1790 PALG MerchantVenice SampleEssay - Philip Allan ...literatureguides.philipallan.co.uk/BookFiles/32/851/Merchant... · introduction Paragraph 1 Identify Shylock, ... his speech

The MerchanT of VenicePhiLiP aLLan LITERATURE GUIDE for GcSe

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PhiLiP aLLan LITERATURE GUIDE for GcSe 1

Sample essaysQuestion 1This section contains a grade-A* and a grade-C essay answering the

following question:

How does Shakespeare make Shylock both a villain, who we hope will be thwarted in his plans, and a victim, for whom we feel sympathy?

The question asks you to show detailed knowledge of Shylock’s character

and his motivations through the play. You will need to explore his conflict

with Antonio and the other Christian merchants. Depending on the exam

board you are with, you may gain marks for providing relevant contextual

information about anti-Semitism in Elizabethan England, and for identi-

fying and analysing key moments in the play where Shylock’s character is

revealed and developed.

The following plan has been used to structure both sample essays. The

notes in the margins of the essays explain how marks are gained for the A*

essay and how the grade-C essay could be improved. The grade-A* answer

displays a more thorough knowledge of the play, uses more appropriate

language to make points clearly and uses PEE (point, evidence, explana-

tion) to develop ideas and relate them to the text, better supporting them

by quotations and textual evidence.

PlanintroductionParagraph 1Identify Shylock, not Antonio, as the main character of the play, and

establish the conflict between Shylock and the Christian merchant as anti-

The MerchanT of Venice

Sample essays

2PhiLiP aLLan LITERATURE GUIDE for GcSe


Semitic in nature. Show understanding of the prejudices of the Elizabethan

audience and set up the question: is Shylock a villain or a victim?

MiddleParagraph 2

Explore Shylock’s character within the dramatic structure of the play

up to Act 3 scene 1, his speech for understanding and tolerance. Identify

this as a turning point in Shylock’s development. Support analysis of his

character with key quotations and show how Shakespeare subverts the

audience’s expectation at the start of Act 3.

Paragraph 3Review how Shylock is developed through Acts 1 and 2 as a typical

miserly Jewish character, setting him up as an increasing threat to Antonio

as it grows more likely that the merchant will fail to repay the bond.

Paragraph 4Explore Shylock’s plea for tolerance in Act 3 scene 1 and show how this

introduces depth and contrast into Shylock’s character, which makes him

both more ambiguous and complex, and raises the dramatic stakes of the

play by making us wonder which element, victim (with the potential for

generosity of action) or villain (with capacity for cruelty), will dominate

Shylock when the bond comes to be repaid.

Paragraph 5Analysis of Shylock’s move from villain to victim through the trial.

Shylock starts the long scene as ‘predominantly’ villainous, now the bond

offers him a long-awaited chance to revenge himself against Antonio and

through him all Christian merchants. Then show how he becomes a victim

as he is destroyed by Portia’s cunning. Conclude by asking if Shakespeare

wants us to feel sympathy for him when he leaves the scene.

conclusionParagraph 6

A convincing conclusion is usually achieved either by holding back the

interpretation of one key piece of evidence from the text or by presenting

a final opinion that is triggered by the question and is well supported

by evidence (from the text) and creative interpretation. Here, this final

conclusive opinion can be summed up as stating that (in your opinion)

Shylock is not a victim, purely and simply, but a ‘victim of circumstance’

and his villainous side can be explained, if not forgiven, by the life-long

prejudice he has suffered.


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Grade-a* answerintroduction (paragraph 1)

The title of the play refers to Antonio, but in many ways Shylock is

the main character, at least within the main or ‘business’ plot.

