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The Merchant of Venice

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• Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - The Merchant of Venice - Synopsis and Plot Overview
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The Merchant of Venice , comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare , written about 1596–97 and printed in a quarto edition in 1600 from an authorial manuscript or copy of one.

Bassanio, a noble but penniless Venetian, asks his wealthy merchant friend Antonio for a loan so that Bassanio can undertake a journey to woo the heiress Portia . Antonio, whose money is invested in foreign ventures, borrows the sum from Shylock , a Jewish moneylender, on the condition that, if the loan cannot be repaid in time, Antonio will forfeit a pound of flesh. Antonio is reluctant to do business with Shylock, whom he despises for lending money at interest (unlike Antonio himself, who provides the money for Bassanio without any such financial obligation); Antonio considers that lending at interest violates the very spirit of Christianity. Nevertheless, he needs help in order to be able to assist Bassanio. Meanwhile, Bassanio has met the terms of Portia’s father’s will by selecting from three caskets the one that contains her portrait, and he and Portia marry. (Two previous wooers, the princes of Morocco and Aragon, have failed the casket test by choosing what many men desire or what the chooser thinks he deserves; Bassanio knows that he must paradoxically “give and hazard all he hath” to win the lady.) News arrives that Antonio’s ships have been lost at sea. Unable to collect on his loan, Shylock attempts to use justice to enforce a terrible, murderous revenge on Antonio: he demands his pound of flesh. Part of Shylock’s desire for vengeance is motivated by the way in which the Christians of the play have banded together to enable his daughter Jessica to elope from his house, taking with her a substantial portion of his wealth, in order to become the bride of the Christian Lorenzo. Shylock’s revengeful plan is foiled by Portia, disguised as a lawyer, who turns the tables on Shylock by a legal quibble: he must take flesh only, and Shylock must die if any blood is spilled. Thus, the contract is canceled, and Shylock is ordered to give half of his estate to Antonio, who agrees not to take the money if Shylock converts to Christianity and restores his disinherited daughter to his will. Shylock has little choice but to agree. The play ends with the news that, in fact, some of Antonio’s ships have arrived safely.

The character of Shylock has been the subject of modern scholarly debate over whether the playwright displays anti-Semitism or religious tolerance in his characterization, for, despite his stereotypical usurious nature, Shylock is depicted as understandably full of hate, having been both verbally and physically abused by Christians, and he is given one of Shakespeare’s most eloquent speeches (“Hath not a Jew eyes?…”).

For a discussion of this play within the context of Shakespeare’s entire corpus, see William Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s plays and poems .

A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, and is widely studied and has been subject to considerable analysis. Contrary to what many people think, the ‘merchant’ of the title isn’t Shylock (of whom more below) but the far less famous character, Antonio. So how well do we know The Merchant of Venice ? Below, we offer some words of analysis, but first, it might be worth recapping the plot of the play.

Plot summary

There are two main plot strands to The Merchant of Venice , both closely intertwined. The first involves Portia, the wealthy heiress of Belmont, who decides that she will marry whichever suitor picks the right casket when faced with a choice of three (made of gold, silver, and lead).

The second involves a loan the Jewish moneylender, Shylock, makes to Antonio, the merchant of the play’s title. These two plot lines are connected because Antonio borrows money from Shylock in order to help out his friend, Bassanio, who wishes to finance a trip to Belmont to try his hand at Portia’s ‘three caskets’ trial. (The princes of Morocco and Aragon both choose the wrong caskets, but Bassanio correctly guesses that the lead casket, and the two are engaged.)

The terms of the loan are as follows: Antonio will repay the money to Shylock when his ships return from their voyage; if he fails to pay up then, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s flesh. When Antonio’s ships are declared lost at sea, he cannot repay the debt to Shylock, who promptly demands his pound of flesh.

These two threads run through the play, becoming united towards the end of the play, when Portia disguises herself as a male lawyer in order to defend Antonio against Shylock’s knife. She is aided by her maid, Nerissa, who is engaged to Bassanio’s friend, Gratiano; Nerissa is also disguised as a man (Portia’s clerk).

After trying, unsuccessfully, to appeal to Shylock’s ‘quality of mercy’ (a famous speech which we have analysed here ), Portia changes tack, and saves Antonio on a legal technicality: whilst his agreement with Shylock allows the Jewish moneylender a pound of Antonio’s flesh, it does not entitle him to a drop of the merchant’s blood – and if he tries to remove a pound of his flesh and makes him bleed, he will be liable. Shylock is defeated, and Antonio saved.

And Shylock is well and truly defeated: he has to pay ‘damages’ to Antonio – half of his entire wealth – and is also forced to convert from Judaism to Christianity. However, Antonio gives the money he gets from Shylock immediately to Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, who had earlier eloped with Lorenzo, against her father’s wishes.

There is one last, romantic, twist to the plot: before the trial, Portia and Nerissa had made gifts of rings to their betrotheds, Antonio and Gratiano. After the trial is over, to express their gratitude to the lawyer and clerk for saving Antonio’s skin (literally), they both give their rings to the lawyer and ‘his’ clerk as tokens of thanks.

To test (and have a bit of fun with) the two men, Portia and Nerissa, back in Belmont and out of their male disguises, ask the returning Antonio and Gratiano where the rings are which they gave them. The two men say they have lost them, and the two women produce new ones – which are really, of course, the originals. As a final piece of good luck, Antonio learns that not all of his ships were lost at sea, and the two couples celebrate their upcoming wedding.

Venice has a long-standing association with trade, commerce, and money. The materialistic world of this city-state regards people only in terms of their financial worth, and Shylock embodies this cold materialism in the extreme. To him, Antonio is only a debtor, so much flesh, from whom he can extract his pound if Antonio is unable to repay his loan. The great clash in The Merchant of Venice is between money and love, as both Shylock’s trial and Portia’s very different ‘trial’ – the test of the three caskets – demonstrate.

