The Merchant of

Venice

By William Shakespeare
 Overview of slideshow
 Important
concepts
 Historical context
 Main characters
 Subplots
 Important Concepts
 Usury:
The practice of lending
money and charging
the borrower
interest, especially
at an exorbitant or
illegally high rate.
 Usury
 Condemned by
most major religions
at some point -
some still
 Moses, Muhammad,
Plato, Aristotle all
prohibited it
 Protestant England - Usury
 Queen Elizabeth
more lenient view
of usury.
 Allowed for
commercial
ventures - New
World
 Contrasted Vatican
 Anti-Semitism
 England the first
European country to
expel Jews in 1290
 Allowed back into
country under
Oliver Cromwell in
late 17th century
Jewish Stereotypes in England
 Ritual murder
 Desecration of the
host
 Poisoning wells
 Spreading the
plague
 Stubborn, non-
believers
 Dr. Rodrigo Lopez
 Portuguese Jew fled
Spanish Inquisition
 Became the
personal physician
to Queen Elizabeth I
 Executed for
treason 1594
 Lopez and Barabas
 Shakespeare was
likely to have
attended Lopez’s
execution
 Christopher
Marlowe’s The Jew
of Malta 1592
 Barabas
 Main Characters - Antonio
 Wealthy, merciful
merchant of Venice
 Borrows money from
Shylock to give to his
friend, Bassanio
 Humble, generous
entrepreneur
 Main Characters - Shylock

 Wealthy Jewish
usurer
 Old Testament
justice, revenge,
greed?
 Main characters - Bassanio

 Young aristocrat,
spendthrift
 Very close to
Antonio
 Seeks Portia’s hand
 Main Characters - Portia
 Wealthy beautiful
heiress in Belmont
 Dutiful, generous,
seeks true love
 Subverts role of
women to save
Antonio and trick
Bassanio
 Nerissa and Gratiano
 Friends of Bassanio
and Portia who are
foils to their love,
 Involved in the “ring
plot”
 Jessica
 Shylock’s daughter
 Steals from Shylock,
abandons him, and
marries a Christian
and converts
 Two Worlds
 Venice  Belmont
 Language of  Poetic language
Money/commerce  Love marriage
 Male friendship bonds
 Justice/rule of law  Mercy spirit of law
 Two Worlds
 Venice  Belmont
 Language of  Poetic language
Money/commerce  Love marriage
 Male friendship bonds
 Justice/rule of law  Mercy spirit of law
 Two Worlds
 Venice  Belmont
 Language of  Poetic language
Money/commerce  Love marriage
 Male friendship bonds
 Justice/rule of law  Mercy spirit of law
 Two Worlds
 Venice  Belmont
 Language of  Poetic language
Money/commerce  Love marriage
 Male friendship bonds
 Justice/rule of law  Mercy spirit of law
 Old vs. New Testament
 Judaism  Christianity
 Justice/retribution  Mercy/Forgiveness
 Letter of law  Spirit of Law
 “A Daniel come to  Quality of mercy is
judgment” not “strained”
 Old vs. New Testament
 Judaism  Christianity
 Justice/retribution  Mercy/Forgiveness
 Letter of law  Spirit of Law
 “A Daniel come to  Quality of mercy is
judgment” not “strained”
 Old vs. New Testament
 Judaism  Christianity
 Justice/retribution  Mercy/Forgiveness
 Letter of law  Spirit of Law
 “A Daniel come to  Quality of mercy is
judgment” not “strained”
 Old vs. New Testament
 Judaism  Christianity
 Justice/retribution  Mercy/Forgiveness
 Letter of law  Spirit of Law
 “A Daniel come to  Quality of mercy is
judgment” not “strained”
 Three plots #1
 Casket Plot
Portia’s test for her
suitors
Resolved with Portia’s
marriage to
Bassanio
 Three plots #2
 Pound of Flesh Plot
Shylock’s bond
Resolved in Act IV -
the courtroom
scene
 Three Plots #3
 Ring Plot
Comedic twist
Portia and Nerrisa
trick their husbands
Resolved in ACT V
The End