Antonio and the other merchant appear on stage first, but waiting

for the appearance of Shylock adds to his power as a character.1

The merchants are Christians, and although they would have been

‘foreign’ to Shakespeare’s London audience, their religious faith

made them the characters that theatre goers would automatically

side with against the Jewish Shylock.2 The few Jewish characters

that appeared in other Elizabethan stage dramas were simple,

comic figures — money-grabbing misers to be mocked and

despised. In the first few scenes of The Merchant of Venice,

Shakespeare might just be setting up another miserly caricature,

but then he creates a much more complex, tragic and flawed

character.3 We can imagine Shakespeare’s audience not knowing

how to respond to Shylock and thinking: ‘Is he a villain or a victim?’4

Middle (paragraphs 2–5)In the opening scene we meet the Christian merchants —

characters whom Shakespeare’s audience would naturally see as

the ‘heroes’ of the play, whom they would wish to see triumph over

‘evil’ Jews epitomised by Shylock.5 Up to Act 3 scene 1 when he

delivers his plea for understanding, Shylock is presented as a both

a ‘typical’ money-lending Jew and a man with a long-standing

grudge against Antonio. The merchants are care-free friends,

adventurous businessmen, and Bassanio, at least on the surface,

appears in the role of a would-be lover. A male lover struggling to

gain a beautiful woman was a standard character in Elizabethan

romantic comedy (and in some more serious plays), so scene 1 is

establishing characters we should admire6 Shylock, by contrast,

when he does finally appear in scene 3, is concerned only with

money and settling a grudge against Antonio. Shylock seems to

secretly want Antonio to fail to repay the bond: he says, in an aside

to the audience ‘If I can catch him once upon the hip,/I will feed fat

the ancient grudge I bear him’ (1.3 38–39)7 Playwrights have to

manage the audience’s expectations as a play unfolds on stage, and

here Shakespeare is setting up a dark motive for Shylock that we

sense will lead to trouble for Antonio.8

1 Opening demonstrates a good understanding of the role of Shylock and his importance in the play’s dramatic structure.

2 Shows understanding of context of anti-Semitism and of Shakespeare’s audience.

3 Neat overview of Shylock’s character and the dramatic dynamics of the opening scenes of the play.4 Clear reference to the question.

5 This sentence combines understanding of the plot dynamics of the play and of the context within which Shakespeare was writing.

6 Good overview of the character, linked again to the Elizabethan audience’s attitudes and expectations.

7 Well-chosen quotation to support the interpretation of the play, showing close reading of the text.8 A simple but perceptive overview of the dynamics of the play to conclude this paragraph.


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Throughout Act 2, Shylock in many ways fulfils the traditional role

of a Jewish character on the Elizabethan stage. He reflects on the

insults that Antonio has heaped on him (‘you spurned me such a

day, another time/You called me dog’ (1.3 119–20)), but for many,

any sympathy felt could well be swept away when Shylock outlines

the gory bond he demands. This is a good example of Shakespeare

first going beyond the stereotypical, negative and one-dimensional

presentation of Jews in other Elizabethan drama, suggesting the

‘victim’ element of Shylock’s character, then suddenly bringing out

his villainous side in the bloody bond to trap Antonio.9 The only

other relationship Shylock has with any other character is with his

daughter Jessica. She abandons him and her faith to elope with

Lorenzo. When she does so, Shakespeare again manages Shylock’s

reaction to first entice us to feel sympathy for him, then to tear this

away by again having him show ‘typically Jewish’ negative

qualities.10 Shylock is a lonely figure in what is often a busy and

bustling play. When Jessica leaves, he is even more isolated. She

robs him of his beloved money, and also takes a ring of great

sentimental value. This seems a cruel thing to do. But then

Shakespeare takes away our sympathy by having Solanio report

that Shylock is running through the street crying as much for his lost

ducats as his daughter. In his speech about Shylock’s behaviour

(2.8 12–22), Solanio mentions ducats six times, hammering home

the idea that Shylock is obsessed with money. However, it is highly

significant that Shakespeare has chosen to have Shylock’s actions

reported rather than shown on stage through Shylock’s words and

actions: Solanio’s mockery is that of a character already established

as anti-Semitic and so the audience may well not trust in his

portrayal of Shylock as caring more for his ducats than his

daughter’s betrayal of him.11

Shylock’s plea for tolerance in Act 3 scene 1, lines 42–57, is both a

turning point in the play in terms of what we learn about Shylock,

and a great moment of poetic writing. Shylock’s impassioned review

of the qualities that Jews share with all other humans is still

powerful and affecting today, but must have been very challenging

to an Elizabethan audience for whom anti-Semitism was a natural

and acceptable point of view.12 The speech is very cleverly

constructed so that although it is a poetic ‘set piece’ that interrupts

the flow of the scene, it has clear lead-in and lead-out lines to join

it to the rest of the scene.13 Shylock starts by revealing his anger

with Antonio, listing reasons: ‘he hath disgraced me…laughed at my

9 Shows understanding of how the drama is driven forward by character, in this case by revealing Shylock’s two sides as victim and villain.

