act 1 merchant of venice essay

• The Merchant of Venice

William Shakespeare

• Literature Notes
• Essay Questions
• Play Summary
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Act I: Scene 1
• Act I: Scene 2
• Act I: Scene 3
• Act II: Scene 1
• Act II: Scene 2
• Act II: Scene 3
• Act II: Scene 4
• Act II: Scene 5
• Act II: Scene 6
• Act II: Scene 7
• Act II: Scene 8
• Act II: Scene 9
• Act III: Scene 1
• Act III: Scene 2
• Act III: Scene 3
• Act III: Scene 4
• Act III: Scene 5
• Act IV: Scene 1
• Act IV: Scene 2
• Act V: Scene 1
• Character Analysis
• Critical Essays
• Major Themes
• Major Symbols and Motifs
• William Shakespeare Biography
• Famous Quotes
• Film Versions
• Cite this Literature Note

Study Help Essay Questions

1. Why has the character of Shylock been interpreted in so many differing ways by so many different critics? Why is this dramatic character more puzzling, or more stimulating, than any other character in any of Shakespeare's other romantic comedies?

2. Many critics feel that the images of the sea in Act I, Scene 1, strike the keynote of the play, that they suggest the bond story as the central theme. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

3. What do the choice of caskets made by the Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon show about their fitness to marry Portia? Explain.

4. Relate Antonio's naturally melancholy disposition, which is emphasized in the opening scene, to his stoic acceptance of misfortune when he has to forfeit the bond.

5. The famous eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson refers in one of his essays to the "improbability" of The Merchant of Venice. What qualities of the play are the most improbable?

6. The nineteenth-century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge speaks of Shakespeare's "representation of men in all ages and all times" in this particular play. What are the universal or timeless elements in it?

7. Compare the argument about usury (I.iii), the talk about friendship (III.ii), and the plea for mercy (IV.i) from the standpoint of dramatic intensity. Which one of these subjects, in your view, is the most important issue in this play?

8. Many critics think that The Merchant of Venice is more tragic than comic. Why do you think so? Or do you disagree? Why?

9. Justify Shylock's demand for revenge against Antonio.

10. From references in the play, quotes, allusions, etc., describe Venice as a setting and as a city for this play.

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The Merchant of Venice - Act 1, scene 1

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Act 1, scene 1.

Antonio, a Venetian merchant, has invested all his wealth in trading expeditions. Bassanio, his friend and kinsman, asks him for money to go to Belmont, where Bassanio hopes to marry the heiress Portia. Antonio gives Bassanio permission to borrow the money on Antonio’s credit.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Plays — Merchant of Venice

Essays on Merchant of Venice

The importance of writing an essay on merchant of venice.

Writing an essay on Merchant of Venice is important as it allows students to critically analyze the themes, characters, and messages portrayed in the play. It also helps in developing critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as improving writing abilities.

When writing an essay on Merchant of Venice, it is important to carefully analyze the characters and their motivations. For example, Shylock’s character can be explored in depth to understand the themes of prejudice, justice, and revenge. Additionally, the themes of love, friendship, and loyalty can be examined through the relationships between the characters.

Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the historical and social context of the play, as it provides a deeper understanding of the themes and messages conveyed by Shakespeare. For instance, the portrayal of anti-Semitism in the play reflects the societal attitudes of the time, and this can be analyzed in the essay.

When writing the essay, it is important to provide evidence from the text to support the arguments and analysis. This can include direct quotes, references to specific scenes, and interpretations of the characters’ actions and dialogue. Additionally, it is essential to structure the essay in a coherent and logical manner, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a strong conclusion.

In conclusion, writing an essay on Merchant of Venice is important for students to develop critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills. By carefully analyzing the characters, themes, and historical context of the play, students can gain a deeper understanding of the text and its significance.