Against this heartlessly materialistic worldview is set the world of mercy and compassion, expressed in the two most famous speeches from The Merchant of Venice : Portia’s ‘The quality of mercy is not strained’ and Shylock’s own ‘Hath not a Jew eyes? If you prick us, do we not bleed?’

The valorisation of wealth and gold above all else is also famously rejected and criticised in Portia’s three caskets: gold and silver seem to promise the suitor wealth (in the form of Portia’s inheritance), but it is only by rejecting these in favour of the relatively worthless lead that Bassanio proves his worth as a potential husband to her.

However, the plot of The Merchant of Venice doesn’t entirely reject the world of money: Antonio borrows money from Shylock in an act of friendship (to help his relatively poor friend Bassanio travel to Belmont to undertake Portia’s three caskets test), but it’s also a financial reality that money is needed to be in the ‘race’.

And it’s worth noting that mercy doesn’t triumph over materialism at the trial: Shylock is deaf to Portia’s appeals, and his contract with Antonio can only be defeated on a technicality which speaks the only kind of language Shylock recognises.

And Shylock is the key to the whole play, as the confusion over him being mistaken for its title character demonstrates. For Harold Bloom, in a persuasive analysis of The Merchant of Venice in his book Shakespeare: The Invention Of The Human , The Merchant of Venice presents a number of difficult problems.

First, there’s no denying it is an anti-Semitic play; second, for Bloom, Shylock should be played as a comic villain and not a sympathetic character for the play to have ‘coherence’ and make full sense; third, to play Shylock this way would no doubt exacerbate the play’s anti-Semitic properties.

Many recent productions of The Merchant of Venice have certainly depicted Shylock more sympathetically than he was probably played when the play was first staged, in the 1590s which gave London not only Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (whose title character, Barabbas, is a cartoon villain too exaggerated to be taken with complete seriousness) but also the execution of the Portuguese Jewish immigrant Roderigo Lopez, physician to Queen Elizabeth I, who was accused of plotting to kill the Queen (he was, almost certainly, innocent).

If the casual anti-Semitism that was widely tolerated as recently as the early twentieth century is anything to go by, Shakespeare’s original audience would probably have viewed Shylock as a money-grubbing villain.

But as is so often with Shakespeare’s characterisation, the character can be interpreted more sympathetically (his famous ‘If you prick us, do we not bleed?’ speech is one example of where we can find evidence for this interpretation), and this is the line most modern productions of the play have taken. And it must be a hard-hearted reader or spectator who can watch Shylock being forced to convert to Christianity (by Antonio) and not feel a twinge of uneasiness.

What’s more, the parallels between Antonio and Shylock arguably don’t end with that popular misconception over who the title character is. Antonio is just as money-driven as Shylock, and – as his insistence that Shylock be made to convert to Christianity shows – not exactly overflowing with Christian charity. This is the mentality that Venice seems to engender: a world of financial interests, account books, and hatred and mistrust of others.

The Merchant of Venice has become Shylock’s play, eclipsing all else, and whilst there may not be much else besides him that makes the play interesting, the one exception here is Portia, who is one of Shakespeare’s finest female roles from the 1590s.

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4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice”

Definitely one of Shakespeare’s problematic plays. I view it more as a tragi-comedy and believe Shakespeare provided ambiguity towards Shylock in that he did not lampoon him but gave him full characterization. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted the audience to see beyond the culture and see a person.

Problematic indeed! Thank you for your most interesting exploration of the issues.

VERY CLEAR SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO READ IT AS ONE PART OF MY READINGS

Wouldn’t thou allow such mercy to Shylock if he show an ounce of pennant thought, or would it rather be rendered he suffer the harsh justice he demanded upon Antonio that you, in your fraudulent identity, chastised him for. You ask that Shylock grant mercy, but you refuse him such the like. Surely, you present him the harshest of consequences. Perhaps, opportune his chance of recompense and change of heart. Allow the man his beliefs and as well an example to present to his like minded. Allow him at least the the humane existence, some mere portion of fortune. There must be thoughts and consistency of mercy , although through consequential reasoning, placed upon both arguments.

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The Merchant of Venice

William shakespeare.

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Merchant of Venice: Introduction

The merchant of venice: plot summary, the merchant of venice: detailed summary & analysis, the merchant of venice: themes, the merchant of venice: quotes, the merchant of venice: characters, the merchant of venice: symbols, the merchant of venice: literary devices, the merchant of venice: quizzes, the merchant of venice: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of The Merchant of Venice

Other books related to the merchant of venice.

• Full Title: The Merchant of Venice
• When Written: 1596–8
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1623
• Literary Period: The Renaissance
• Genre: Comedy/tragicomedy; Revenge tragedy
• Setting: Venice, and the nearby country estate of Belmont
• Climax: The trial of Antonio, the merchant, and Shylock, the Jewish moneylender
• Antagonist: Shylock

Extra Credit for The Merchant of Venice

"Which is the merchant here? And which the Jew?" Modern audiences of Merchant of Venice often mistake Shylock for the "merchant" of the title—which actually refers to Antonio.

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Merchant of Venice

By william shakespeare.

• Merchant of Venice Summary

The Merchant of Venice opens with Antonio , a Christian merchant, in a depressed state. His friends try to cheer him up, but nothing works to make him feel better. Finally his friend Bassanio , an aristocrat who has lost all of his money, comes and asks Antonio to loan him some money.

Antonio, who has tied up all of his money is seafaring ventures, is unable to give Bassanio a direct loan. Instead he offers to use his good credit to get a loan for Bassanio. Bassanio finds Shylock , a Jewish moneylender, and convinces him to give a loan of three thousand ducats as long as Antonio will sign the contract. In a rather unusual twist, instead of charging the Christian men interest, Shylock agrees to waive it as long as Antonio promises him a pound of his flesh as collateral. Antonio, thinking this is a "merry sport," accepts the condition of the bond (contract) and signs it.