10 Good analysis of the plot dynamics that drive the play forward.

11 Effective textual analysis picking up on the subtle but important nuance of how Shylock’s behaviour is ‘reported’, and by a character already established as an enemy to Shylock, not shown on stage through the character of Shylock himself.

12 Good analysis of the way the play was and is received by audiences, touching on cultural context.13 Excellent analysis of how the speech is constructed to be part of the scene. The candidate shows understanding of how the speech has to be tied into the dramatic action of the scene.


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losses, mocked at my gains’ (3.1 43–44). He ends by saying that

‘the villainy you teach me I will execute’ (line 56), suggesting that he

is only showing hatred towards Antonio because hatred has been

constantly shown towards him. Yet the body of the speech is a plea

for tolerance and understanding. It is one of the greatest and still

relevant speeches in all Shakespeare.14 This is a clear moment

when we see Shylock as a victim, not a villain.15

The trial vividly shows the victim and villain in Shylock. Characters

should undergo changes in a play, and these changes are the result

of what the character has experienced.16 As the play unfolds,

Shylock increasingly senses his chance to gain revenge not just on

Antonio, but by implication on all Christian merchants. By the start

of the trial, he is fixed on having ‘his pound of flesh’. He is deaf to

any appeal for mercy, convinced that the law will deliver revenge. He

is at his most villainous.17 Yet when he is defeated by Portia, his

punishment is particularly detailed and he is completely destroyed.

Now he is utterly a victim. Shakespeare’s audience might have

approved of every new element of the punishment — here is an evil

Jew being shown what happens if you dare to take on the Christians

— but the way Shylock now disappears from the play so quickly

suggests that Shakespeare the great dramatist might have realised

that if Shylock had been given a speech here of equal power to his

plea for tolerance, the audience might have been challenged to feel

sympathy for him, and the play would really end with his departure.18

conclusion (paragraph 6)It is impossible to say if Shakespeare imagined Shylock as a man

who began life as a good person who became villainous as a result

of life-long prejudice. Shylock ultimately fulfils a role in a play.19 He

is the antagonist who opposes what Antonio, a rather weak and

one-dimensional protagonist, wants for himself and his friends.

Antonio’s character is not as detailed or as full of conflicting motives

as Shylock’s. We are left thinking that Shylock is the most human

character in the play (because of his speech in Act 3 scene 1), then

wondering if, had Portia not defeated him in the trial, he would have

actually cut out the flesh from Antonio. Would he have backed down

at the last moment? Shakespeare does not give the audience any

‘hints’ about how they should feel as Shylock is destroyed in court

and the play moves quickly into the romantic plot.20 Perhaps

Shakespeare was cautious about suggesting to his audience that

14 Use of quotations here is good. The explanation of the point made in the previous sentence is given with well-chosen quotations from the opening and closing sections, rather than using the more famous lines from the middle section, which are really self-evident statements that require no further analysis. 15 This last statement reconnects us to the question.

16 Shows clear understanding of how plays are constructed.

17 Shows clear understanding of Shylock’s situation at the start of Act 4.

18 Excellent analysis of the play’s structure. Creative thinking about why it was written in the form it is.

19 Good summing-up of Shylock as a character in a drama.

20 Excellent creative analysis of the play’s structure.


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they should feel sorry for a Jew. For a modern audience, Shylock

still displays villainous thirst for bloody revenge, but then, when we

consider the life he has led and the prejudice he has been subjected

to, we might finally say that he is neither simply a victim nor a villain,

but a victim of circumstances.21

Grade-c answerintroduction (paragraph 1)Antonio is the merchant of Venice but Shylock is the main character

of the play.1 Antonio and the other merchants appear on stage first,

but as soon as the need for Antonio to borrow money is set up, we

are waiting for the appearance of Shylock the money lender.

