After having read the first act of The Merchant of Venice I have become very interested in the characters in this play and the relationships that they have with one another, and overall how these relationships will play out in the play’s dramatic action. The one relationship that interests me most is the relationship/friendship between Antonio and Bassanio. What interests me most about these two characters is why exactly did Antonio agree to take out a loan for Bassanio? It is made clear that Bassanio already owes Antonio a significant amount of money, which he has yet to pay back, so why then would Antonio agree to lend him more? Also, more striking to me was the fact that Antonio has no money to speak of right now because all of his money is wrapped up in risky business ventures. The shear thought that Antonio would even consider lending Bassanio money seems ludicrous to me because it could ruin Antonio (which I have a hunch will probably happen?). Therefore, based on the amount of risk that Antonio is taking on by agreeing to lend Bassanio money, it leads me to look for an ulterior motive on Antonio’s part. To me, Antonio just seems all too willing and quick to lend Bassanio the money, which leads me to question his motives. Is Antonio just trying to be a nice guy/ good friend? Does he have some secret or evil plan up his sleeve? Or maybe, and this may seem a little far stretched, does Antonio harbor some romantic feelings for Bassanio? All of these questions have been plaguing me throughout this first act and I hope that they will be answered.
The character of Portia also really caught my interest. What really interests me about Portia is how, at the time, she follows so rigidly the stipulations in her father’s will, even though he is already dead. It seems to me that this rigid following will not last long because as her scene progresses it is made clear that she is somewhat cunning when it comes to her inability to choose her suitor. When Portia makes the suggestion to I think get the drunkard German duke especially drunk so that he cannot choose the right chest. I think that Portia thinking this way maybe foreshadows her eventually finding a loophole in her father’s little task, so that she is able to choose her own husband (who will most likely be Bassanio?)
Finally the character of Shylock is really intriguing to me because I just can’t seem to decide if he is the villainous/evil character or not? I actually feel more sympathy towards the character of Shylock than hatred, and I would think that if he was indeed the villain that hatred or loathing would be the feeling that I should be experiencing? The character of Shylock, unlike some of Shakespeare’s other villainous characters, like Iago, doesn’t have any asides (so far), where he expresses his evil intentions to the audience etc. But maybe it’s just too early on in the play and maybe I will learn to hate Shylock as the play progresses? But I don’t really know… right now I just feel sorry for Shylock and the persecution that he has endured at the hands of Antonio and others.
4 comments:
Portia really interested me as well. This play is supposed to be a comedy, and the only time I even smiled during the first act was when Portia was talking to Nerissa. It seems that most of the comedy is going to come from the female characters of the play, and most of that is going to be derived from their bending gender stereotypes, like how outspoken Portia is. She's pretty complex in terms of her gender construction because while she fulfills her role as an obedient woman in that she is adhering to her (dead) father's wishes and is about to enter into a binding legal contract in which she will be subject to a man (marriage,)she still tries to exhibit some sort of agency, which is apparent in her speech. Also, she's supposedly this paragon of virtue, but she is not at all meek like Lucrece was, and already she has said something that is offensive to my 21st century sensibilities: "If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I would rather he would shrive me than wive me." Isn't this contradictory to the Christian maxim of valuing a person's character over their appearance? I mean, she hasn't even met him yet and she is already saying that even if he were a good man, she would not want to marry him.So, I'm not sure whether she really is a woman to look up to, or whether she's just someone who is the result of her environment. Her comment on the last suitor's race makes me wonder how she will treat Shylock.
Speaking of Shylock, I don't see him as a villain. The villain of the play isn't a person/character, I don't think, but rather the way in which people create "the other," and then how that differentiation, which is most often derogatory, gets internalized by he who is deemed to be outside of the community. My question is whether Shylock would act the way he does if he were in a community in which there were more Jews than Christians.
This could be influenced by one of my other classes (we're reading Puritan writings), but I think part of what compels Antonio to lend the money could be religion based as well. Sure, they establish that they have a bond deep enough so Antonio would not think twice about lending. Of course, remember that Shakespeare has also set up a comparison of contemporary Jewish and Christian beliefs, mannerisms, etc. by his portrayal of Shylock. Forgiving another of past debts is a bit more heavily emphasized in the New Testament than the Old Testament in the Bible. I could be off, though.
This is a good discussion of the post, and I agree that theological issues are clearly relevant here. Why does Antonio loan money freely and openly? Perhaps because he believes this is the Christian way to act. We'll be talking more about how the play shows a sharp contrast between money flowing freely (Antonio, Portia) and being pent up (ShyLOCK, the caskets).
Portia is obviously a very intelligent character. She's really good at finding loopholes in contracts and such and sneaking her way around things as you will see in the last two acts of the play, for those of you who haven't read it before. I also feel bad for Shylock most of the time. I guess I just see him as a sorry old man rather than a vicious villain, like my really cranky 80-year-old next door neighbor sort of character. I think most of the time his intentions are not really malicious, it's just the way he goes about doing things. Sometimes I think he just wants other people to hurt as bad as he does, which is why he comes off as so evil.
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