Best Merchant of Venice Essay Topics

• The portrayal of Shylock as a villain or victim
• The role of women in The Merchant of Venice
• The theme of mercy and justice in the play
• The symbolism of the bond and the caskets
• The use of language and imagery in The Merchant of Venice
• The significance of the title in relation to the themes of the play
• The role of friendship and loyalty in The Merchant of Venice
• The portrayal of prejudice and discrimination in the play
• The relationship between Antonio and Bassanio
• The concept of appearance vs reality in The Merchant of Venice
• The motif of money and wealth in the play
• The portrayal of love and romance in The Merchant of Venice
• The role of religion in the play
• The use of comedy and tragedy in The Merchant of Venice
• The significance of the courtroom scene
• The portrayal of power and authority in the play
• The role of fate and destiny in The Merchant of Venice
• The theme of deception and manipulation
• The portrayal of outsiders and insiders in the play
• The relevance of The Merchant of Venice in today's society

Merchant of Venice Essay Topics Prompts

• Imagine you are Shylock's defense attorney. Write a closing argument that challenges the court's decision.
• Write a letter from Portia to Bassanio, expressing her feelings about the outcome of the bond and the caskets.
• Create a modern-day adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, set in a different cultural or social context.
• Write a dialogue between Antonio and Shylock, exploring their conflicting views on money and morality.
• Imagine you are a journalist interviewing Jessica after she elopes with Lorenzo. Write a series of questions and answers that reveal her motivations and feelings.

How Shakespeare Presents The Character of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice

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Juxtaposition of Love and Wealth in The Merchant of Venice

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The Theme of Inequality in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice

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Shylock's Personality in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"

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1596-1599, William Shakespeare

Shakespearean comedy

Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew Shylock to help his friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend, dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio.

The Merchant of Venice is structured partly on the contrast between idealistic and realistic opinions about society and relationships. On the one hand, the play tells us that love is more important than money, mercy is preferable to revenge, and love lasts forever

Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano, Lorenzo, Portia, Nerissa, Balthazar, Stephano, Shylock, Jessica, Tubal, Launcelot Gobbo, Old Gobbo, Leonardo, Duke of Venice, Prince of Morocco, Prince of Arragon, Salarino and Salanio

The forfeit of a merchant's deadly bond after standing surety for a friend's loan was a common tale in England in the late 16th century. In addition, the test of the suitors at Belmont, the merchant's rescue from the "pound of flesh" penalty by his friend's new wife disguised as a lawyer, and her demand for the betrothal ring in payment are all elements present in the 14th-century tale Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino, which was published in Milan in 1558.

The Merchant of Venice is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare. The play is frequently staged today, but is potentially troubling to modern audiences because of its central themes, which can easily appear antisemitic. Critics today still continue to argue over the play's stance on the Jews and Judaism.

“You speak an infinite deal of nothing.” “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” “All that glisters is not gold.”

1. Shakespeare, W., Shakespeare, W., & Kaplan, M. L. (2002). The merchant of Venice (pp. 25-120). Palgrave Macmillan US. (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-07784-4_2) 2. Lewalski, B. K. (1962). Biblical Allusion and Allegory in" The Merchant of Venice". Shakespeare Quarterly, 13(3), 327-343. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2866826) 3. Halio, J. L. (2006). The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare Bulletin, 24(2), 63-68. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/199046/summary) 4. Ferber, M. (1990). The Ideology of The Merchant of Venice. English Literary Renaissance, 20(3), 431-464. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-6757.1990.tb01442.x?journalCode=elr) 5. Willson, M. J. (1994). View of Justice in Shakespeare's the Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure. Notre Dame L. Rev., 70, 695. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/tndl70&div=24&id=&page=) 6. Metzger, M. J. (1998). “Now by my hood, a gentle and no Jew”: Jessica, The Merchant of Venice, and the discourse of early modern English identity. PMLA, 113(1), 52-63. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/now-by-my-hood-a-gentle-and-no-jew-jessica-the-merchant-of-venice-and-the-discourse-of-early-modern-english-identity/51E9B840D2AB9DB0ABAB356C6FBC0B20) 7. Moisan, T. (2013). " Which is the merchant here? and which the Jew?": subversion and recuperation in The Merchant of Venice. In Shakespeare Reproduced (pp. 196-214). Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315018584-15/merchant-jew-subversion-recuperation-merchant-venice-thomas-moisan-188) 8. Sokol, B. J., & Sokol, M. (1999). Shakespeare and the English Equity Jurisdiction The Merchant of Venice and the Two Texts of King Lear. The Review of English Studies, 50(200), 417-439. (https://academic.oup.com/res/article-abstract/50/200/417/1531451)

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The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice Shakescleare Translation

The Merchant of Venice Translation Act 1, Scene 2

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA

PORTIA and NERISSA enter.

By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is aweary of this great world.

I swear, Nerissa, my little body is tired of this great big world.

