After reading Act I scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice my
first thought was “Oh wow, another one of Shakespeare’s male character
sulking…what a surprise.”
Antonio’s sour mood immediately reminded me of Romeo’s lovesick
depression in Act I, scene 2 of Romeo and
Juliet, as well as Orsino’s glum demeanor in the opening scene of Twelfth Night. Though the reason for Antonio’s depression differs from
Romeo and Orsino’s, the readers are still introduced to an unsatisfied male
character at the start of the play.
In fact, the first line of the play immediately informs us of this
dissatisfaction: “In sooth, I know not why I an so sad.” (1).
I find this reoccurrence of depressed,
unsatisfied, or sulking men at the beginning of Shakespeare’s plays a very
interesting topic of discussion.
And what’s unique about Antonio is that he doesn’t even know why he’s
feeling the way he is. It
immediately introduces his character as whiny, indecisive, and a bit of a
crybaby. However, it seems that
Shakespeare creates these characters just so he can later make fun of them
through the mouths of his other characters. And I think that this is brilliant and hysterical. Shakespeare writes these heart wrenching
and soul quivering poetic passages that describe his characters’ depressed and
dejected dispositions and then immediately mocks it. For example, in lines 77-79, Antonio says to Graziano: “I
hold the world but as the world, Graziano—A stage where everyman must play a
part, And mine a sad one.”
Graziano, in lines 79-104 , then proceeds to mock Antonio’s serious and
over-analytical attitude. My
favorite part of this passage is when Graziano proclaims, “With mirth and
laughter let old wrinkles come.
And let my liver rather heat with wine than my heart cool with
mortifying groans” (lines 80-82).
Shakespeare is poking fun at Antonio and, more over, is poking fun at
his own writing.
Graziano’s
aforementioned passage is definitely my favorite part of Act I. He basically took the words right out
of my mouth and said exactly what I wanted to say to Antonio (yet in a much
more eloquent way, obviously). I
think that Graziano’s advice for Antonio is still so prevalent in today’s
world. A lot of people, like
Antonio, need a friend to sit them down and give them the “take a chill pill” speech
every now and then. Nobody wants
to be around the “Debbie downer.”
It was very refreshing to have the Shakespearean version of the “Debbie
downer” put in his place. Examples
such as this really solidify my enjoyment of Shakespeare’s sense of humor in
his writing. He can create a
beautiful character with depth and poetic solemnity…followed by another
character that makes fun of him and his somber poetry.