Bassanio takes the money and prepares to go visit Portia , a wealthy heiress living in Belmont. She is unmarried because her father has decreed that all suitors must first select one of three caskets in order to marry her. The caskets, one made of gold, one of silver, and one of base lead, all contain different messages. Only one of these caskets contains a picture of Portia. The suitor who picks that casket will be granted permission to marry her.

Prior to Bassanio's arrival the Prince of Morocco tries his luck in choosing among the caskets. He picks the gold casket because it contains an inscription reading "what every man desires." Instead of Portia's picture, he finds a skull which symbolizes the fact that gold hides corruption. As part of losing the suit, he is further sworn to never propose marriage to any other woman, and must return to Morocco immediately. The next suitor, the Prince of Aragon , selects the silver casket which bears an inscription stating that it will give a man what he deserves. Inside is a picture of an idiot, indicating that his self-centered approach was foolish. He too leaves in shame.

Back in Venice, Jessica , the daughter of Shylock, has fallen in love with Lorenzo . They plan to escape one night when Shylock is invited to eat at Bassanio's house. After Shylock leaves ,Lorenzo goes to his house with two friends. Jessica appears at a window dressed as a boy and tosses a chest of money and jewels down to them. She then emerges from the house and runs away with Lorenzo.

Shylock, upon discovering that his daughter has run away with a lot of his money, blames Antonio for helping her escape. At the same time there are rumors developing in Venice that many of Antonio's ships, with which he expected to repay Shylock for the loan, have sunk or been lost at sea. Shylock begins to revel in the news that Antonio is losing everything because he wants to exact his pound of flesh in revenge for the many insults Antonio has dealt him throughout the years.

Bassanio arrives in Belmont and meets Portia. She remembers him as the dashing soldier with whom she fell in love several years earlier. Portia begs Bassanio to wait before choosing among the caskets, but he demands the right to start immediately. Without even properly reading the inscriptions, Bassanio selects the lead one because he considers it a threatening casket. Portia is overjoyed when he finds her portrait inside. She gives him a ring to seal their engagement and they prepare to get married the next day. Graziano , who has accompanied Bassanio to Belmont, tells him that he and Nerissa (Portia's friend) wish to be married as well.

A messenger arrives and hands Bassanio a letter from Antonio in which he informs Bassanio that he has lost all his money and must forfeit a pound of flesh to Shylock. Bassanio immediately tells Portia what has happened. She orders him to take six thousand ducats and return to Venice where he can pay Shylock and cancel the contract. After Bassanio and Graziano have left, Nerissa and Portia depart for Venice disguised as men.

Shylock has Antonio arrested and brought before the Duke of Venice , who presides over a court of justice. The Duke pleads with Shylock to forgive the contract and let Antonio go free. When he refuses, the Duke asks him how he expects any mercy if he is unable to offer it. The Duke then tells the gathered men that he is waiting for a doctor of the law to arrive.

Nerissa enters the court and hands a letter to the Duke which notifies him that a Doctor Bellario has sent an educated young doctor in his place. Portia arrives disguised as the Doctor Balthasar . She informs the Duke that she has studied the case and will preside over it. She first asks Shylock for the contract and looks it over. Bassanio offers to pay Shylock the six thousand ducats, but he refuses to accept the money, preferring instead the revenge of killing Antonio. Unable to find any loopholes, Portia grants Shylock his pound of flesh. Shylock, overjoyed at winning his case, holds a knife ready to cut into Antonio's breast.

Portia stops him by asking if he has a surgeon present to suppress the flow of blood. Shylock tells her that the bond said nothing about providing a doctor. She informs him that he may have his pound of flesh, but that if he sheds a single drop of blood then Venice can take away his lands and wealth according to the law. Shylock, clearly unable to comply with this law, asks instead that he be given the six thousand ducats. Portia refuses his request, explaining that she has already ruled according to the contract, and that it must be carried out.

Portia then starts to read the contract literally, reaffirming that Shylock must take exactly one pound of flesh, no more and no less, or he will violate the contract and die. Shylock tells the court that he wishes to completely drop his case and forgive Antonio the entire three thousand ducats. Portia again refuses his request, explaining that the law in Venice states that if any foreigner conspires against the life of a Venetian, half his wealth is to be given to the man against whom he conspired, and half is taken as a fine by the state. In addition, the Duke is granted the power of life and death over him.

When Shylock is pardoned by the Duke, he informs the court that he would prefer death rather than lose everything he owns. Antonio asks the court to return the fine of half of Shylock's wealth provided Shylock converts to Christianity. In addition, Antonio declares he will keep his share in a trust for Jessica and Lorenzo. Portia agrees to this, and also makes Shylock promise to give all his money to Lorenzo upon his death.

After the trial Bassanio thanks "Dr. Balthasar" (Portia) for "his" good work and offers "him" anything "he" desires. Portia asks him for the ring she had given him earlier as a token of their love. He is upset about giving it to her since he thinks she is "Balthasar." However, after Antonio points out that he nearly lost his life for Bassanio, Bassanio pulls off the ring and hands it to her.

Portia and Nerissa return to Belmont dressed normally. Lorenzo and Jessica have been living there, enjoying the comfortable life Belmont offers. Soon after the two women arrive, Bassanio and Graziano also return from Venice. The happy reunion is destroyed when Portia asks Bassanio about the ring (which he gave away). She forgives him only after Antonio vouches for Bassanio's fidelity.

Portia then gives Antonio the ring and has him hand it to Bassanio. He is shocked to see it is the same ring he gave "Balthasar." Portia finally tells him the truth about Balthasar. The play ends with three happy couples: namely Lorenzo and Jessica, Nerissa and Graziano, as well as Portia and Bassanio. However, Antonio and Shylock remain outcasts, separated from the happy ending.