Shylock is a Jew, so in Venice is allowed, unlike Christians, to work

as a money lender. The merchants are all Christians and this makes

them the characters that most Elizabethan theatre goers would side

with against the Jewish Shylock.2 Jewish characters in other

Elizabethan stage dramas were comic characters to be laughed at

and despised. Anti-Semitism, prejudice against Jews, was a part of

normal life in Elizabethan England.3 In the first few scenes of The

Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare sets up Shylock as just another

miser, but then he creates a much more complex, tragic and flawed

character.4

Middle (paragraphs 2–5)Shakespeare’s audience would see Antonio, Bassanio and their

friends as the ‘heroes’ of the play. They help each other out.5 Up to

Act 3 scene 1, Shylock is presented as both a ‘typical’ money-

lending Jew and a man with a bitter grudge against Antonio. The

merchants are adventurous and risk-taking businessmen, and

Bassanio is typical of the heroic lover often seen in Elizabethan

romantic comedies.6 The overall effect of scene 1 is to set up a

group of characters we should admire while Shylock is concerned

only with money and settling a grudge against the ‘open and honest’

Antonio. Shakespeare shows us that Shylock wants Antonio to fail

to repay the bond when he says, in an aside to the audience, ‘If I can

catch him once upon the hip,/I will feed fat the ancient grudge I

bear him’ (1.3 38–39). He is telling us what he hopes might

happen.7

21 Neat final statement, which reconnects us to the question.

1 A basically good point to start the essay, but needs qualifying to earn extra marks, for example by saying that he is only the main character of the ‘business’ plot (he does not feature in the romantic sub plot).

2 Some core contextual and character information is given here, but it is a bit muddled.3 Again, some good contextual information here, but not quite properly expressed to link it clearly to the character of Shylock.4 A good point about how Shylock and the two sides to his character, but some more detail about how he develops and changes through the play would gain marks.

5 Friendship is a key part of the Christian merchants’ interaction, but this is stated here with little relevance to developing an argument, and the opportunity to support this idea with evidence from the text is lost.6 A basically correct reading of the idea of the lover as romantic hero, but not very well expressed.7 Competent analysis of Shylock’s motivations supported by a well-chosen quotation, but we are not absolutely sure at this early moment in the play if Shylock is really settled on bloody revenge rather than profit. A more subtle reading of the play suggests that his desire for flesh rather than money appears to grow as events unfold. (For example, his suspicion that Antonio’s friends helped Jessica to elope might harden Shylock’s attitude.)


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Throughout Act 2, Shylock shows many of the features of a typical

Jewish character on the Elizabethan stage. He reflects on the

insults that Antonio has heaped on him (‘you spurned me such a

day, another time/You called me dog’ (1.3 119–20) and shows his

villainous side by his setting up the bloody bond to trap Antonio into

a deadly situation. When Jessica leaves him, Shylock shows both

sides of his character. He is a victim because Jessica has robbed

him and taken a ring of great sentimental value. This is a very cruel

thing to do. But then he shows himself to be a money-grabbing

villain when Solanio reports that Shylock is running through the

street crying as much for his lost ‘ducats’ (money) as his daughter.

In his speech about Shylock’s behaviour (2.8 12–22), Solanio

mentions ducats six times.8

Shylock’s plea for tolerance in Act 3 scene 1, lines 42–57, is a

great moment in the play. His list of the qualities that Jews share

with all other humans is still powerful to audiences today, but must

have been very challenging to an Elizabethan audience who was

naturally prejudiced against Jews. They would feel uncomfortable

when he says ‘If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do

we not laugh?’ (3.1 50–51)9 If this middle bit of the speech shows

Shylock as victim, then the start and finish show his villainous side.

He begins by revealing his anger with Antonio (‘he hath disgraced

me…laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains’) (3.1 43–44) and

ends by saying that ‘the villainy you teach me I will execute’ (line 56).

He is saying that he hates Antonio because Antonio hates him.10

At the start of the trial in Act 4, Shylock sees his chance to gain

revenge on Antonio. Shylock has become obsessed and wants ‘his

pound of flesh’ more than any money. He enters the court blind to

any appeal for mercy, convinced that the law will deliver revenge. He

is at his most villainous.11 When he is defeated by Portia, he

becomes completely a victim, because he is completely destroyed.

The Venetian system is taking its revenge on a Jew who dared to

stand up to the Christian merchants. But it has taken a woman to

defeat him, using a clever trick to stop him taking Antonio’s flesh.12

conclusion (paragraph 6)Plays work by having characters who are protagonists and

antagonists, opposing each other, and this creates drama. Antonio

wants to help a friend and puts himself in Shylock’s deadly debt.

