This is a must-read comic work of Shakespeare which every reader
will, no doubt, live to remember and discuss.
The merchant of Venice,
written in 1597, is a humorous story of love, competition of tricks
and wisdom displayed.
The merchant is Antonio, a resident of Venice, who is virtually the
protagonist of the play. The action opens with Antonio''s anxieties
over his merchandise on the ships which are facing poor weather
conditions. His depressed state brought comments from his visiting
friends and one of them, Bassani had come to seek financial help from
Antonio in order to win his lover''s hand- Portia- in marriage. This
dire need of
money drove the two friends- Antonio and Bassanio- to
Shylock,a subtle Jewish moneylender who placed a very high collateral
on them, should they fail to repay the 3000 ducats. An aggreement was
struck that a pound of Antonio''s flesh would be demanded if the money
was unreturned.
Subsequently, luck favoured Bassanio as he won Portia''s hand in
marriage by choosing the right casket,when other suitors had wrongly
chosen. His success was greeted by a sad news that, another Antonio''s
ship might be wrecked by violent weather condition and Antonio would
not be able to pay the borrowed money.
Surprisingly, Portia-because of her immense love for Bassanio-
decided to take up the case and she informed Nerrisa- her maid- about
her plans to send a letter to one Dr.Bellario, a
lawyer in Padua for
help.
Meanwhile, Portia also informed Nerrisa that they would disguise
as lawyers and make other arrangements too. Shylock''s insistence to
have his pound of flesh drove the case to court. Portia and Nerrisa,
now disguised as a lawyer and a clerk respectively, in male suits.
entered the courtroom. Dr.Bellario was the judge, but he had sent a
note to be represented by Balthazar(Portia) the lawyer as he was sick.
After Shylock''s obstinacy to heed the plight of the judge,
Balthazar suddenly changed the gear and maintained that Shlock must
have his pound of flesh as the agreement said, but with no drops of
blood. Moreover, He shall lose all his property if he cut more or
less than a pound of flesh as agreed..It was now Shylock''s turn to
beg for mercy and he hurried out shamefully out of the courtroom.
At last, after both women (Portia and Nerrisa) had played love
tricks on their husbands by having their rings as a gift, the truth
about their disguise became known, and everyone was relieved that
Antonio was safe, and even, the news about his ship''s safe arrival to
Venice rounded off the trick-and-romance-filled comedy.