Merchant of Venice Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Merchant of Venice is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Explain Portias tactics. Why does she appear to support Shylock at first?

When Portia arrives in court, she asks, "Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?" (4.1.169). Indeed, given the confusion so many people have with the title, it is often this very question which is asked. Scholars have tried to attribute her...

Describe merchant of venice as romantic comedy

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.

ACT III SCENE 3: What do you think Shylock means when he says, “it is my humour”?

This could be defined as "this is what I feel like doing".

Study Guide for Merchant of Venice

Merchant of Venice study guide contains a biography of William Shakespeare, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Essays for Merchant of Venice

Merchant of Venice literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Merchant of Venice.

• The Victorious Woman in Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice
• Father-Daughter Relationships in The Merchant of Venice
• Mercy and the Masquerade: Trial and Performance in The Merchant of Venice
• Christianity and Judaism in The Merchant of Venice: Imperfect Faith
• The Anti-Semitic Question in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

Lesson Plan for Merchant of Venice

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E-Text of Merchant of Venice

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The Merchant of Venice

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Summary and Study Guide

The Merchant of Venice is a play written in the 1590s by the English playwright William Shakespeare. It concerns a Jewish moneylender in Venice named Shylock who is determined to extract a pound of flesh from a merchant who fails to pay a debt on time. The play remains controversial due to the anti-Semitic stereotypes it perpetuated in its time and for centuries thereafter. Despite this, the play continues to be read and performed frequently, with many directors opting to frame Shylock as a tragic hero rather than a villain.

Citations for this study guide are sourced from the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Plot Summary

Bassanio is a Venetian nobleman seeking to marry a wealthy heiress named Portia . With his finances in shambles, he calls on his best friend Antonio to lend him the 3,000 ducats he needs to sail to Portia’s home in Belmont and present himself as a suitor. Antonio, a merchant, has all his assets tied up in ongoing shipping ventures. Expecting a cash infusion once his ships return from their voyages, Antonio borrows the 3,000 ducats from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender he frequently antagonizes with anti-Semitic comments. Given that Shylock rightly perceives Antonio as his enemy, the moneylender forgoes interest on the loan and instead demands a pound of Antonio’s flesh, should the merchant be unable to repay the loan within three months.

As Bassanio, Antonio, and Shylock negotiate the terms of the loan, Shylock’s daughter Jessica plots to rob her father, elope with Bassanio’s friend Lorenzo , and convert to Christianity. Lorenzo and Jessica escape with thousands of ducats worth of jewelry and travel to Belmont, where Bassanio is headed to woo Portia.

Meanwhile, at Portia’s Belmont estate, the heiress is forced to pick a husband based on an odd scheme stipulated in her deceased father’s will. Suitors must choose either a gold casket, a silver casket, or a lead casket. If the suitor chooses correctly, he will marry Portia. If he does not, he is sworn to secrecy and forced to leave Belmont immediately. So far, Portia has shown little interest in any of her suitors, all of whom fail to pick the correct casket.

When Bassanio arrives at Belmont, Portia is thrilled, having met him and deemed him worthy years earlier. Rejecting superficial appearances, he picks the dull lead casket, the correct choice, and secures Portia’s hand in marriage. Bassanio’s friend Gratiano and Portia’s waiting maid Nerissa also decide to marry.

Just then, Bassanio receives a letter from Antonio. In it, Antonio reveals that his ships are likely wrecked and that he has no money to pay Shylock by the due date. Shylock, meanwhile, is adamant that he collect the pound of flesh as stipulated in the contract. When pressed why, he says it is revenge against Antonio for denying his humanity as a Jew. He says, “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? [...] If you prick us, do we not bleed?” (3.1.57-64).

After the weddings, Portia gives Bassanio 9,000 ducats and instructs him and Gratiano to rush to Venice to save Antonio’s life. After they leave, Portia hatches a scheme to pose as a prominent male lawyer chosen by the duke of Venice to help adjudicate the dispute between Shylock and Antonio. Nerissa accompanies her, dressed as a male clerk. During the proceeding, the duke defers to Portia’s supposed legal expertise, vowing to follow her ruling. When she and Nerissa enter the courtroom dressed as men, neither Bassanio nor Gratiano recognizes them.

Bassanio offers Portia’s 9,000 ducats—three times the principal—but Shylock insists on obtaining a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Portia seizes on Shylock’s adherence to the precise language of the contract and rules that while Shylock is entitled to the pound of flesh, the contract does not entitle him to any of Antonio’s blood. If he spills even a drop of Antonio’s blood while cutting off the pound of flesh, he will have violated the contract. Moreover, Portia finds Shylock guilty of attempted murder, the penalty for which involves forfeiting half his assets to Antonio. When Portia asks Antonio if he would like to display the mercy Shylock denied him, Antonio says Shylock can keep his assets as long as he bequeaths them to Jessica and Lorenzo upon his death. Antonio adds that Shylock must convert to Christianity or the agreement is void.

After the proceedings, Bassanio tries to give Portia—still posing as the lawyer—the 3,000-ducat principal for helping out Antonio. The disguised Portia and Nerissa say all they want in return are the rings they gave Bassanio and Gratiano on their wedding day, which they promised never to take off. With great reluctance, Bassanio and Gratiano agree to give up the rings.

Back at Belmont, an undisguised Portia and Nerissa feign outrage over their husbands’ decision to give away the rings. After verbally torturing the men for a few more minutes, Portia and Nerissa finally show them the rings, revealing that they were the lawyer and clerk all along.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

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This story hinges on the (now proverbial) pound of flesh. Bassanio is a poor gentleman in love with a rich lady, Portia. While Bassanio is upfront with Portia about his poverty — and she could care less — he can’t bring himself to propose to her without a few coins to his name. So, he goes to Antonio, the titular merchant of Venice and a close friend, and asks for a loan. Antonio is free and easy about making loans without requiring interest payments. Antonio says he’d gladly hand over the money to Bassanio, but all his money is tied up in his ships at sea. He, furthermore, tells Bassanio that if anyone will make him loan, the merchant can easily cover it. Antonio has tons of merchandise arriving in the next couple months from all around the world. The loan amount is small compared to what Antonio intends to earn from selling his goods.