Shylock wants a pound of Antonio’s flesh as a symbol of revenge

8 A basically sound analysis of two contrasting sides of Shylock’s personality, supported with appropriate quotations, but it is all a bit simplistic. Shylock is not, for example, clearly a villain just because he cries for his stolen money. The student also misses the important choice that Shakespeare has made not to have Shylock appearing on stage lamenting the loss of his money, but to have this reported and made a joke of by Solanio, an acknowledged Jew hater.9 A well-chosen quotation from Shylock’s speech, but we do not actually know if the Elizabethan audience felt uncomfortable. Better to express this as a speculation and suggest a range of things they might have felt: challenged, annoyed etc.10 This last point is rather simplistic. More could be made of the fact that prejudice eventually leads those who are constantly discriminated against to hate their oppressors, thus casting Shylock’s comment in a more sympathetic light.

11 This is a true reading of the start of the trial, but marks would be gained by explaining how this reveals Shylock’s increasing fixation on revenge over profit.12 There are some good points being made here, especially about Portia and her ‘trick’. Marks would be gained for exploring if her trick (taking the flesh but not drawing blood) is actually legal, and for commenting on the importance of a woman achieving in court what none of the men appear able to do.


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on all Christians.13 The battle between them drives the main plot of

the play. Shylock is both a victim and a villain. He is a victim because

he has suffered prejudice and is defeated in court. He is a villain

because he becomes obsessed with cutting out Antonio’s flesh. He

is a villain because he wants revenge. We don’t know how

Shakespeare wanted us to think of Shylock so we decide if he is

villain or a victim according to how much we think he was right to

try and gain revenge over people who have always hated him.14

13 Showing understanding of the way drama is constructed using protagonist–antagonist conflict gains marks, but it could be better linked to the roles of Shylock and Antonio.14 There is an attempt to create an imaginative concluding point here, built around the idea of deciding if Shylock is a victim or villain according to the candidate’s personal response to his motivations, but it is a bit muddled and could be rephrased to be more of an argument and less of a series of statements.


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Question 2This section contains a grade-A* and a grade-C essay answering the

following question:

Explain why the concept of obeying the law is a key element of the plot of The Merchant of Venice.

The following plan has been used to structure both sample essays. As in

the previous section, the notes in the margins of the essays explain how

marks are gained for the A* essay and how the grade-C essay could be

improved.

PlanintroductionParagraph 1Identify the two main types of law that are obeyed in the play: the actual

law of Venice and the personal ‘law’ that Portia obeys in honouring her

father’s will by agreeing to the lottery of the caskets. The first type of

law is central to the main plot involving Antonio, Shylock and the world

of mercantile Venice; the second is crucial to the romantic plot centred

around Belmont.

The essay will propose the idea that Portia breaks both Venetian

law and the terms of her father’s will. The conclusion will ask what this

suggests about obeying the law: that clever people can always twist it to

their advantage.

MiddleParagraph 2Explain how Venice was a great trading centre because traders knew that

the law regulated business and protected merchants. Explain how only

Jews were allowed to be money lenders and the prejudice this caused.

Show how a good thing (obeying the law) becomes a threat to Antonio.

Paragraph 3Compare the way the merchants obey Venetian law to how Portia obeys

the ‘law’ of her father’s will. Explore why the casket lottery might have

advantages.

Paragraph 4Show how Portia controls the outcome of the trial by a subtle, if not

cunning, use of details of the law.


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Paragraph 5Explore how some critics suggest that Portia acts in a similar way to

influence the ‘law’ of the caskets, by guiding Bassanio to choose the

casket.

conclusion

Paragraph 6A convincing conclusion is usually achieved either by holding back the

interpretation of one key piece of evidence from the text or by presenting

a final opinion that is triggered by the question and is well supported by

evidence (from the text) and creative interpretation. Here, state an opinion

(supported by appropriate PEE) about Shakespeare’s possible ‘message’

for the play, for example that laws are used by some people to gain what

they want. Link this to the idea of The Merchant of Venice being one of

Shakespeare’s problem plays, because the law, supposedly a good thing,

is used by someone not actually qualified to practise it to utterly destroy

Shylock, reinforcing prejudice again Jews.


