A great friend took me to see Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" on Friday night. I had never seen the play and didn't know anything about it, save for the infamous Shylock, that greedy, villainous Jew. Much to my surprise, I came away from the play feeling that Shylock had been much misused and abused. So, if you'll have patience, let's have a little discussion on this wonderful play.
The play begins with a young man, Bassanio, asking his rich friend, Antonio, for a loan. Bassanio is madly in love with the recently orphaned Portia and wants to go press his suit, but needs a lot of money to do so. Antonio wants to give Bassanio the money, but all his money is "at sea" and won't return for another couple months. Antonio thinks of the perfect solution. Bassanio can borrow money from a lender in Antonio's name and Antonio will pay off the debt.
Bassanio goes to Shylock and asks for the money in Antonio's name. Shylock, who hates Antonio for the abuse Antonio has dealt him in the name of Christianity, demands "a pound of flesh nearest his heart" from Antonio if the bond is not paid. Antonio accepts the terms, expecting his ships to come in long before the appointed time.
Bassanio now leaves to find Portia. Portia's father left a riddle-like problem for suitors to solve and Bassanio chooses the right answer. Hooray! Bassanio and Portia are now married. That very day, Bassanio hears that Antonio's ships were all lost at sea, therefore he could not pay the bond. Shylock demands his "pound of flesh" and Antonio wishes for Bassanio to come see him one last time. Portia gives Bassanio double the money that was lent (lended? :) and Bassanio and his friend leave for Venice.
In court, Shylock demands justice, that their contract be fulfilled. The Duke can do nothing for fear of setting a bad precedence. Portia, disguised as a doctor, shows up and lectures Shylock on mercy. Shylock refuses to budge, demanding his justice. As Shylock approaches Antonio with his knife, Portia finds a loophole and says that if Shylock spills a drop of blood while getting his pound of flesh, he will have justice meted to him and he will lose his own life. Shylock decides to accept the payment, but now Portia will not let him off the hook. She demands that he take his pound of flesh without spilling blood. When he continues to refuse, they tell him that he will now be tried for the attempted murder of a citizen of Venice. They tell him they will take everything away from him and then show him "mercy" by allowing him to live and letting him keep some of his stuff. (There's more to this part of the story, but I've left out Jessica and don't want to add her in now.) And then they demand that he give up his religion and become a Christian. I cried when Shylock took off his prayer shawl.
Portia returns to her house minutes before Bassanio, who brings Antonio and they live happily ever after. No one learns a thing or changes. Interesting.
I was going to post some thoughts on mercy, justice and tolerance, but since this post is already ridiculously long, I think you'll just have to stay tuned and see if I get around to it. :) Thoughts so far, anyone? (I really mean that. Comment!)