The problem is that the only other game in town for loans is a Scrooge-esque lender named Shylock. Shylock is hard enough to deal with as it is, but he has it in for Antonio, in particular. Besides the fact that Antonio frequently offers interest-free loans — cutting into Shylock’s business — Antonio has also kept Shylock from collecting collateral by paying off other people’s loans before said loans went into default. (Maybe that’s why there were no other lenders in all of Venice?) To be fair, Shylock claims that his gripe with Antonio is that the latter is always leveling antisemitic slurs and other insults at the lender. At any rate, Shylock says he’ll make the loan of 3,000 Ducats, but, instead of ship or merchandise, he requires a pound of flesh as bond. Antonio, for reasons of friendship and the fact that he believes he will have a windfall by then, agrees to Shylock’s terms. If he doesn’t repay the 3,000 ducats in three months, Antonio will have a pound of flesh cut from his chest.

[Spoilers follow.] Bassanio takes the cash and goes traveling to make his proposal. First, he is required to play a “Let’s Make a Deal” game in order to earn the opportunity to wed Portia. The game involves three boxes (i.e. caskets): one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead. Inside one of them is a portrait of Portia, but the others are losers. All a prospective suitor has to go by is a brief inscription. By the time Bassanio arrives the reader has seen two Princes’s failed attempts at this courtship game. The inscriptions with the gold and silver boxes flatter Portia and the suitor, respectively. The inscription on the leaden box acknowledges that the marriage will not be all sunshine and roses, and that is the box Bassanio has the wisdom to choose. Unfortunately, shortly after he does so, he learns that a couple of Antonio’s ships wrecked at sea and the others haven’t been heard from, and – by now – the loan is in default.

Bassanio heads out to Venice with triple the Shylock’s money from his generous and wealthy new wife, planning to dispose of the situation. However, Shylock won’t budge on the terms of the bond. A drama plays out in the courtroom. Portia, anticipating the Shylock might not take the lucrative offer, has her butler take a letter to a legal expert and has said servant return with the lawyer’s reply posthaste. Portia and her handmaid disguise themselves as men – a lawyer and legal clerk, respectively – and catch up with the legal proceedings in Venice. After no one (i.e. the Duke, Bassanio, nor Portia-in-disguise as lawyer) is able to reason with the Shylock, Portia-as-lawyer tells him that he may proceed with cutting away the pound of flesh. However, the bond document says nothing about blood. So, if Shylock spills any of Antonio’s blood, he will be guilty of assault (at the least) and murder in the likely event that Antonio dies. Not to mention, going an ounce over a pound would be a breach of contract to be severely countered. This turns the tables, and Antonio and friends end up exploiting the situation to force the Shylock to convert religion as well as dictating the disposition of the lender’s estate (not to mention he’s still out his 3,000 ducats.)

[Spoiler end.] This play has a tense story line, particularly for a comedy, and is a gripping read. However, it’s also one of the most controversial Shakespearean works for its antisemitic and racist comments. On the other hand, there are reasons to believe that Shakespeare might have been engaging in satire. First, I mentioned that Shylock doesn’t cite loss of business as his quarrel with Antonio, but rather that the merchant has repeatedly insulted and slandered him. While we don’t see direct evidence of this behavior, the fact that Antonio rapes Shylock with his religion (by that I mean forcing a conversion using the threat of State force,) makes it ring true. Second, but continuing on this theme, there are a number of points during which the Shylock is sympathetic, most notably the famous “If you prick us, do we not bleed?…” monologue. Third, we learn that Shylock has a delightful daughter named Jessica, leading the reader to the conclusion that perhaps Shylock isn’t a jerk because he’s a Jew, but is a jerk who happens to be a Jew. Finally, the degree to which Antonio and his friends rake Shylock over the coals at the end of the court scene tarnishes Antonio’s virtue and makes Shylock sympathetic once again. The “turn the other cheek” approach of Christianity gives way to Old Testament vengefulness.

Like many of Shakespeare’s plays (notably “The Taming of the Shrew”,) accusations of sexism are also common, but if there were an award for BOSS of this play it would go to Portia, hands down. True, she has to pretend to be a man to get it all done, but those were those the times. The need for disguise also facilitates a prank that she and her handmaid play on their new husbands, regarding their wedding rings. While they are forced to comply with the dictates of the age, the women in this play certainly hold their own as strong characters. Still, I can’t say the degree to which Shakespeare was a satirist versus an anti-Semite / racist / sexist, but it’s a testament to the richness of his stories and the depth of his characters that his works can be interpreted so diversely.

It’s a masterpiece. Read it.

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26 thoughts on “ BOOK REVIEW: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare ”

Better still, go see a prodution of it!

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Thank you for visiting and liking my post today on writing a Haiku. I am delighted to see your blog – and I plan to read many of your reviews. This is a stellar FIND for me today – I took as many courses in Shakespeare as I could during my academic training – the classes always went to Stratford on Avon in Canada to see them in person. AWESOME plays. Awesome place to go.

I liked your book review! I had acted in a ‘Merchants of Venice’ play, and I was Nerissa.

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As a former long-time teacher of British Literature, your book review caught my attention. Thank you for the review and for stopping by my blog. 📚 😊

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It’s very dangerous to apply twenty-first century values to medieval writing. Remember at the time Shakespeare was writing women did not even appear on stage. My personal opinion is after sitting through several classes on various plays, we are probably better served by seeing any performance. As literature, I think they fall flat. In spite of glimmers of deathless prose. “Men now safely tucked in bed will rue the day & wish they were here….”

