Characters
Antonio: A wealthy Venetian merchant who occasionally lends money, but never charges interest. Since his main source of income is from his merchant ships, he is the "merchant" of the play's title.
Bassanio: He is a typical Elizabethan lover and nobleman who is careless with his money; hence, he has to borrow from Antonio so that he can marry Portia.
Portia: The most intelligent and witty heroines, she is famous for her beauty and for her wealth, and she is deeply anguished that she must marry only the man who chooses the casket which contains her portrait.
Shylock: Shylock is an intelligent businessman and moneylender, he believes that charging high interest is his right.
The Duke of
The Prince of
The Prince of Arragon: He chooses the silver casket; he is another disappointed suitor for Portia's hand in marriage.
Gratiano: He is the light-hearted, talkative friend of Bassanio, who accompanies him to
Lorenzo: He is a friend of Antonio and Bassanio; he wins the love of Shylock's daughter, Jessica.
Jessica: She is the young daughter of Shylock; she falls in love with Lorenzo and elopes with him.
Nerissa: Portia's merry and sympathetic maid.
Balthasar: The servant whom Portia sends to her cousin, Dr. Bellario.
Dr. Bellario: A lawyer of
THE MERCHANT OF
Long ago, the city of
Among the wealthiest of its merchants was Antonio. He was a kind & generous person.
Bassanio was a young Venetian, of noble rank. But he spends money lavishly.
He wishes to travel to Belmont to marry a beautiful and wealthy heiress Portia.
He approaches his friend Antonio, for three thousand ducats for three months.
Antonio agrees, but his ships and cargo are at sea and had no money.
There was a Jewish moneylender Shylock who was a Jew in
Shylock hates Antonio, because he is a Christian and also because he insulted and spat on Shylock for being a Jew.
Antonio challenges Shylock's money lending business by lending money at zero percent interest.
So Antonio and Bassanio turn to Shylock for borrowing the money.
Shylock asks Antonio to be the loan’s guarantor. He told that he will lend the money without interest.
Shylock proposes a condition for the loan: If Antonio is unable to repay the money at the specified date; he may take a pound of Antonio's flesh from any part of his body.
Bassanio does not want Antonio to accept such a risky condition.
But Antonio signs the contract.
With money at hand, Bassanio leaves for
Gratiano is a likeable young man, but talkative.
The two leave for Belmont and Portia.
In Belmont, Portia’s father has left a will stipulating each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets – one each of gold, silver, and lead.
If one chooses the right casket, he gets Portia, if he lost, he had to go away.
The first suitor, the Prince of Morocco, reasons to choose the gold casket, because gold proclaims "Choose me and get what all men desire".
Inside the casket are a few gold coins and a skull with a scroll containing the famous verse:
The second suitor is the Prince of Aragon. He decides to choose silver, because the silver casket proclaims "Choose Me and Get What You Deserve".
Inside the casket, however, is the picture of a court jester's head on a baton and remarks "What's here? The portrait of a blinking idiot . . .
The scroll reads: Some there be that shadows kiss meaning that he was foolish to be a husband for Portia and that he was always a fool.
The last suitor is Bassanio, who chooses the leaden casket.
He has made the right choice. He is the man to marry Portio.
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Shylock is very much determined to take revenge against Christians.
His daughter Jessica had run from his home to convert to Christianity and elope with Lorenzo
She has taken a substantial amount of Shylock's wealth with her.
Shylock has Antonio arrested and brought before court.
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Gratiano and Portia's maid Nerissa also got married.
Bassanio receives a letter from Antonio that he has been unable to return the loan taken from Shylock.
Shocked, Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice immediately.
They move with the money from Portia, to save Antonio's life by offering the money to Shylock.
Portia has now sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua.
The climax of the play comes in the court of the Duke of Venice.
Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan. He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio.
The Duke, wishing to save Antonio refers the case to a visitor who introduces himself as Balthazar, a young lawyer, bearing a letter of recommendation from the lawyer Bellario.
Balthazar is actually Portia in disguise and the "clerk" who accompanies her is actually Nerissa, also in disguise.
Balthazar asks Shylock to show mercy in a famous speech.
But Shylock refuses. He asks the court to allow him to extract the pound of flesh.
At once, Portia points out a mistake in the contract: the bond only allows Shylock to remove the flesh, but not to fall a drop of blood from Antonio’s body.
Thus, if Shylock were to shed any drop of Antonio's blood, his land and all the wealth would be forfeited under Venetian laws.
Defeated, Shylock compromises to accept Bassanio's offer of money for the defaulted bond, but Portia prevents him from taking the money on the ground that he has already refused it.
She then quotes a law under which Shylock, as a Jew and therefore an alien, having attempted to take the life of a citizen.
His property has to be forfeited, half to the government and half to Antonio.
The Duke pardons Shylock's life.
Antonio requests the Duke to give his share back to Shylock till his death and then it will be given to Lorenzo and Jessica.
The Duke grants the request of Antonio.
Bassanio does not recognize his disguised wife and offers to give a present to the supposed lawyer.
First she declines, but when he insists, Portia requests his ring.
He gives the ring only after much persuasion from Antonio.
As earlier in the play he promised his wife never to lose, sell or give it to anyone.
Nerissa, the lawyer's clerk, also succeeds in giving her ring from Gratiano, who does not understand her disguise.
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After all the other characters make changes, all ends happily.
Antonio learns from Portia that three of his ships were not destroyed and have returned safely.
Thank you sir
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