write summary of
merchant of venice in 250 words
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Bassanio, a Venetian nobleman with financial difficulties, wishes to compete for the hand of Portia, a wealthy heiress of Belmont, in order to restore his fortune. He asks his friend Antonio, a successful merchant of Venice, to loan him the money necessary to undertake such an attempt. Antonio agrees, but, as all of his assets are tied up at sea, he will have to use his credit in order to obtain the money for his friend. They go to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender and enemy of Antonio’s. Shylock agrees to lend them 3000 ducats, but only if Antonio will sign a bond offering the usurer a pound of his flesh if the loan is not repaid in three months’ time. Despite Bassanio’s misgivings, Antonio assents to the arrangement.
Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia laments to her serving woman, Nerissa, the terms of her late father’s will. They state that whoever seeks to marry Portia must solve the riddle of the three caskets—one gold, one silver, one lead, each with an inscription—or, failing in the attempt, agree to remain a bachelor for the rest of his days. Various suitors attempt the test and fail, until Bassanio arrives. Portia favors him and is delighted when he succeeds. His man, Gratiano, also proposes to Nerissa. She accepts.
But all is not well in Venice. Lorenzo, a friend of Bassanio and Antonio, elopes with Shylock’s daughter, Jessica. This enrages Shylock, who vows to show no mercy should Antonio be unable to repay the loan. Much to the usurer’s delight, Antonio’s ships become lost at sea, placing him in financial jeopardy. Shylock has him arrested and waits eagerly to make good on the bond.
After Bassanio succeeds at the challenge of the caskets, Jessica and Lorenzo arrive in Belmont seeking refuge. Bassanio simultaneously receives a letter from Antonio, revealing his predicament. Having no time to perform the wedding services, Bassanio and Gratiano depart for Venice, promising to return. Leaving Jessica and Lorenzo in charge of her household, Portia, accompanied by Nerissa, secretly leaves for Venice.
In court before the parties concerned, Shylock appeals to the Duke of Venice for the fulfillment of his bond. The Duke is reluctant, but sees no legal way to prevent Shylock’s claim. Portia and Nerissa, disguised as a doctor of law and his clerk, arrive to help decide the case. Portia initially rules in favor of Shylock; before he can begin to cut, however, she points out that he is not entitled to spill any of Antonio’s blood. She finds him guilty, furthermore, of attempting to take the life of a Venetian citizen. At the mercy of the court, Shylock loses half of his possessions and is forced to convert to Christianity. He leaves in defeat.
In payment for her services, the disguised Portia asks Bassanio for a ring she had given him in Belmont on the condition that he would never part with it. He refuses, and she storms off in pretended anger. Antonio, however, prevails upon his friend to send the ring after the doctor for “his” services to them; Bassanio sends Gratiano, who also gives up the ring Nerissa gave him, with the same stipulation, to the clerk.
Portia and Nerissa arrive in Belmont. Pretending they never left, the two women demand to see the rings they gave their future husbands and feign outrage when they cannot produce them. Portia finally lets everyone off the hook and admits her and Nerissa’s roles in the events in Venice. She also gives Antonio a letter informing him that three of his ships have arrived safely in port, restoring his wealth. The group go to Portia’s house to celebrate.
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 was a business rival to Shylock. Antonio charged minimum interest on the capital and this was harming the money lending business of Shylock. He, therefore wanted to ruin Antonio.
Launcelot Gobbo, a servant of Shylock, too struggled with the decision whether or not he should run away from his master, a kind of devil.
We also see Jessica, the only daughter of Shylock, living a miserable life under a domineering father. She knew all about her father and was ashamed of him. Jessica confessed that she is his daughter by blood, and not by actions. She hoped to escape her relationship with her father by marrying Lorenzo.
Bassanio was in love with Portia the heiress of Belmont but she has other richer suitors. He needed money to try 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 act as a guarantor for any loan that he can get.
Shylock was unpopular with other characters who accused him of practising of lending money with outrageously high rates of interest. His greedy way of making money was immoral.
Shylock demanded the right to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's body for not repaying the loan in the fixed time. The duke appealed to Shylock to show compassion to Antonio but to no avail. Shylock refused to show Antonio any mercy despite the countless efforts of various characters to try to persuade him. The audience could see his hatred in his answer that his desire for the pound of flesh is purely for his pleasure.
Shylock was determined to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's body. His eagerness to take the life of Antonio showed how deep seated his hatred for Antonio was. He was a cruel man. Shylock even brought his knife to the court, further proving how merciless he was.
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. Portia will determine Antonio's fate. 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 make no difference to Shylock. Portia used her logic and clever wit. She agreed with Shylock that the bond is binding and cannot be broken. But she pointed out that though the bond allowed for a pound of flesh, it did not allow for the shedding of blood. Shylock cannot cut a pound of flesh without shedding a single drop of blood. He lost the case because it is impossible 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 spared his life, an act of mercy Shylock refused to give to Antonio. The play ends in a happy note with the ship's of Antonio arriving safely and Bassanio marrying Portia.