I agree, it’s always good to see plays acted although there is some evidence to suggest that playwrights wrote plays for the literate members of families to read aloud to their families.

Better than Cliff Notes, but nothing is like reading the words of the Bard. Be well, stay safe.

I agree that this play should be seen as satire of antisemitism; the sexism is however completely unconscious and routine for its time. The irony of seeing about playing a woman pretending to be a man should not be discounted. Thanks for drawing my attention to your very well written and thoughtful blog.

I like the Al Pacino film version of this play.

You might have a series here to be entitled “Shorts on Shakespeare”. Educational and entertaining -well done.

I saw a Royal Shakespeare Company version of this play set in modern day Las Vegas. A brilliant production that showed most of the charaters as feeling in control of their own destinies and yet it had a wonderfully ambiguous ending that still, over 10 years later, prompts me to think about what the play is saying.

Thank you for giving my blog a read! 😀 I just finished reading the review of Merchant of Venice by you. It is adequately well-explained. This reminded me of a skit I performed on one of a scene of this amazing play.!

Try Hamlet next. It’s amazing. I saw Rosencrantz and Guildenstern off Broadway years ago and was blown away. But you have to at least read Hamlet first. I took an entire class on Hamlet in college and was amazed how much I had missed merely by reading it one time. There is so much in every line in that play.

I’ve read it. One of his best, no doubt.

A very well written book review. It brings back memories of my university days when we studied Shakespeare. We adored those classes wherein our teacher used to read out the plays in a dramatic manner. I plan to read all your reviews. Thanks for connecting.

Thank you very much.

Nice review. I have often wondered whether the plot device around the pound of flesh (but no drop of blood) is an ironic reference to kosher meat. But I can’t remember ever reading any commentary on the Merchant of Venice which refers to this.

I studied this in college and today I am taking the same for tenth graders. I am so happy and fortunate to read your splendid review.

Great play choice, Portia’s is quick witted, her potency comes from her ability to make the law work for her – for a woman now it is often difficult, then virtually impossible, high five to that woman!

I studied this play for O levels. Portia is boss (hahaha). I still remember her speech: “Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh, but in the cutting of it…” etc.. From the island of Barbados which was parisitised by Christians, I always related more to Shylock. Ill-treatment can make anyone a Shylock and morality clearly doesn’t require religion. It requires empathy.

Thank you for this review. I certainly agree with you about Portia. Her quality of mercy is not strained.

I taught Merchant many times to high school kids. Shakespeare saw too deeply into the human character to be a racist. He gives Shylock a voice that can’t be ignored: his “hath not a Jew” speech testifies to this. Thanks for this post!

Your review made for entertaining reading but I try never to apply twenty-first century values to writing from a past century. This applies as much to the 19th and 20th, as to Shakespeare’s day. It’s enough to note the differences and then just read the play or book to engage with the ideas, something Shakespeare had in abundance. It was stimulating to read your take on the play.

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The Merchant of Venice: Synopsis & Plot Summary

Plot summary.

Bassanio, needing money to be a suitor to Portia, asks his friend Antonio for a loan. Antonio’s money is all tied up in shipments away from Venice, so he approaches Shylock, a money-lender. Shylock agrees to lend the money, on condition that if Antonio does not pay it back by an appointed time, Shylock may cut a pound of flesh from him. Not taking him seriously, Antonio agrees. Bassanio prepares to leave, allowing his friend Gratiano to accompany him. Launcelot Gobbo, Shylock’s servant, decides to leave him, telling his father about his plan. Lorenzo, with the help of Solanio, Salerio and Gratiano, plot to help Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, to escape. While Shylock is out dining with Antonio, Jessica and Lorenzo elope with some of Shylock’s money. Meanwhile Portia is unhappy with her suitors. Her father has decreed that she must marry the man who chooses from three caskets the one containing her picture. Fortunately for Portia, both the Prince of Morocco and Arragon both fail, being seduced by the external glamour of the two incorrect caskets. When Bassanio arrives he chooses the right casket. Gratiano falls in love with Nerissa, Portia’s waiting woman. In Venice, Solanio and Salerio hear that some of Antonio’s ships are lost, and Shylock promises to redeem his bond. Another Jew, Tubal, brings him news of Antonio’s loss and Jessica’s fortune. Portia and Nerissa give Bassanio and Gratiano rings in honour of their love, and make them vow never to be parted from them. Salerio arrives with Lorenzo and Jessica, bringing news that Antonio, unable to repay his loan, has been arrested and that Shylock is demanding his bond. Bassanio returns to Venice with money from Portia to repay the loan. Shylock refuses to listen to Antonio’s pleas. Portia and Nerissa travel to Venice, disguised as a lawyer called Balthasar and his clerk, to defend Antonio against Shylock, leaving Lorenzo and Jessica in charge of the house. At the court, the Duke hears Shylock present his case, protesting but accepting the legal validity of the claim. Shylock rejects the offer of money from Bassanio. ‘Balthasar’ arrives and agrees that Shylock must take his bond, if he will not be merciful, but only if the pound of flesh is exactly excised and no blood is spilt. Realizing this cannot be done, Shylock tries to leave, but because he has tried to take the life of Antonio, his goods are confiscated, and his life falls into Antonio’s hands. Antonio lets him live if he agrees to become a Christian and gives his possessions as a dowry to Lorenzo and Jessica when he dies. Shylock agrees, and leaves. By way of thanks for their work, the disguised Portia and Nerissa each ask for the ring they had given Bassanio and Gratiano in their true identities. Reluctantly the men agree. Portia and Nerissa then return to Belmont, where Jessica and Lorenzo are waiting. When Bassanio and Gratiano arrive soon after, along with Antonio, the woman trick their men into begging forgiveness for giving their rings away. They then reveal their identities at the court. Antonio learns that his ships are safe. The couples prepare for their marriage. Discuss this play in our forums.

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The Merchant of Venice

Synopsis and plot overview of shakespeare's the merchant of venice.

