‘THE MERCHANT OF VENICE’
ENGLISH LITERATURE iGCSE REVISION GUIDE
Going to the theatre in Shakespeare’s day.
Theatre going was very popular in Elizabethan London, but it was very different from going to a play today. It was like a cross between going to a football match and going to the theatre. The playhouses were open air and the lack of artificial lighting meant that plays were performed in the daylight, normally in the afternoon.
People paid a penny to get into the playhouse, so it was not cheap, since a penny was about one twelfth of a day’s wages for a skilled workman. Your penny let you into the large open yard surrounding the stage. The audience here had to stand, looking up at the actors, they were called the Groundlings. If people wanted a seat, then they had to pay another penny or twopence. This gave admission to the tiers of seating surrounding the yard, and also meant that you had a roof over your head. People with even more money could pay to have a seat in an enclosed room. So people of all incomes and social classes attended the theatre and paid for the kind of accommodation they wanted.
While the audience was waiting for the play to begin, people had time to meet friends, talk, eat, drink – in fact they used to continue to enjoy themselves in this way while the play was being performed. But Elizabethan audiences were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Watching a play was an exciting experience; although the stage was very big, the theatre was quite small, so no one was far from the actors. When an actor had a soliloquy he could come right into the middle of the audience and speak his thoughts in a natural, personal way. At the other extreme, the larger stage and the three different levels meant that whole battles could be enacted, complete with cannon fire, thunder and lightning and loud military music.
There was no painted scenery, so that the audience had to use their imagination to picture the location of each scene, but Shakespeare always gave plenty of word clues in the characters’ speeches of when and where a scene took place. The lack of scenery to move about also meant that scene could follow scene without any break. On the other hand, the theatre companies spared no expense on costumes and furniture and other properties; plays also had live music performed by players placed either in the auditorium close to the stage, or in the gallery above it, if that was not to be used in the play.
Although Londoners especially must have considered that going to the theatre was an exciting and important part of their lives; it is believed that up to a fifth of them went to the theatre regularly. Shakespeare and the company in which he became a share holder, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, worked hard to become wealthy men.
Date of the Play
Scholars have suggested that Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice sometime between the late summer of 1596 and 1598.
After several setbacks in the war against Spain, the Earl of Essex planned a naval expedition to attack and capture the Spanish port of Cadiz. Ninety-three English and 18 Dutch ships sailed from Plymouth in June 1596. Three weeks later they made a surprise attack on Cadiz, which was undefended. The Spaniards were burning their own ships to prevent their capture, but the English seized the San Matias and San Andres and took them back to England.
The San Andres, a splendid ship, was renamed the Andrew. This dating is based on line 27 in Act 1 Scene 1: ‘And see my wealthy Andrew docked in sand.’
The likelihood is that The Merchant of Venice went into the repertory of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in the 1597 season. The first performance of the play is not likely to have been given later than 1598 because that is the date given for its appearance in a register of published plays. Plays were not usually printed until after their first successful season on the stage.
Jews in Shakespeare’s England
Early History of Jews in England
1066 - The first Jewish communities came from Northern France, encouraged by William the Conqueror. Jews took up jobs trading and lending money, as
Christians could not lend money for interest. Subsequent kings depended on loans from Jewish money lenders to finance wars. Unfortunately this resulted in Jewish communities being caught up in political in-fighting. In York in 1190 hundreds of Jews were besieged in the castle, many committed suicide and those who did not were murdered, the mob responsible was led by a nobleman who was in debt to the Jewish money lenders.
1231- The Earl of Leicester barred Jews from taking up residence in the city and forced landlords to pledge to keep them out. (It was not until January 2001 that the Leicester City Council formally renounced the nearly 800-year-old ban on Jews.)
Expulsion
1290 - The Jews were expelled from England by Edward 1; it was the first European country to expel its Jewish residents. A few stayed and hid their identity, some converting to Christianity; many settled in France and Germany. Jews would not be allowed to live in England for another 350 years.
The Jew of Malta
1589 – The Jew of Maltaby Christopher Marlowe was first performed. The protagonist, Barabas, is an exaggerated villain, cunning and murderous. He refuses to pay the Crown and his wealth is seized. In revenge he poisons an entire nunnery and is finally put to death in a cauldron of boiling water. The play is clearly anti-Jewish, but it is also critical of Christian hypocrisy at a time when English Protestants were deeply suspicious of all other faiths including Catholics, Muslims and Jews.
Execution of Rodrigo Lopez
1594 – Rodrigo Lopez was physician to Queen Elizabeth 1. He was accused of plotting to poison her and was horribly tortured and executed. He was a Marrano –descended from Portuguese or Spanish Jews who were forced to be baptised as Christians, but who retained their Jewish identity and worshipped in secret. Contemporary accounts emphasise his foreignness, particularly his Jewish identity.
