3.1.1.4The play at a glance
Bassanio needs money to court the heiress Portia. His friend Antonio borrows it from the moneylender Shylock, agreeing to forfeit a pound of his own flesh if the loan is not repaid. Portia's father's will requires her suitors to choose between three caskets; Bassanio chooses correctly. Antonio's ships are lost, Shylock demands the forfeit, and Portia, disguised as a lawyer, defeats him on a technicality. Shylock is stripped of his wealth and forced to convert to Christianity.
Jewish people had been expelled from England in 1290 and the small community in London lived largely in secret. Christians were forbidden to lend money at interest, which is why the trade fell to Jewish communities and then attracted resentment. The Lopez trial of 1594 had recently inflamed feeling.
- usury
- lending money at interest, forbidden to Christians and therefore left to others
- the bond
- the legal agreement for a pound of flesh, which drives the plot
- the casket test
- the choice between gold, silver and lead that Portia's suitors must make
3.1.1.4Characters
Shylock is the play's centre of gravity even though he appears in only five scenes. The 'hath not a Jew eyes' speech argues from shared physical humanity and then turns towards revenge, so the same argument produces sympathy and menace together.
Portia is the most intelligent character in the play and must disguise herself as a man to use that intelligence publicly. Her mercy speech is addressed to the one person who receives none.
Antonio is melancholy from the first line and alone at the last; his devotion to Bassanio has no limit and no return. Jessica's escape from her father is presented as a rescue and leaves her almost silent in Act 5.
3.1.1.4Themes
Justice and mercy are argued explicitly in the trial, and the court delivers neither: Shylock is defeated by the letter of the law that Portia has just told him to rise above.
Prejudice operates throughout, against Shylock and against Morocco, and the play exposes it while also relying on it for comedy.
Appearance and reality run from the caskets to Portia's disguise: the play rewards those who distrust surfaces while its own hero courts an heiress for her fortune.
Common mistake
Deciding in advance that Shylock is either a villain or a victim. The play supplies evidence for both, and the strongest essays hold the two together rather than choosing.
3.1.1.4Shakespeare's methods
Shylock speaks mostly in plain, insistent prose where the Christians use ornamented verse, which makes his arguments sound more direct and more real.
The casket test literalises the theme of appearance and reality, and the play's structure sets the Belmont scenes of music and courtship against the Venice scenes of money and law.
The fifth act returns to comedy after a trial that has not been comic, and Antonio is left without a partner in a scene of pairings.
Worked example
Answer:
- The trial resolves the plot without delivering justice
- Shylock's prose sounds more direct than the Christians' verse
- Belmont and Venice are set against each other structurally
- Antonio's isolation at the end complicates the comic ending
AO1-AO4How this text is examined
This text is examined in Paper 1, Section A. The question is worth 34 marks and an extract from the play is printed, and the question asks you to start with that extract and then write about the play as a whole. Allow about 55 minutes.
The marks are divided as AO1 12 marks, AO2 12 marks, AO3 6 marks, AO4 4 marks. AO1 rewards a clear argument supported by well-chosen references. AO2 rewards analysis of how the writer achieves an effect, which means writing about choices rather than about events. AO3 rewards context used to deepen a reading of the text.
Common mistake
Retelling the plot. Narrative summary earns nothing under any assessment objective, however accurate it is. Every paragraph should be making a point about how or why, not about what happens.
Four of the marks are for AO4: vocabulary and sentence structures used to control meaning, and accurate spelling and punctuation. These are the cheapest marks on the paper and the easiest to lose by rushing the final paragraph.