods are confiscate.". In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a … Themes are central to understanding The Merchant of Venice as a play and identifying Shakespeare's social and political commentary. As in many comedies, the conflict at the heart of Merchant has the potential to end tragically. (Auden sees the theme of usury in the play as a comment on human relations in a mercantile society. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. Another twist on the typical comedy has to do with Shakespeare’s complex and ambiguous treatment of Shylock. [8] In Venice and in some other places, Jews were required to wear a red hat at all times in public to make sure that they were easily identified, and had to live in a ghetto. One of the reasons for this interpretation is that Shylock's painful status in Venetian society is emphasised. Shylock is at first reluctant to grant the loan, citing abuse he has suffered at Antonio's hand. Other plays that fall into this category include The Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night. He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. … The forfeit of a merchant's deadly bond after standing surety for a friend's loan was a common tale in England in the late 16th century. date of first publication First published in the Quarto of 1600. Bassanio does not recognise his disguised wife, but offers to give a present to the supposed lawyer. From the very beginning of The Merchant of Venice, we see the comedic element of lovers being separated time and time again. Hath not a Jew eyes? he Merchant of Venice begs the question, does mercy exist in the world? Synopsis and plot overview of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Shylock has Antonio brought before court. Shakespeare is supposedly writing about comedic characters in a comedic situation (see our discussion on "Genre" for more on this), but the plot of the play—and its constant closeness to danger—forces the reader to recognize that much more is going on than what's on the surface. His play Shylock, first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in December 1889, had incidental music by the French composer Gabriel Fauré, later incorporated into an orchestral [[Shylock (Fauré)|suite of the same name. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility?