Shakespeares The Merchant Of Venice Essays - Orientalism

Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice Although Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is considered a comedy, cruelty runs rampant throughout the entire text of the play. Most of the characters exhibit some form of cruel behavior toward one another, including Lancelot who is cruel to his father Gobbio when he runs into him on the street. He engages the old man in belittling word play because his father has very poor eyesight and cannot tell that he is actually speaking to his own son. Everyone is cruel to Shylock; in fact, he is viewed as the outsider and often referred to as the devil. Shylock is the Jewish moneylender who makes a huge profit by lending money with exorbitant interest rates to the Christian population of Venice. I will not touch on the theme of racism and prejudice in the play, but it is common knowledge that Jews were not seen in a positive light in Elizabethan England at the time when Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice. Shylock hates the merchant Antonio in particular, for Antonio lends money to hi s fellow Christians without charging any interest on the loans, thus he takes away from Shylock's livelihood. I am going to center my discussion of the theme of cruelty to two of the characters in the play-Shylock and Portia. Although both characters are guilty of egregious and cruel acts, Portia's cruel acts against Shylock are seen as more acceptable for a couple of reasons. One reason is that Portia is motivated by her love for Bassanio, and another reason is that Shylock is Jewish, and heartless in his own right. Therefore, it is more socially acceptable to be cruel to him. Love makes the difference between Portia's scheming and Shylock's, between his litigation and hers, between his exercise of power and hers (Hobson, 201). In the beginning of the play, we find Portia lamenting about the situation her deceased father has created for her. By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is aweary of this great world?But this reason is not in the fashion to choose me a husband. O, me, the word choose I may neither choose who I would nor refuse who I dislike. So is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father (Act 1, Scene 2). He has willed it so that she may not marry anyone but the one suitor who picks correctly from three caskets, one casket is made of gold, one is made of silver and one is made of lead. The man who picks correctly will find a picture of Portia inside, and he will be the one to marry Portia. Portia is frustrated that she has absolutely no say in whom she will marry-she cannot refuse the suitor who chooses correctly. Another aspect of this cruel arrangement is that if a suitor does not choose correctly, he will be forever banned from marriage. He may not ever ask another woman t o marry him, and he will die without an heir. Thus Portia's dead father has left a cruel legacy involving his daughter and her suitors. It seems that Portia is lucky in this lottery however. Bassanio chooses correctly from the three caskets and is to marry Portia, and she is happy with the circumstance. This is when the couple learns of Bassanio's friend Antonio's plight. Antonio had borrowed money on behalf of Bassanio, promising to pay it back when his ships came into port with their cargoes. It seems that Antonio's ships were shipwrecked, and he cannot pay back the bond held by the lender, Shylock. Shylock is very adamant about receiving his payment from the doomed Antonio, which calls for a pound of flesh, and therefore death, if the bond is forfeited. As I stated earlier, Shylock possesses a hatred for Antonio fueled by the fact that Antonio lends money without charging interest. I hate him for he is a Christian, but more for that in low simplicity he lends out money in gratis and brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice. If I catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear hi m (Act 1, Scene 3, line 41).