ENGLISH PROJECT -2

CHARACTER SKETCH
Antonio
In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Antonio is the Venetian merchant for whom the play
is titled. He is Bassanio’s wealthy, loyal, and anti-Semitic friend. Bassanio asks Antonio to help him
secure the funds he needs to woo Portia, a wealthy heiress. Antonio agrees to borrow the money on
Bassanio’s behalf. The Jewish moneylender Shylock, with whom Antonio shares a mutual animosity,
agrees to lend Antonio the money. However, he asks that Antonio forfeit “a pound of flesh” if he
defaults on the loan. Antonio’s conflict with Shylock animates the primary action of the play. (Read
extended character analysis of Antonio.)

Bassanio
Bassanio is the merchant Antonio’s “intimate friend” and the wealthy heiress Portia’s favored suitor. A
young nobleman of Venice, Bassanio admits to living beyond his means. This has forced him to borrow
money from Antonio on numerous occasions. At the start of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of
Venice, Bassanio asks Antonio to lend him money so that he can travel to Belmont and court Portia as a
man of means. Antonio instead suggests that Bassanio secure a loan through a moneylender and offers
to be the guarantor for the loan. Antonio indebts himself to the Jewish moneylender Shylock on
Bassanio’s behalf. (Read extended character analysis of Bassanio.)

Portia
Portia is a beautiful, intelligent, and wealthy heiress from Belmont. Her father’s will stipulates that she
can only marry the man who manages to solve a riddle involving three caskets made of different metals.
The caskets are made of gold, silver, and lead. The person who successfully chooses the casket with
Portia’s portrait in it wins her hand in marriage. Due to her wealth and beauty, Portia has many suitors.
However, her father’s will has left her powerless to decide which one she weds. Portia resents this, and
subtly helps Bassanio, her favored suitor, solve the riddle so that they can marry. (Read extended
character analysis of Portia.)

Shylock
Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender from Venice and Jessica's father. He lends Antonio and
Bassanio the 3,000 ducats that Bassanio needs to pursue Portia. However, Shylock stipulates that if
Antonio defaults on the loan, he will owe Shylock a pound of his flesh. This contract spurs the central
plot of the play. When Antonio defaults on the loan, Shylock attempts to extract his pound of flesh.
However, thanks to Portia’s intervention, Antonio is saved and Shylock is forced to relinquish half of his
fortune. He is also forced to convert to Christianity. Shylock is left humiliated after being robbed of his
money, his faith, and his dignity. (Read extended character analysis of Shylock.)
Jessica is Shylock’s daughter. In a bid to escape her unhappy family home, she elopes with Lorenzo, a
penniless Christian. She converts to Christianity as a consequence of marrying Lorenzo. Before leaving
Shylock’s house, she steals a chest full of ducats and family heirlooms. Among those heirlooms is a
turquoise ring given to Shylock by his late wife, Leah. After eloping, Jessica and Lorenzo travel to
Belmont and eventually arrive at Portia’s estate. When Portia leaves to attend Antonio’s trial, she leaves
Jessica and Lorenzo in charge of her estate. (Read extended character analysis of Jessica.)

Lorenzo
Lorenzo is a penniless Christian who weds Shylock’s daughter, Jessica. After eloping, Jessica and Lorenzo
travel to Belmont. Their marriage is initially unacknowledged by Shylock. However, after the trial,
Antonio forces Shylock to formally acknowledge Lorenzo as his son-in-law. Antonio does so by
stipulating that Shylock’s entire estate will be transferred to Lorenzo upon Shylock’s death.

Gratiano
Gratiano is Antonio and Bassanio’s friend and Nerissa’s suitor. He accompanies Bassanio to Belmont.
Gratiano is described as “wild,” “rude,” and “bold.” He is ill-mannered to the point that Bassanio orders
him to behave himself if he wants to come to Belmont. Gratiano is one of the most openly anti-Semitic
characters in the play. During the trial in act IV, scene I, Gratiano is hostile towards Shylock, going so far
as to tell Shylock to “hang” himself. He taunts and jeers at Shylock as Portia makes her declarations,
dispensing with any pretense of the Christian “mercy” that the other characters lay claim to.
Gratiano’s courtship of Nerissa closely mirrors Bassanio’s courtship of Portia. Just as Bassanio privileges
his relationship with Antonio over his relationship with Portia, Gratiano also prioritizes other men over
his wife. However, Nerissa teaches Gratiano to prioritize his promises to her. After the trial in act IV,
scene I, Nerissa, disguised as a law clerk, asks Gratiano for his wedding ring as tribute. He gives it to her,
not recognizing the test he is taking—and failing. Nerissa later teases Gratiano by saying that she has
slept with the law clerk he gave the ring to. Gratiano, humbled by his wife’s trick, promises to privilege
“Nerissa’s ring” above all else.

Nerissa
Nerissa is Portia’s “woman-in-waiting.” After Bassanio successfully completes the casket test, Nerissa
weds Bassanio’s friend Gratiano. Throughout the play, Nerissa serves as Portia’s closest friend, ally, and
co-conspirator. She supports Portia’s desire to wed Bassanio and commends him highly. However,
Nerissa does not shy away from speaking her mind. When Portia laments the unfairness of the casket
test, Nerissa reminds Portia to be grateful that her father cared enough about her future to plan for it.
Much like Portia, Nerissa is playful and manipulative. While disguised as a male law clerk after Antonio’s
trial, she asks her husband, Gratiano, to give her his wedding ring. She later reveals the trick and scolds
her husband for giving away a symbol of their devotion so easily. This test allows her to assert power
over her husband and ensure that he remains faithful to her.

Launcelot Gobbo
Launcelot Gobbo begins the play as Shylock’s servant and ends it as Bassanio’s servant. He is a bright
young man who enjoys wordplay. He resents the treatment he receives from Shylock and helps Jessica
elope with Lorenzo. Launcelot’s testimony helps create contrast between Shylock and Bassanio:
whereas Shylock is described as miserly and devilish, Bassanio is hailed as a generous and kind master.