The Merchant of Venice Programme Notes

The Merchant of Venice is a story about prejudice and portrays a prejudiced message. Prejudice is conveyed throughout the entire play, the main example being Shylock's continuous hatred to Antonio because of his religion which is Christianity. Antonio feels the same way about Shylock's religion, Judaism in which he states 'I'm likely to curse you again, spit on you again, and shun on you again'. Antonio, otherwise known as The Merchant of Venice, lends three thousand ducats to his friend, Bassanio, who attempts to get with the extremely wealthy Portia of Belmont. Antonio's money is tied up with his business ventures of trade ships that are still at sea, so he attempts to try and borrow money from Shylock, a Jewish loaner, who he holds grudges with. Shylock lends the money to Antonio and Bassanio, but have a complication. If the loan is not paid off on the agreed date, Shylock has a pound of Antonio's flesh. Later on, Portia's father dies and in his will, it states that she will marry the suitor who chooses one of three caskets containing lead. The other caskets contains gold and silver. Bassanio makes the right choice and then marries Portia. Soon after the marriage, news comes around that Antonio's business, his collection of trade ships, is lost at sea and so he is unable to pay his debt of three thousand ducats to Shylock who takes the case to a law court made by the Duke of Venice. Hearing this, Portia dresses up to make herself to be Antonio's lawyer whilst in court. She argues her defence by saying Shylock should be sent to prison for acting against a Venetian citizen. The duke says that he won't go unless he gives half his wealth to Antonio and half to the state. Antonio agrees with this condition but Shylock has to covert his faith to Christianity and leave his house with Shylock's daughter, Jessica, who ran off with a Christian boy named Lorenzo. Soon after the ruling, Bassanio and Portia finally complete their marriage by entrusting rings together which the men have promised they won't ever part with their rings or their wives. The monarch at the time this was written was Elizabeth I.  The Merchant of Venice was written in 1596, which was near to the end of Queen Elizabeth I's reign, in which she reigned from 1558 - 1603. Her 45 year reign was one of the most notable reigns in the whole of the British monarchy. At the time this play was written, Britain were in the first few years of controlling most of the world under the 'First British Empire' (1583 - 1783) under Queen Elizabeth I's reign. There was no war or any kinds of fighting overseas and even in the UK, but there was extreme prejudice and hatred between Christians and Jews, which had an effect on the way William Shakespeare wrote 'The Merchant of Venice' during a very prosperous time for the United Kingdom. There are many themes that are conveyed most to an audience watching 'The Merchant of Venice' which are:

Money, Love – Shylock discovers his daughter, Jessica has eloped with a Christian with all his money (Act Two Scene Eight)

Prejudice, Revenge – Shylock speaks of his bitterness of Christians and how he’s treated, which is explained through Shylock's monologue of 'To bait fish withal' in Act Three Scene One.

Social Injustice – During the trial, Shylock demands Antonio’s flesh, but in the end loses half his wealth and required to convert to Christianity, which is near the end (Act Four Scene One)

William Shakespeare was one of the most iconic and entertaining writers that have inspired many generations to start writing books, but not only appealing to those of a modern era, but also to the time when he was alive. William Shakespeare was also one of the most entertaining people to see and audiences were excited to see his works performed at the Globe Theatre. The staging conditions were public, rather than court, performances of Shakespeare's plays were performed in the open air, in daylight, on a simple thrust stage, that being the Globe Theatre. No scenery and a minimum of props allowed the action to move swiftly and the audience to focus on the language. Music and costume added to the effect. Shakespeare wrote his plays with the strengths and talents of his fellow players in mind. His gifted boy players took the female roles so that the original audience had the unsettling experience of watching boys playing girls playing boys in the roles of Portia and Nerissa in the trial scene. 

Shylock’s cries for a pound of flesh have made him one of literature’s most memorable villains, but many readers and playgoers have found him a compelling and sympathetic figure. The question of whether or not Shakespeare endorses the anti-Semitism of the Christian characters in the play has been much debated. Jews in Shakespeare’s England were a marginalized group, and Shakespeare’s contemporaries would have been very familiar with portrayals of Jews as villains and objects of mockery. For example, Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, a bloody farce about a murderous Jewish villain, was a great popular success and would have been fresh in Shakespeare’s mind as he set about creating his own Jewish character. Shakespeare certainly draws on this anti-Semitic tradition in portraying Shylock, exploiting Jewish stereotypes for comic effect. But Shylock is a more complex character than the Jew in Marlowe’s play, and Shakespeare makes him seem more human by showing that his hatred is born of the mistreatment he has suffered in a Christian society. Shakespeare’s character includes an element of pathos as well as comedy, meaning that he elicits from readers and audiences pity and compassion, rather than simply scorn and derision. Shylock, name meaning 'loan shark', a stereotypical, wicked, Jewish moneylender who's best known for his villainous ways in William Shakespeare's 'The Merchant Of Venice'. My interpretation of the character, Shylock will emphasise his description as I will portray him an evil, a lust for money, who wants to achieve his goal not to just get his money back from Antonio but to get a pound of flesh of his. There are many famous actors that have played this famous character, a couple include Peter O'Toole and Al Pachino. I want to represent my character similar to Al Pachino's when he starred in the 2004 film, 'The Merchant Of Venice'. From seeing his performance, I saw that he is a very angry character and is determined to get revenge after being treated so badly by Christians around Venice. I want to portray my character similar to this, but instead of being angry, I want to be very patronising in the way I speak, for example during Shylock's speech in Act III, Scene I, when he talks about him being a Jew and saying he is no different to a Christian, I want to not be angered, but very questioning when I say each line. Although critics tend to agree that Shylock is The Merchant of Venice’s most noteworthy figure, no consensus has been reached on whether to read him as a bloodthirsty bogeyman, a clownish Jewish stereotype, or a tragic figure whose sense of decency has been fractured by the persecution he endures. Certainly, Shylock is the play’s antagonist, and he is menacing enough to seriously imperil the happiness of Venice’s businessmen and young lovers alike. Shylock is also, however, a creation of circumstance; even in his single-minded pursuit of a pound of flesh, his frequent mentions of the cruelty he has endured at Christian hands make it hard for us to label him a natural born monster. In one of Shakespeare’s most famous monologues, for example, Shylock argues that Jews are humans and calls his quest for vengeance the product of lessons taught to him by the cruelty of Venetian citizens. On the other hand, Shylock’s coldly calculated attempt to revenge the wrongs done to him by murdering his persecutor, Antonio, prevents us from viewing him in a primarily positive light. Shakespeare gives us unmistakably human moments, but he often steers us against Shylock as well, painting him as a miserly, cruel, and prosaic figure. When rehearsing the part for Shylock, it is extremely difficult to start with understanding the language and the way he spoke with great intentions. In order to understand what he is saying and what his objectives are in the play and especially in this monologue, I will research a modern text of the same monologue so I can understand what my character feels like and what he wants to express to a crowd, or in this case to an audience