The Rise of Italian City States
By the end of the 16th century, Italy had developed the leading financial system in Europe. Shakespeare would have been aware of this and also that Venice had a thriving Jewish population, which was allowed to charge interest on loans, loans which in turn enabled trade to grow. Venetian Jews were, however, forced to live separately on their own island, the first Jewish ghetto, the Gheto Vechio.
Badging
The history of labelling those who are outside of mainstream society, literally by the enforced wearingof a badge, goes back many centuries and exists in several different cultures.
The first recorded instance of badging religious or ethnic minorities occurs in Arabia in the reign of‘Umar, the 2nd Caliph of the Islamic Empire in the mid-7th century A.D. Caliph ‘Umar introduced a lawrequiring all non-Muslims within the Islamic Empire (mainly Christians and Jews) to wear distinctiveclothing, to make it easier for his tax collectors to identify those who were required to pay more tax.
The Roman Church adopted this practice, applying it specifically to Jews throughout Europe. Thepractice spread to all the countries. There is evidence of this practice in England as early as the 12thcentury and the same for France, Italy and Germany.
In Venice, the Senate decided to expel Jews from the city in 1394 due to complaints about unfair competition in the financial sector. Jews were allowed to work in the city for limited periods and were forced to wear various markings on their clothing to identify themselves. In 1394 they had to wear a yellow badge; it was changed to a yellow hat in 1496 and to a red hat in 1500.
Plot Overview
Bassanio is desperately in need of money to court Portia, a wealthy heiress who lives in the city of Belmont. Bassanio asks Antonio, a Venetian merchant, for a loan in order to impress Portia. Antonio agrees, but is unable to make the loan himself because his own money is invested in trade ships that are still at sea, but will get a loan from one of the city’s moneylenders. In Belmont, Portia is at the mercy of her father’s will, which stipulates that she must marry the man who correctly chooses one of three caskets. None of Portia’s current suitors are to her liking, and she and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa, fondly remember a visit paid some time before by Bassanio.
In Venice, Antonio and Bassanio approach Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, for a loan. Shylock nurses a long-standing grudge against Antonio as he has made a habit of berating Shylock and other Jews for their usury, loaning money at exorbitant rates of interest, and by undermining their business by offering interest-free loans. However, Shylock offers to lend Bassanio three thousand ducats with no interest. Shylock adds, however, that should the loan go unpaid, he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Despite Bassanio’s warnings, Antonio agrees. In Shylock’s household, his servant Launcelot decides to work for Bassanio and Shylock’s daughter Jessica schemes to elope with Antonio’s friend Lorenzo. That night, the streets of Venice fill up with revellers, and Jessica escapes with Lorenzo by dressing as his page. After a night of celebration, Bassanio and his friend Gratiano leave for Belmont, where Bassanio intends to win Portia’s hand.
Bassanio arrives at Portia’s estate, and they declare their love for one another. Despite Portia’s request that he wait before choosing, Bassanio immediately picks the correct casket, and Gratiano confesses that he has fallen in love with Nerissa. The couples decide on a double wedding. Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a token of love, and makes him swear that under no circumstances will he part with it. The celebration is cut short by the news that Antonio has indeed lost his ships, and that he has forfeited his bond to Shylock. Bassanio and Gratiano immediately travel to Venice to try and save Antonio’s life.
Shylock ignores the many pleas to spare Antonio’s life, and a trial is called to decide the matter. The duke of Venice announces that he has sent for a legal expert, who turns out to be Portia disguised as a young man of law. Portia asks Shylock to show mercy, but he insists the pound of flesh is rightfully his. Bassanio offers Shylock twice the money due him, but Shylock insists on collecting the bond. Portia examines the contract and declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchant’s flesh. Shylock ecstatically praises her wisdom, but as he is on the verge of collecting his due, Portia reminds him that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed, as the contract does not entitle him to any blood. Portia informs Shylock that he is guilty of conspiring against the life of a Venetian citizen, which means he must turn over half of his property to the state and the other half to Antonio. The duke spares Shylock’s life and takes a fine instead of Shylock’s property. Antonio also forgoes his half of Shylock’s wealth on two conditions: first, Shylock must convert to Christianity, and second, he must will the entirety of his estate to Lorenzo and Jessica upon his death. Shylock agrees.
Bassanio showers the young law clerk with thanks, and is eventually pressured into giving Portia the ring with which he promised never to part. The two women return to Belmont. When Bassanio and Gratiano arrive the next day, their wives accuse them of faithlessly giving their rings to other women. Before the deception goes too far, however, Portia reveals that she was, in fact, the law clerk, and both she and Nerissa reconcile with their husbands. Lorenzo and Jessica are pleased to learn of their inheritance from Shylock, and the joyful news arrives that Antonio’s ships have in fact made it back safely. The group celebrates its good fortune.
Dramatis Personae
The Duke Of Venice
The Prince Of Morocco, The Prince Of Arragon
suitors to Portia.
Antonio
a merchant of Venice.
Bassanio
his friend, suitor likewise to Portia.
Salanio, Salarino, Gratiano, Salerio
friends to Antonio and Bassanio.
Lorenzo
in love with Jessica.