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Grade-a* answerintroduction (paragraph 1)

The Merchant of Venice is constructed around two plots that are

interwoven to feed into the central themes of the play. They are

most closely drawn together in Act 4 when Portia leaves Belmont

and comes to Venice in disguise to rescue her new husband’s best

friend.1 The business plot is built around Antonio and Shylock’s

bond, while the romantic plot is built around the three caskets which

are the lottery to which Portia must be subjected every time a

prospective husband arrives. However, the plots are linked from the

start when we see Bassanio’s ‘love’ quest being spoken of by

Antonio as ‘business’ and compared by Bassanio to Jason’s quest

for the ‘golden fleece’ — business and love are closely linked

throughout the play. In both plots, there are laws which characters

agree to obey. Shakespeare is setting up a world where people

recognise that it is better to obey the law than risk living in a world

without laws.2 However, he is also showing us that laws can be used

for bad ends. It is not clear if the way Portia defeats Shylock in court

is actually legal or just a cunning trick. Careful reading of the play

also suggests that Portia subtly guides Bassanio to picking the right

casket, again twisting a law to gain her desired ends. So while this

is a play where obeying the law is central to both plots, people

appear to gain what they want by being able to break the law.3

Middle (paragraphs 2–5)Shakespeare sets Venice up as a great trading centre, which indeed

it was. It was a republic with an elected ruler.4 Many Shakespeare

plays are set in (real or imagined) kingdoms where the heroes or

main characters are kings, lords and knights who are arranged in a

strict social hierarchy. No such aristocratic system existed in Venice

or in this play. Merchants like Antonio are the equivalent of lords, but

they do not have an automatic right to authority and wealth based

on their birth. They have to be successful businessmen to enjoy

power and luxury.5 The Duke, who appears in Act 4 to observe the

trial, is the nearest thing in the play to a king, but note that he says

very little and, though he is clearly on Antonio’s side, he does not

act like a king and does not have the power to command Shylock to

abandon the bond. The Duke knows the law is the thing that keeps

Venice working. Law replaces the system of kings and lords that

1 Very neat overview of the structure of the play, showing an awareness of how the plots are linked to feed the central themes.

2 Continues to develop a good overview of the play and links this to the question.

3 The introduction builds to a highly relevant conclusion that the rest of the essay will now explore.

4 Demonstrates good contextual knowledge.

5 Perceptive imaginative analysis, relevant to the question.


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control other countries. As Antonio says in Act 3 scene 3, ‘The Duke

cannot deny the course of law’ (line 26). This speech goes on to

explain how if the law was broken to save him from Shylock, this

would ‘much impeach the justice of the state’ (line 29).6

Just as Antonio submits to the law of Venice, so the intelligent and

energetic Portia seems ready to submit herself to the rules of her

father’s will. She allows herself to be ‘a living daughter curbed by

the will of a dead father’ (1.2 20–21).7 This demands that any man

who wants to marry her chooses between three caskets, of gold,

silver and lead. In one is Portia’s portrait and whoever chooses this

casket automatically wins her hand. It seems as if her dead father

is leaving his daughter’s life and happiness to a game of chance, a

lottery, in which she has no say. He of course is dead, so Portia

could presumably throw the caskets away and choose to marry

whoever she wants. Yet she obeys this law even though the endless

parade of unsuitable men is driving her to distraction. Shakespeare

took the idea of the caskets and the marriage lottery from a simple

folk tale and it feels as if Portia is too clever a character to be part

of this rather silly element of the play.8 A rich, beautiful single

woman would be pursued by many men, and many of these might,

like Bassanio in fact, be attracted by her fortune as much as by love.

