Question

summary of theplay :the merchant of venice

Answer 1

Bassanio, a young Venetian of noble rank, wishes to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress Portia of Belmont. Having squandered his estate, he needs 3,000 ducats to subsidise his expenditures as a suitor. Bassanio approaches his friend Antonio, a wealthy merchant of Venice who has previously and repeatedly bailed him out. Antonio agrees, but since he is cash-poor – his ships and merchandise are busy at sea – he promises to cover a bond if Bassanio can find a lender, so Bassanio turns to the Jewish moneylender Shylock and names Antonio as the loan's guarantor.

Antonio has already antagonized Shylock through his outspoken antisemitism, and because Antonio's habit of lending money without interest forces Shylock to charge lower rates. Shylock is at first reluctant to grant the loan, citing abuse he has suffered at Antonio's hand. He finally agrees to lend the sum to Bassanio without interest upon one condition: if Bassanio is unable to repay it at the specified date, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Bassanio does not want Antonio to accept such a risky condition; Antonio is surprised by what he sees as the moneylender's generosity (no "usance" – interest – is asked for), and he signs the contract. With money at hand, Bassanio leaves for Belmont with his friend Gratiano, who has asked to accompany him. Gratiano is a likeable young man, but is often flippant, overly talkative, and tactless. Bassanio warns his companion to exercise self-control, and the two leave for Belmont and Portia.

Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia is awash with suitors. Her father left a will stipulating each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets – one each of gold, silver and lead. If he picks the right casket, he gets Portia. The first suitor, the Prince of Morocco, chooses the gold casket, interpreting its slogan, "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire", as referring to Portia. The second suitor, the conceited Prince of Arragon, chooses the silver casket, which proclaims, "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves", as he believes he is full of merit. Both suitors leave empty-handed, having rejected the lead casket because of the baseness of its material and the uninviting nature of its slogan, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath". The last suitor is Bassanio, whom Portia wishes to succeed, having met him before. As Bassanio ponders his choice, members of Portia's household sing a song which says that "fancy" (not true love) is "engend'red in the eyes, With gazing fed";[1] Bassanio chooses the lead casket and wins Portia's hand.

A depiction of Jessica, fromThe Graphic Gallery of Shakespeare's Heroines

At Venice, Antonio's ships are reported lost at sea so the merchant cannot repay the bond. Shylock has become more determined to exact revenge from Christians because his daughter Jessica eloped with the Christian Lorenzo and converted. She took a substantial amount of Shylock's wealth with her, as well as a turquoise ring which Shylock had been given by his late wife, Leah. Shylock has Antonio brought before court.

At Belmont, Bassanio receives a letter telling him that Antonio has been unable to repay the loan from Shylock. Portia and Bassanio marry, as do Gratiano and Portia's handmaid Nerissa. Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life by offering the money to Shylock. Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Portia's cousin, Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua.

The climax of the play takes place 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 but unable to nullify a contract, refers the case to a visitor. He identifies himself as Balthazar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario. The doctor is Portia in disguise, and the law clerk who accompanies her is Nerissa, also disguised as a man. As Balthazar, Portia repeatedly asks Shylock to show mercy in a famous speech, advising him that mercy "is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes" (IV, i, 185). However, Shylock adamantly refuses any compensations and insists on the pound of flesh.

Answer 2

Answer:

Summary of Merchant of Venice

William Shakespeare's, Merchant of Venice presents Shylock, the Jewish money lender as the villain of the play. Shylock cunningly coaxed Antonio to add the words "a pound of flesh" in the bond as one of the conditions if Antonio failed to repay the loan in time.

Antonio is a business rival to Shylock. Antonio charges minimum interest and this was harming the money lending business of Shylock. He, therefore wants to ruin Antonio. Shylock charges exorbitant rate of interest which people think as immoral.

Jessica, the only daughter of Shylock, knew all about her father and is ashamed of him. She confesses that she is his daughter by blood, and not by actions. She hopes to escape her relationship with her father by marrying Lorenzo.

Bassanio is in love with Portia the heiress of Belmont but she has other richer suitors. He needs money to compete with them in order to win the hand of Portia. Antonio told him that all his money was tied up in his business but that he will be the guarantor for any loan that he can get.

Shylock demands the right to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's body for not repaying the loan in the fixed time. The duke appeals to Shylock to show compassion to Antonio but Shylock refused to show Antonio any mercy. In his eagerness to take the life of Antonio, he even brought his knife to the court.

Shylock was unpopular with other people who accused him of practising his money lending business with outrageously high rates of interest. The merchants, such as Antonio, too cannot stand Shylock because they believed his way of making money was unacceptable.

In the climactic court scene Shylock and Antonio confront one another. During the trial, Portia explained the value of mercy. She said that when mercy is unreservedly dispensed, it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown, it is an attribute of God himself. But it makes no difference to Shylock. Portia uses her logic and clever wit. She agrees with Shylock that the bond is binding and cannot be broken. But she points out that while the bond allows for a pound of flesh, it does not allow for the shedding of blood. Shylock losses the case because it is impossible for him to cut a pound of flesh without shedding blood. According to the law, his property would be confiscated and divided equally between the city of Venice and Antonio. The Duke spares his life, an act of mercy Shylock refused to give to Antonio. The play ends on a happy note with the ship's of Antonio arriving safely and Bassanio marrying Portia.