Shylock
a rich Jew.
Tubal
a Jew, his friend.
Launcelot Gobbo
the clown, servant to Shylock.
Old Gobbo
father to Launcelot.
Leonardo
servant to Bassanio.
Balthasar, Stephano
servants to Portia.
Portia
a rich heiress.
Nerissa
her waiting-maid.
Jessica
daughter to Shylock.
Magnificoes of Venice, Officers of the Court of Justice, Gaoler, Servants to Portia, and other Attendants.
Shylock: Portrayals through the centuries
“if you prick us do we not bleed…”
16th Century
Richard Burbage and Will Kempe were two contemporaries of Shakespeare who played Shylock, supposedly with a red beard and a false nose. Burbage and Kempe’s portrayals were probably quite exaggerated: Shylock the monster, rather than a real person.
18th Century
Charles Macklin played Shylock in a way which emphasised his greed and malevolence. It seems that audiences were surprised how realistic his portrayal was, evil but human. Macklin himself was a shady character, who had killed another actor in a fight over a beard.
19th Century
Edmund Kean, in 1814, played Shylock with a black wig and beard and more contemporary costume. He attempted to show the human side of Shylock’s character, whose revenge is born out of his sense of persecution. The acting style of the time, however, worked against a subtle portrayal; he still shouted and ranted his way through the part.
William Macready, in 1840, chose a more measured style of speaking and an aristocratic costume but it was Henry Irvine, in 1880, who portrayed an educated and noble Shylock, probably the most sympathetic so far, signifying the persecution of fellow Jews.
Irving’s first portrayal of Shylock coincided with the mass migration of Jews fleeing persecution from Russia and Eastern Europe. By the time of his final appearance as Shylock, in 1905, Britain had passed the Aliens Act, restricting the entry of Jews to the country, and Irving had reverted to a more caricatured portrayal of his greatest role.
20th Century
After the Holocaust, contemporary knowledge gives a different emphasis to Shylock’s plight. In 1999, in Trevor Nunn’s production at the National Theatre, costumes echoed Germany in the 1930s and Henry Goodman’s Shylock was a psychologically complex, tragic hero, whose single flaw is his wish to be revenged upon Antonio.
Miller [stage director] and Sichels’ [film director] 1973 production had Laurence Olivier playing Shylock (his farewell to stage Shakespeare). Some thought his Shylock was somewhat broad for the small screen; it provided a tantalising glimpse of how it might have come across in the theatre. Apparently at Miller's insistence, Olivier plays down the character's overtly Jewish characteristics, even to the point of having Shylock conceal his skull cap under a top hat whenever he goes about his public business.
Miller has updated the action to the late 19th century, a time when Jewish bankers were hugely influential in central Europe, but before the overt anti-semitism of the Nazi era: here, it's much subtler but just as destructive. While most productions contrast Antonio (good) and Shylock (bad), here, they are almost indistinguishable in dress, speech and behaviour: it's only Shylock's ethnic origin that sets him apart from the rest of society. Tellingly, Miller cuts the line "I hate him for he is a Christian", underlining his view of Shylock as misunderstood victim. Olivier's animal howl of despair as the trial ends is so unnerving that even his harshest critics are visibly shaken.
Shylock
Although critics tend to agree that Shylock is The Merchant of Venice’s most noteworthy figure, no consensus has been reached on whether to read him as a bloodthirsty bogeyman, a clownish Jewish stereotype, or a tragic figure whose sense of decency has been fractured by the persecution he endures. Certainly, Shylock is the play’s antagonist, and he is menacing enough to seriously imperil the -happiness of Venice’s businessmen and young lovers alike. Shylock is also, however, a creation of circumstance; even in his single-minded pursuit of a pound of flesh, his frequent mentions of the cruelty he has endured at Christian hands make it hard for us to label him a natural born monster. On the other hand, Shylock’s coldly calculated attempt to revenge the wrongs done to him by murdering his persecutor, Antonio, prevents us from viewing him in a primarily positive light. Shakespeare gives us unmistakably human moments, but he often steers us against Shylock as well, painting him as a miserly, cruel, and prosaic figure.
Antonio
Although the play’s title refers to him, Antonio is a rather lacklustre character. He emerges in Act I, scene i as a hopeless depressive, someone who cannot name the source of his melancholy and who, throughout the course of the play, develops his self-pity even further, unable to muster the energy required to defend himself against execution. Antonio never names the cause of his melancholy, but the evidence seems to point to his being in love, despite his denial of this idea in Act I, scene i. The most likely object of his affection is Bassanio, who takes full advantage of the merchant’s boundless feelings for him. Antonio has risked the entirety of his fortune on overseas trading ventures, yet he agrees to guarantee the potentially lethal loan Bassanio secures from Shylock. In the context of his unrequited and presumably unconsummated relationship with Bassanio, Antonio’s willingness to offer up a pound of his own flesh seems particularly important, signifying a union that grotesquely alludes to the rites of marriage, where two partners become “one flesh.”