• In this section

TL;DR (may contain spoilers): Shylock asks for a pound of flesh as part of a loan contract (weird), Bassanio agrees to it (weirder), and Portia saves the day by cross-dressing and pretending to practice the law (perfectly normal).

The Merchant of Venice Summary

Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew Shylock to help his friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend, dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio. 

More detail: 3 minute read

In Venice, a merchant named Antonio worries that his ships are overdue. As his colleagues offer comfort, his young friends—Bassanio, Graziano, and Lorenzo—arrive. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan, so that he can pursue the wealthy Portia, who lives in Belmont. Antonio cannot afford the loan. Instead, he sends Bassanio to borrow the money on the security of Antonio's expected shipments.

At Belmont, Portia and her maid, Nerissa, discuss the suitors who have come in response to Portia's father's strange will. The will says Portia may only marry a man who chooses the correct casket made from three possible options: gold, silver, and lead. Much to Portia's distress, all her suitors are unsatisfactory. However, she does fondly remember a time when Bassanio came to Belmont, and that leaves her with some hope. 

Bassanio approaches Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, about the loan. Shylock holds a grudge against Antonio for his lending practices and apparent antisemitism. Still he offers Bassanio the loan. Instead of charging interest, seemingly as a kind of joke, he asks for a pound of Antonio's flesh if the loan isn't repaid within three months. The bond is agreed to (who wouldn't agree to that?) and Bassanio prepares to leave for Belmont with his friend Graziano. 

All that glisters is not gold — Merchant of Venice, Act 2 Scene 7

Meanwhile, one of Shylock's servants, Launcelot, wishes to change masters and persuades Bassanio to employ him. Shylock's daughter, Jessica, also longs to leave home. She wants to become a Christian and marry Antonio's friend Lorenzo. Before he departs to serve his new master, Launcelot takes a letter to Lorenzo that contains plans for Lorenzo and Jessica to elope that night. When Shylock goes out, Jessica escapes to elope, taking gold and jewels with her. The following day, Bassanio sets sail for Belmont, while Shylock rages over the loss of his daughter and the treasures she has stolen. 

In Belmont, one of Portia’s suitors (the Prince of Morocco) chooses the golden casket, while another (the Prince of Aragon) selects silver. Both chose the wrong casket and are unsuccessful. As Aragon leaves, Bassanio is announced. Portia eagerly goes to greet him. 

If you prick us, do we not bleed? — Merchant of Venice, Act 3 Scene 1

After a few days, Shylock hears that his daughter Jessica is squandering her stolen wealth in Genoa. He begins to rail bitterly against Christians. He reminds Antonio's friends that if the loan is not repaid on time, he will insist on the original agreement of one pound of flesh. 

Back in Belmont, Bassanio chooses the lead casket, and in so doing, he wins Portia. His friend Graziano asks for Portia's maid Nerissa to be his wife. Portia gives her ring to Bassanio, making him promise never to give it to another. As Lorenzo and Jessica come to Belmont, news arrives that Antonio's ships have been lost at sea, and he is now bankrupt. They are also told Shylock insists on the fulfilment of his bond and has had Antonio arrested. Bassanio and Graziano leave in haste to help Antonio. Portia and Nerissa resolve to follow afterwards, disguised as lawyers. 

In the court in Venice, Shylock demands his pound of flesh. The Duke, presiding over the court, seeks legal advice from the lawyer "Balthazar," who is Portia in disguise. Portia pleads for Shylock to have mercy on Antonio. Bassanio offers his wife's money, which would more than pay the debt, but Shylock refuses to accept. Antonio's death is only prevented as Balthazar explains the bond is for flesh but not for a single drop of blood. So Shylock cannot collect the pound of flesh. 

For threatening the life of a Venetian, Shylock forfeits his goods to Antonio and Bassanio. Antonio refuses his share of compensation and asks for it to be put in a trust for Lorenzo and Jessica. He also demands that Shylock becomes a Christian. Broken and in submission, Shylock leaves the court. Bassanio and Graziano thank the lawyers, who ask for their rings as legal fees. Bassanio and Graziano refuse until Antonio intervenes and makes them give the rings to the lawyers. 

Undisguised, Portia and Nerissa return home at night to find Lorenzo and Jessica enjoying the tranquillity of Belmont. When their husbands arrive, Portia and Nerissa scold them for giving away their rings, pretending they had been given away to other women. Before long, they reveal themselves as the lawyers from the trial. Antonio receives news that his ships have returned safely after all (looks like we didn't need to go through all this mess in the first place!). The play ends as the three couples prepare to celebrate their marriages.

For additional reading, see our blogs on The Merchant of Venice

Find quotes on marriage from The Merchant of Venice and other Shakespeare Plays: Shakespeare Quotes on Marriage

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By William Shakespeare Probably written between 1595-1598

General Note: In January 2009 I decided that I�d like to go back and read all the plays of William Shakespeare, perhaps one a month if that works out. I hadn�t read a Shakespeare play since 1959, 50 years ago! But I had read nearly all of them in college. I wanted to go back, start with something not too serious or challenging, and work my way through the whole corpus. Thus I began with The Two Gentlemen of Verona. At this time I have no idea how the project will go, nor if it will actually lead me through the entire corpus of Shakespeare�s plays. However, I will keep a separate page listing each play I�ve read with links to any comments I would make of that particular play. See: List of Shakespeare�s play�s I�ve read and commented on

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

"I am a Jew/ Hath not a Jew eyes? 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, heal'd by the same means/ warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer/ as a Christian is? 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?"

�Even such a husband Hast thou of me as she is for a wife. [Jessica] Nay, but ask my opinion too of that. [Lorenzo] I will anon. First let us go to dinner. [Jessica] Nay, let me praise you while I have stomach. [Lorenzo] No, pray thee, let it serve for table talk; Then howsome�er thou speak�st, �mong other things I shall digest it. [Jessica] Well, I�ll set you forth.

