Granted, it's only the first act, and yes, I know, not much has really happened in terms of plot development. But to reiterate a few previous comments, I also find it peculiar that we are still left in the dark about Antonio's reason for being so down-trodden at the beginning of the play. Another idea on the blog was why Antonio gave his word to lend Bassanio money so eagerly and easily. I think Shakespeare is setting up a relationship between love and money. Antonio, as stated in the first scene, is not depressed because of love, yet he gives his money to Bassanio so he can court an heiress. He denies love himself but encourages his best friend to find his "true love" by fueling the hope with money.
Another reason why I believe there is a relationship between love and money that we are yet to fully understand is because of the fate of Portia's marriage. Her father is described as "a moral man", yet his idea that whichever suitor chooses the box with the gold wins Portia's love comes off as careless and irrelevant.
All that being said, the opening act is intriguing and exciting like most plays by Shakespeare. I sense some irony in the works as well as some great plot twists, but at this point one can only speculate on what's to come.
3 comments:
I don’t see what Portia’s father did as careless and irrelevant. I would find it highly upsetting and restricting if I were in her shoes and could not pick my own husband but what he did is to ensure that money hungry suitors could not easily win her. As discussed in class and what we find out later, men are less likely to take the risk if they could potentially lose and also lose the ability to ever marry. And it says something about their money hungry character according to which box they choose. The dilemma here is that Bassanio could be considered money hungry, but at least he also likes the girl.
Interesting point, Brooke--is money grubbing okay if there is love involved? This play certainly seems to say so!
I don't think Antonio lent Bassanio the money necessarily to fuel his hope for love. Rather, that he lent him the money out of his love for him. In class we discussed the homosocial relationship between the Christian characters, which leads me to believe that Antonio lent Bassanio the money because he loved him so much as a friend that he didn't care whether he got paid back in two years or in twenty. There is a relationship between love and money, but I don't believe it is negative.
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