You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were in the same abundance as your good fortunes are. And yet for aught I see, they are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve with nothing. It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean. Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.

If your troubles were as great as your good fortune, then you would be tired of the world. But as I see it, it seems that those who live in excess are as unhappy as those who starve with nothing. One should be happy, then, to find oneself somewhere in the middle. Having too much brings on gray hairs, while having enough to get by gives you a longer life.

Good sentences, and well pronounced.

Well spoken. Those are good sayings.

Everything you need for every book you read.

They would be better if well followed.

They'd be better if people followed them.

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches and poor men’s cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions. I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain may devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o'er a cold decree. Such a hare is madness the youth—to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the cripple. But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a husband. O me, the word “choose!” I may neither choose whom I would nor refuse whom I dislike—so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one nor refuse none?

If doing the right thing were as easy as knowing the right thing to do, people would be better off, little chapels would be big churches, and poor men's cottages would be princes' palaces. It is a good priest who can follow what he tells others to do. I could more easily teach twenty people what the right thing to do is than actually be one of those twenty and have to follow my own teaching. Your mind may exercise control over your passions, but a hot temper trumps cold reason. Young people are like mad rabbits: they hop over the fences of good advice. But this kind of reasoning is not going to help me choose a husband. Oh my, that I used the word "choose!" I can neither choose to marry the one I want nor refuse the ones I don't. The will of my dead father overpowers my own wishes.  Isn't it unfortunate, Nerissa, that I can't pick which husband to choose or refuse?

Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men at their death have good inspirations. Therefore the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests of gold, silver, and lead, whereof who chooses his meaning chooses you, will no doubt never be chosen by any rightly but one who shall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely suitors that are already come?

Your father was always virtuous, and holy men have good ideas when they are dying. He has set up a lottery where your suitors will have to choose between chests of gold, silver, and lead, and whoever chooses the right one will win you as a wife. And I am sure whoever chooses correctly will be a man who will love you well. But what are your feelings toward the princely suitors who have already paid you visits?

I pray thee, overname them. And as thou namest them, I will describe them. And according to my description, level at my affection.

Please, name them one by one. As you name them, I will describe them and say how much affection I have for them.

First, there is the Neapolitan prince.

First, there is the prince from Naples.

Ay, that’s a colt indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse, and he makes it a great appropriation to his own good parts that he can shoe him himself. I am much afeard my lady his mother played false with a smith.

Yes, that one's a stallion indeed. He does nothing but talk about his horse, and thinks that it speaks well of him that he can put the horseshoes on it all by himself. I'm worried his mother had an affair with a blacksmith.

Then there is the County Palatine.

Then there is the Count Palatine.

He doth nothing but frown, as who should say, “An you will not have me, choose.” He hears merry tales and smiles not. I fear he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be married to a death’s-head with a bone in his mouth than to either of these. God defend me from these two!

He does nothing but frown, as if he's saying, "If you will not have me as your husband, choose someone else." He doesn't smile when he hears funny stories. I worry that when he grows old he'll turn into a weeping philosopher , since he's so full of impolite sadness as a young man. I'd rather be married to a skull with a bone in its mouth than to either of these men . God defend me from these two!

How say you by the French lord, Monsieur le Bon?

What do you have to say about the French lord, Monsieur le Bon?

God made him and therefore let him pass for a man. In truth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker, but he!— why, he hath a horse better than the Neapolitan’s, a better bad habit of frowning than the Count Palatine. He is every man in no man. If a throstle sing, he falls straight a- capering. He will fence with his own shadow. If I should marry him, I should marry twenty husbands. If he would despise me I would forgive him, for if he love me to madness I shall never requite him.

God created him, so I guess he counts as a man. I know it is a sin to mock someone like this, but he deserves it! He has a horse better than the prince from Naples' and frowns more than the Count Palatine. He imitates qualities of every other man, so that he seems to have no personality himself. If a bird sings, he starts dancing right away. He will show off his fencing moves against his own shadow. If I were to marry him, I'd have twenty husbands. I wouldn't mind if he despised me, because if he madly loves me I will never return his affection.

What say you then to Falconbridge, the young baron of England?

What do you have to say about Falconbridge, then, the young baron from England?

You know I say nothing to him, for he understands not me, nor I him. He hath neither Latin, French, nor Italian, and you will come into the court and swear that I have a poor pennyworth in the English. He is a proper man’s picture, but alas, who can converse with a dumb show? How oddly he is suited! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behavior everywhere.

