The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, we are treated to the rivalry between a merchant, Antonio, and his enemy Shylock, a money-lender. While the play revolves around the loan Shylock provides Antonio, demanding a "pound of flesh" if not paid in a timely fashion, it is also a love story between Bassanio and Portia (Shakespeare, IV.i.115). There is also a love relationship between Jessica and Lorenzo, and a strong case might be made for Antonio loving Bassanio. Antonio's affection for Bassanio encourages him to secure a loan from Shylock, so he might win the hand of Portia. Throughout the play the bonds of law, religion and social custom or community are a primary focus. Deception pervades the play, from Bassanio presenting himself as a wealthy suitor to Portia masquerading as a wise male lawyer. Through the ties that "bind" members of Venice to contracts and each other, we discover that mercy is a necessary quality if a community is to respect its bonds. More than this, Shakespeare illustrates that even more important than mercy for successful relationship or bonds in law, religion and social customs may be trust.

There is little doubt that justice through bonds seems to be an important play in The Merchant of Venice. Shylock has loaned Antonio 3000 ducats. In exchange, if Antonio does not repay the loan under the terms contracted to Shylock, then he must sacrifice a pound of his flesh to repay the de

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the most moving and emotional soliloquies in the play is Shylock's rumination on why - merely because he is Jewish - he should be treated so harshly by fellow humans who should at least recognize the universal bond between all individuals. As Shylock states, "I am a Jew: hath not a Jew eyes? / Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, sense, affections, passions? / fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, / subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, / warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, / as a Christian is" (Shakespeare, III.i.58-65). Unlike Antonio, Shylock, in turn, is not afforded the rights of Venetians and views Antonio with animosity not just because he is Christian but also because he loans money without charging high interest rates, "I hate him for he is a Christian: / But more, for that, in low simplicity / He lends out money gratis" (Shakespeare, I.iii.40-42). No mercy and no trust exist between Shylock and Antonio where religion or custom are concerned, but they do both insist on rigidly adhering to their legal contract. We see that Jessica's character also reveals the breaking of bonds of religion or bonds of family when she departs from her father's home. However, t

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