The Merchant of Venice, written by the well-known playwright William Shakespeare, is a memorable comedy that centers on a conflict between a wealthy Venetian merchant named Antonio and a Jewish moneylender, Shylock, who agrees to lend Antonio 3000 ducats in order to fulfill Antonio’s best friend Ballerio’s will of wooing a wealthy noblewoman Portia. However, Antonio also signs a bond to yield a pound of his flesh if he’s unable to pay the loan punctually. Unfortunately, Antonio’s ships sank, leaving with him insufficient interest. Feeling biased of being Jew and not receiving Antonio’s interest, Shylock’s loathe toward Antonio soars, where he finally takes revenge by taking him to the court of Venice. At first, the court resolution was hosted by the duke of Venice, but later on, Ballerio’s wife Portia disguised herself as the lawyer and hosted the rest of the trial.The clever Portia insisted that according to the Venetian Law, Shylock must not make a single appearance of Antonio’s true blood. Portia condemns Shylock for conspiring a life of a Venetian citizen, and confiscates all Shylock’s properties and gives half of his fortune to Antonio.
Anti Semitism is a form of discrimination/ prejudice towards the Jews from the Christians that has persisted for over 2000 years and is still existing now. Anti Semitism resulted in many Jews being condemned, murdered, and led to the Jewish and Christian having tremendous religious wars. Abandoned by normal business, Jewish people could only do some abnormal business just like Shylock doing usury, which is lending money with high interest. No Jewish people had the ability to make a good living and everyone had no money/interest to maintain their basic living. This induces greediness but also reveals the social reality behind it.
In the Merchant of Venice, Antonio, as well as Ballerio and the rest of the Venetian showed Anti Semitism toward Shylock through their verbal rudeness and intolerance, which acts as the unusual part of the contract. Both Antonio and Gratiano compare Shylock as “mongrel/inexecrable dog”. Antonio also demonstrated untrustworthiness by breaking the promise of returning his interest before the due-date, serving as a “catalyst” of Shylock’s hatred and revenge emotion toward Antonio and the Christian majority. Shylock’s desire of revenge and ferociousness is depicted as “More than a lodged hate and certain loathing”. Because of this grievous hatred among Christian and the Jews, Shylock wants a pound of flesh from the chest of Antonio instead of money paid. Through "Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken, the only way to compensate or make equal for his fault is to kill him directly. Through the hostility of Antonio’s comments on Shylock and Shylock’s intense ambition to carry away Antonio’s life, the theme of Anti-semitism and deep hatred are revealed.
Mercy is the opposite of justice, composed of a complexity of various interpretations. Mercy in law generally refers to the act of forgiveness toward the person found guilty. It tends to weaken the crime and consequences of the criminal, but it’s more of a display of generosity. Of course, mercy is only given to people with good virtues or innocent people being accused. Although it seems impossible for mercy to win over justice nowadays because of the strictness of law, during the period of Shakespeare, mercy often prevails over the law. Mercy is shown or given by people with authentic, good, and moral virtues. According to the comedy, the duke of Venice and Portia begs Shylock to show mercy to Antonio, because in their perspective, they think Antonio’s a kind generous man who values friendship and is willing to support the Venetians selflessly. According to Portia, “The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven”, which means mercy exists because God shows mercy and salvation toward his people. The Duke of Venice and Portia both used mercy as an alternative to Shylock’s pursuit of justice. However, Shylock values no mercy, especially toward his enemy Antonio. Even at the end, the Christians saves Shylock's life by making the decision: “ pardon thee thy life before thou ask it: For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's; The other half comes to the general state”. Similarly, Antonio demonstrates mercy by “quit the fine for one half of his goods” and giving “his (Shylock’s) son Lorenzo and his daughter”. Fake mercy, on the other hand, is demonstrated by Gratiano and Ballerios in the lines “But life itself, my wife, and all the world,Are not with me esteem'd above thy life:I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all”. They value friendship over love and are willing to sacrifice their own wives and lend to their rings in order to save Antonio. Anyone can show mercy, but it depends on the person and how much loyalty you put in your way of showing mercy.
Hatred and revenge appears to have a cause-and-effect relationship. Whenever people develop loathing toward their enemy, they tend to seek revenge in order to gain back what they think they have “lost” or being deceived. In all of Shakespeare’s works, vengeance is used to portray a sense of deep loathe and hatred toward the person. His primary goal of inserting revengeful themes and plots is to depict violence and stir the audience. In Act 4 Scene 1 of the Merchant of Venice, Shylock’s motives for revenge are a complicated mix. Not even the most alluring valuable: money, can make him compromise of gaining “a pound of flesh near Antonio’s heart. Shylock’s absolute intolerance toward Antonio is induced by Antonio’s immorality intolerance. Using a debating strategy of sticking toward the Venetian Law, Shylock seeks revenge toward the entire Christianity, speaking up for Judaism by using"we " in ""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 Christian’s authoritarianism toward Shylock induces his source of anger/hatred. He would surely pay back against them no matter any circumstances.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare portrays a short comedy that conveys the theme of anti-semitism, real versus fake mercy, as well as hatred and revenge. Through expressing a simple story of court justice, Shakespeare depicts the current society at that time where Jews were significantly pressured by the Christian society. Shylock’s failure can be considered as an irony. Later on, the book also ingrains the themes of love, deceit, friendship, wealth…
Comments