You know that I say nothing to him, because he can't understand me and I can't understand him. He knows neither Latin, French, nor Italian, and you could swear in a court of law that I have practically no English. He looks like a proper man, but who can talk with a someone who can't talk back? And how strange his clothes are! I think he bought his jacket in Italy, his socks in France, his hat in Germany, and his behavior everywhere.

What think you of the Scottish lord, his neighbor?

What do you think of his neighbor to the north, the Scottish lord?

That he hath a neighborly charity in him, for he borrowed a box of the ear of the Englishman and swore he would pay him again when he was able. I think the Frenchman became his surety and sealed under for another.

I think he has a neighborly sense of charity, because he received a slap from the Englishman and only threatened to hit him back later, when he could. I think the Frenchman promised to join with him to pay the Englishman back, and added another slap.

How like you the young German, the Duke of Saxony’s nephew?

How do you like the young German, the Duke of Saxony's nephew?

Very vilely in the morning, when he is sober, and most vilely in the afternoon, when he is drunk. When he is best he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst he is little better than a beast. And the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him.

I dislike him in the morning, when he's sober, and I really hate him in the afternoon, when he's drunk. At his best, he is not quite a man, and at his worst he is barely better than a beast. Even if worst comes to worst, I hope I won't have to marry him.

If he should offer to choose and choose the right casket, you should refuse to perform your father’s will if you should refuse to accept him.

If he chooses the right casket and you refuse to marry him, you'd be refusing to follow your father's will.

Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee, set a deep glass of rhenish wine on the contrary casket, for if the devil be within and that temptation without, I know he will choose it. I will do any thing, Nerissa, ere I’ll be married to a sponge.

Well then, for fear that might happen, please place a glass of wine on the wrong casket, because I know he will choose that one. I will do anything, Nerissa, to make sure I don't have to marry to a sponge.

You need not fear, lady, the having any of these lords. They have acquainted me with their determinations, which is indeed to return to their home and to trouble you with no more suit unless you may be won by some other sort than your father’s imposition depending on the caskets.

You don't have to worry about any of these lords, my lady. They have told me their intentions, and they are all planning on returning home and not bothering you anymore, unless they can win your favor by some other way than your father's plan with the caskets.

If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana unless I be obtained by the manner of my father’s will. I am glad this parcel of wooers are so reasonable, for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence. And I pray God grant them a fair departure.

If I live to be as old as the Cumaean  Sibyl , I'll still be as chaste as  Diana unless I am married by my father's plan. I am glad this bunch of suitors have too much sense to play the game, because there is not one among them whose presence I actually enjoy. And I pray that God may grant them a smooth trip home. 

Do you not remember, lady, in your father’s time a Venetian, a scholar and a soldier, that came hither in company of the Marquess of Montferrat?

Do you remember, lady, from your father's time in Venice, a scholar and soldier who came here along with the Marquess of Montferrat?

Yes, yes, it was Bassanio—as I think he was so called.

Yes, yes, it was Bassanio—I think that was his name.

True, madam. He, of all the men that ever my foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving a fair lady.

That's right, madam. Of any man my foolish eyes have ever seen, he was the one most deserving of a beautiful lady.

I remember him well, and I remember him worthy of thy praise.

I remember him well, and I remember him being worthy of your praise.

Enter a SERVINGMAN

A SERVANT enters.

How now, what news?

How are things? What news is there?

The four strangers seek for you, madam, to take their leave. And there is a forerunner come from a fifth, the Prince of Morocco, who brings word the prince his master will be here tonight.

The four foreigners want to speak with you to say goodbye, madam. And ahead of them comes a fifth person, sent by the Prince of Morocco, who brings word that his master the prince will be here tonight.  

If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good a heart as I can bid the other four farewell, I should be glad of his approach. If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me. Come, Nerissa.— [to SERVANT] Sirrah, go before. Whiles we shut the gates upon one wooer Another knocks at the door.

If I could welcome the fifth person as happily as I will say goodbye to the first four, then I would really be ecstatic to see him. If he is as good as a saint but as dark as the devil , I'd rather he listen to my confession than make me his wife. Come with me, Nerissa. [To the SERVANT]   You , go ahead of us. While we shut the gates on one suitor, another one comes knocking at the door.

PORTIA, NERISSA, and the SERVANT exit.