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The Merchant of Venice - Entire Play

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Antonio, the merchant in The Merchant of Venice , secures a loan from Shylock for his friend Bassanio, who seeks to court Portia. Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, recalls past insults from Antonio and, instead of asking interest on the loan, asks instead—in what he calls a “merry sport”—that if the loan is not repaid, Antonio will owe a pound of his own flesh.

Bassanio sails to Belmont, where the wealthy heiress Portia is being courted by suitors from around the world. Her father’s will requires that the successful suitor solve a riddle involving chests of gold, silver, and lead. Where others have failed, Bassanio succeeds by selecting the right chest. Portia marries Bassanio; her waiting woman, Nerissa, marries his friend Gratiano.

Shylock’s daughter, Jessica, has eloped with Bassanio’s friend Lorenzo, taking her father’s money with her. Shylock is devastated. When Antonio cannot repay the loan, Shylock demands the pound of flesh. When the news reaches Belmont, Bassanio returns to Venice. Portia and Nerissa also travel to Venice, disguised as a lawyer and his clerk. Portia uses the law to defeat Shylock and rescue Antonio.

Dates and sources

When was Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice was first performed? What stories inspired the play?

On 22 July 1598 an entry was made in the Stationers' Register for 'a booke of the Marchaunt of Venyce or otherwise called the Iewe of Venyce'. At this time, only members of the Stationer's Company were permitted to publish material for sale: any member wishing to print a book had to enter its title in advance in the Register.

In September that same year, Francis Meres's  Palladis Tamia  was also entered in the Register. Meres's book includes a list of Shakespeare's plays, as examples of the excellence of English drama -  The Merchant of Venice  in one of the six comedies listed.

Antonio's reference in the play to 'my wealthy Andrew' has been interpreted as an allusion to the St Andrew or San Andres, the rich Spanish galleon captured in Cadiz harbour by the Earl of Essex in the summer of 1596. This captured prize was much in the news; it brought great wealth to the Queen's coffers and became one of the largest ships in her service. This allusion means that the play cannot have been written before the late summer of 1596.

1596-7 seems the likeliest dates for the composition of  The Merchant of Venice , at which time Shakespeare was also working on  King John  and  Henry IV, Part I . The play was first printed in a quarto edition in 1600.

Sources 

Il pecorone.

There are many ancient legends and folk-tales from around the world in which a bargain is struck with a bond of human flesh as security. One version of the story is told by the Italian, Ser Giovanni Fiorentino, in his collection of tales,  Il Pecorone  (which means 'the big sheep' or 'the simpleton'). He wrote this in the late fourteenth century and it was printed in 1558. This Italian (and untranslated) version is Shakespeare's main source for his play.

According to Ser Giovanni, the story begins with a wealthy merchant, Ansaldo, equipping his god-son with a richly laden ship to trade abroad. The young man, Giannetto, finds himself in the port of Belmont where he tries to win the hand of the Lady. Success can only be won if the wooer manages to spend a whole night with her; failure is punished with the loss of all possessions. Twice Giannetto tries and fails, each time calling on his god-father to provide again for him. Only at the third attempt does he have the help of a young woman who confides that the wine offered to him is drugged. With this knowledge, Giannetto is able to win the lady and live at his ease in Belmont, forgetting that his newfound happiness has been bought by his god-father's generosity. Ansaldo could only afford to help Giannetto make his third voyage to Belmont by borrowing from a Jew, promising a pound of his flesh if he fails to repay the money.

When the unpaid debt falls due, Giannetto hurries back to Venice with money from his wife but the Jew refuses to be bought off. It is only when the Lady appears in court, in the disguise of a male lawyer, that the Jew is confounded. As she points out to him, if he takes more or less than a pound or drops any blood, his own life is forfeit. The Jew tears up the bond in frustration and Giannetto reluctantly responds to the lawyer's request of the ring given to him by his wife as a reward for his victory. Giannetto and Ansaldo go to Belmont where the Lady is very angry at her husband's loss of her ring. Finally she reveals the truth and Ansaldo is matched in marriage with the young woman who helped Giannetto avoid the drugged wine and win his own wife.

Gesta Romanorum

Shakespeare changes the way in which his Lady of Belmont is to be won. Instead of gaining access to the Lady's bed, his successful wooer must make the right choice from among three caskets. Again, this kind of test is an age-old motif in fairy-tales and legends. The most recent English version available to Shakespeare is that in the 1595 translation of the medieval collection of stories, the  Gesta Romanorum .

Zelauta (The Fountain of Fame)

Shakespeare also trebles the pairs of wooers in the story and leaves his rich merchant figure alone at the end of the play. His confident handling of a complicated and multi-stranded plot is his own achievement but still he could learn from the fast-paced Italian comedies of love, intrigue and disguise written in the sixteenth century. Antony Munday's  Zelauta ( or  The Fountain of Fame ) printed in 1580 also shows an influence and may in turn have influenced Shakespeare. Munday tells the story of two friends, in love with two girls, one of whom is the daughter of a rich usurer. They pledge their right eyes in order to borrow money from the usurer. When the usurer brings them to court, they are saved by the wit of the young women, hidden behind their male disguise as lawyers. They too use the argument that the usurer must not shed a drop of blood in his extraction of his fleshly payment.

Shakespeare was not the first Elizabethan playwright to place a Jew at the centre of his drama. In 1579, Stephen Gosson referred to a play called  The Jew  which he describes as showing 'the greediness of worldly choosers, and the bloody minds of usurers'. That play has not survived, unlike Christopher Marlowe's  The Jew of Malta , which was first performed in 1589. Marlowe's play was a great success and must have haunted Shakespeare's imagination long after its first performance. Barabas, the unscrupulous cynic of Marlowe's grimly comic drama, is very different from Shylock, although both have nubile daughters and heaps of gold.

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