Essay Sample about Shakespeare and the Merchant of Venice

The foundations of drama were laid by the Greeks. The tragedies of Aeschylus and Seneca, and the comedies of Terence, Aristophanes and Plautus are classics of the Western World. However, there has been no playwright held in higher regard than William Shakespeare. He is said to have used the English language in its full capacity. His works were successful despite disobeying the norms of the era.

Aristotle had laid certain ground rules for any play. They are known as Aristotle’s Unities. According to Aristotle, for a play to be coherent, these Unities must be satisfied. The first is the Unity of Time. It states that the duration of the action or story in the play must not be longer than a day. The second is the Unity of Place which stipulates that the setting of the play must be constant. Characters are not allowed to appear in various places. The last is the Unity of Plot according to which there must be only one plot and no sub-plots. Most of Shakespeare’s works defy all these Unities. Taking the Merchant of Venice as an example, the Unity of Time is surely violated as over the course of the play, Antonio borrows money from Shylock and is eventually imprisoned for forfeiting the deadline of his due payment. The stipulated time in the deed drawn by Shylock is three months, so three months have passed and the acting in real time has proceeded for only about three hours on the stage. The Unity of Place is violated as the drama takes place on several locations: Portia’s estate in Belmont, the streets of Venice, Shylock’s house, and the Duke of Venice’s court. The Unity of Plot is violated as the story of Jessica and Lorenzo’s elopement is a perceptible sub-plot to the story of the Merchant. It is thus clear that Shakespeare did not recognize the importance or use of the Classical Unities in his play.

In the time before Shakespeare, plays were not as we know it today. The plot usually did not contain human characters. It rather consisted of various forms of personalities. To cite some examples, “Innocence” or “Purity” would be portrayed as a young maiden dressed in white robes, “Vice” or “Dissipation” would be portrayed as a man having a lined face and dressed in black robes, and “Drunkenness” would be portrayed as a noisy and disorderly character trying to spoil a young man’s life. Such plays were called Moralities. They were set up by monks and were meant to instill positive attitude in the members of the congregation. Shakespeare was among the first few playwrights to introduce characters as human figures and individuals. He was also one of the first few to create plays for the entertainment of the people rather than their education.

Before Shakespeare, theatre was something relevant only to the wealthy or the aristocrats. Shakespeare’s works included characters demonstrating the middle and lower class. The characters of Lancelot Gobbo and Old Gobbo in the Merchant of Venice are clear evidence of this. Shakespeare also integrated poetry, verse, and drama. The rhymes about the boxes left by Portia’s father to help her choose a husband demonstrates this integration at work.

Shakespeare not only influence theatre, his realm of expertise, but also the English language as a whole. He introduced new words and phrases into the language which had never been used before. Warren King says, "In all of his work – the plays, the sonnets and the narrative poems – Shakespeare uses 17,677 words: Of those, 1,700 were first used by Shakespeare." Frequently used English phrases such as “Good riddance”, “A dish fit for the Gods”, and “Vanish into thin air” can all be attributed to Shakespeare. Shakespeare thus truly revolutionized the field of theatre as well as the greater realm of literature in the English language.

Over the course of his literary career, Shakespeare wrote and produced forty plays. Each of those plays had unique plotlines but do share certain similar themes. These themes are best represented in Shakespeare’s the Merchant of Venice.

One of the principal themes in all of Shakespeare’s plays and particularly in the Merchant of Venice is the element of love. Love is portrayed between Portia and Bassanio, Jessica and Lorenzo, and Nerissa and Gratiano. The main plot is that of Portia and Bassanio. Although it initially appears that Bassanio is more concerned with Portia’s wealth than with herself, when Bassanio chooses the correct casket, it is made clear that he actually loves her. When Nerissa reminds Portia of Bassanio, she remembers him very fondly hinting her love for him. The love story of Gratiano and Nerissa is not much elaborated by Shakespeare and appears to be an imitation of the romance between their master and mistress. There is not much fervor portrayed by Shakespeare regarding Gratiano and Nerissa. While Bassanio and Portia’s love story may have something to do with Portia’s inheritance, the love portrayed between Lorenzo and Jessica is true and pure. They cross religious lines and marry against the wishes of Jessica’s father which is rather unorthodox for the time. Lorenzo and Jessica are firm in their resolve and remain devoted to each other throughout the duration of the play. The theme of love is thus portrayed by Shakespeare in the Merchant of Venice.

Other important elements in the play are those of friendship and loyalty. Antonio and Bassanio share a deep bond of friendship which is portrayed throughout the length of the play. Antonio, the merchant after whom the play is named, has loaned Bassanio huge sums of money and has never charged interest. When Bassanio comes to him with a request for another loan, Antonio doesn’t have enough to furnish him, but instead of refusing the request, he asks Bassanio to borrow money from a lender and name Antonio as security. He signs a fatal contract with Shylock in order to obtain the money. Even as Shylock is demanding the forfeiture, Antonio does not blame Bassanio for anything. These actions clearly portray his compassion for Bassanio as a friend. Bassanio, on the other hand, demonstrates his compassion when he offers double the amount of money owed and if that was not enough, he offered his “flesh, blood, bones and all” just to save Antonio from perishing. Loyalty is aptly portrayed between the two friends. Portia also portrays loyalty as she adheres to her father’s will of the three caskets. Although she does not wish to choose a spouse by that way, she respects her father’s wishes and is loyal to him. Shakespeare thus portrays friendship and loyalty aptly.

The love of wealth is also portrayed elaborately in the play. Shakespeare depicts various perspectives on wealth. Bassanio openly admits that he is attracted to Portia’s beauty as well as her wealth. This, according to Shakespeare, does not demean his love for Portia. The greediest character is that of Shylock. He is angry at Antonio for diminishing his profits by lending money free of interest. His greed is also displayed when he cries out, “My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter, Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! Justice, the law, my ducats, and my daughter! A sealèd bag, two sealèd bags of ducats, Of double ducats, stol'n from me by my daughter! And jewels—two stones, two rich and precious stones—Stol'n by my daughter! Justice, find the girl! She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats.” This is a clear depiction that he values his wealth over his daughter and while he is upset with his daughter’s elopement, he is more concerned about his stolen wealth. On the contrary, Antonio has no greed for money whatsoever. He readily signs a fatal bond for the sake of Bassanio. Similarly, Portia is ready to give away all her wealth to save her husband’s friend. The various characters in this play thus have different levels of love for wealth.

Justice and Prejudice are other themes in the play. Antonio has a strong prejudice against Shylock and Shylock’s practices. This can be said for every other Christian character in the play and Venice as a whole at the time. Due to this prejudice, Antonio would often berate Shylock at the Rialto which caused Shylock to develop hatred for Antonio. When Antonio needed Shylock’s help, Shylock uses this leverage to exact revenge from Antonio for his past insults directed towards Shylock. According to Shylock, Antonio deserved the punishment he planned to give him, and he also believed that this punishment would provide him with justice.

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice thus reveals several aspects of human behavior. The drama also provides us with insight into the life of the Christians and Jews and the relations between them in the Elizabethan age. The play successfully portrays Shakespeare’s themes and his attitude towards the norms of theatre at the time. Shakespeare truly changed the perspective of the people regarding theatre forever.