This play began with Antonio complaining that he was sad, and did not know why. The first reason to come to his friends' minds was, of course, that he was in love. Though he protested strongly that this was not the case, it cannot be denied that Antonio is the one who sits on the sidelines while everyone else in the play pursues their loves. More than that, he is the one who repeatedly offers everything he has to aid his friends in their pursuits.
In Act I Antonio offers his body as insurance for a loan of three thousand ducats, which starts the action of the play. In Act V he once again offers himself as surety, this time putting his very soul at Portia's mercy as insurance of Bassanio's faith and goodwill, in the hopes of bringing the conflict to a happy conclusion. The usual "rules" of a comedy would have someone who gives so freely and generously of himself rewarded in kind, usually by finding his true love and living happily ever after. Not so with Merchant.
Bassanio, Gratiano, and even Lorenzo find themselves well taken care of by the end of Act V. The first two are married to unspeakably rich women who, having forgiven them for being tricked out of their rings, will presumably be faithful and happy with them. The latter, who has already spent the money Jessica stole from her father, is promised half of Shylock's estate upon his (Shylock's) death, which presumably amounts to an impressive sum. So everyone is married, monetarily sound, and happy, right? Wrong.
There is a glaring flaw in the "happily ever after" of this play. Antonio, when all is said and done, finds himself alone in Portia's sitting room as all of his friends retire to their bedrooms to enjoy their new wives. Although it is revealed at the end that three of Antonio's ships have come in after all, and so he is not financially ruined, it must be noted that the cause of Antonio's sadness -love or otherwise- at the beginning of the play is never even addressed, much less resolved. He is in more or less the same situation as he was in Act I, which is emphasized by the final image of Antonio all by himself in the now-lonely sitting room. It is often questioned whether this play can be considered a comedy by modern standards. Based on this ending, I must question if it was truly a comedy even by the standards of Shakespeare's time.
2 comments:
To go along with Eric’s post, I have also heard in the past that it is said that Antonio loves Bassano. I do not know how much truth is to this, but I do find it interesting because Antonio risks everything for Bassano, and in the end, ends up alone. Could it be that he actually is in love with Antonio?
Hm. The ending, to me as well, is the most interesting aspect of the play. Why would Antonio remain alone? I think Lisa's comment is an arguable point, but also, it may be because of the Christian emphasis. Could Antonio be a representation of Jesus, who (as far as the Bible says) has little troubles with women or money? Antonio is at the brink of crucifixion during the climax of this play, and the choice by Shakespeare to not pair him off at the end could further exemplify his "Christian attitudes" by hyperbolic altruism.
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