Perhaps her father knew this would happen and also knew that his

daughter was clever enough to steer anyone she actually wanted to

marry towards the right casket, while the threat of having to stay

unmarried forever as a penalty for a wrong choice might keep a lot

of unsuitable suitors away. So just as Antonio submits to the law for

the greater good of Venice, so Portia might submit to the terms of

the will both to be a dutiful daughter and because it provides a kind

of filter to keep unsuitable suitors away.9

Portia controls the outcomes of both the business and romantic

plots. Disguised as a lawyer, she achieves what no man in the play

can do: she saves Antonio from Shylock’s knife. She does this — at

the very last minute for added dramatic effect10 — by warning

Shylock that the bond allows him exactly a pound of flesh. He

cannot shed any of Antonio’s blood and ‘If thou tak’st more or less

than a just pound’ (4.1 322–23), ‘if the scale do turn/but in the

estimation of a hair,/Thou diest’ (4.1 326–28).11 If Antonio bleeds

this indicates that Shylock is trying to kill a Venetian citizen, who is

protected from such attempts by the law. The whole trial follows no

legal model that we can actually understand (who for example

6 Excellent use of a quotation to exactly support the analysis.

7 Well-chosen quotation focuses a straightforward passage of plot synopsis.

8 Shows knowledge of the source material for the play and demonstrates an original opinion.

9 Conclusion of this paragraph neatly ties two ideas together.

10 A simple but very perceptive point ‘slipped in’ to the flow of the argument.

11 Sound use of well-selected quotations.


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actually judges the trial and what is there to judge that could affect

the outcome either way?) and so we are not sure if Portia is in fact

being very clever or just sly and cunning. The idea is that Shylock

has failed to write the details of the bond accurately. Whether

Portia’s warning to him is legal or not, it is accepted by the court and

Shylock is humiliated and destroyed. Portia is active in detailing the

terms of his defeat, showing herself to be rather more cruel that we

might have expected.12

If Portia is ready to use her intelligence to break the bond, this adds

weight to an argument some critics put forward to suggest that she

also bends the ‘law’ of her father’s will by subtly guiding Bassanio to

the lead casket that contains her portrait. She has a song sung to

accompany Bassanio as he makes his choice. This seems a strange

thing to do at such a highly dramatic time, but then the whole scene

is rather contrived. It is the lyrics of the song that are the evidence

that critics use to suggest Portia is guiding Bassanio: the first three

lines all end in words that rhyme with lead (‘bred’/’head’/’nourished’,

which is written with the accent over the ‘e’ to indicate that it is to

be pronounced ‘nour–ish–èd’).13 Portia is again using her

intelligence to make events turn out as she wants them to.

conclusion (paragraph 6)This is a play where people obey the law even when it apparently

does not work to their advantage to do so. However, the most

consistently powerful person in the play, Portia, uses her intelligence

to bend both the ‘law’ of her father’s will and the law of Venice to

gain what she wants, for herself or for other people whom, some

would argue, we are supposed to regard as heroes in the play.14

Her actions lead to a happy ending for everyone except Shylock, but

the way she controls events leaves us wondering if Shakespeare

was being more subtle than merely writing a simple happy ending.

When we think about how Antonio is saved from the bond and how

Portia obtains the man she wants as a husband, we cannot help but

think that Shakespeare might actually be criticising people like

Portia, the supposed heroine of the play. Perhaps Shakespeare is

saying to us: the law always best serves those who are cunning

enough to know how to twist it to their needs. If this is the case,

Shakespeare may be suggesting that the law does not offer true

protection of the majority, as clever individuals can always make it

work to their advantage.15

12 Good account of key elements of the trial, neatly concluded with a relevant comment about Portia’s character.

13 Continues the main argument of the essay and uses textual evidence effectively.

14 Further neat and intelligent overview of the play.

15 This is an interesting and imaginative final point. It is also highly speculative but is written in a way that shows awareness of this: the idea of what Shakespeare might have wanted us to think is not presented as something obvious and easy to prove, but as a possible motive behind the writing which can enhance our thinking about the play.


Sample essays



Grade-c answerintroduction (paragraph 1)

The Merchant of Venice has two different plots that come together

in Act 4 when Portia comes to Venice in disguise to rescue her new

husband’s best friend. The main plot is about Antonio and Shylock’s

bond. The romantic plot is built around the three caskets which are

a lottery through which Portia will find a husband.1 In both plots

there are laws which characters agree to obey. They seem to

recognise that it’s better to obey the law than live in a world where

there are no laws. As the story unfolds we see how laws can be

used for bad ends.2 Portia is the main person who uses law to get

what she wants. She saves her new husband’s best friend from

Shylock3 and guides Bassanio to picking the right casket, so again

twisting a law to gain her desired ends. This is a play where people

appear to gain what they want by being able to break the law.4

Middle (paragraphs 2–5)Venice is a great trading centre, a republic with an elected ruler.5

Shakespeare often set plays in kingdoms where princes, lords and

knights lived in a strict social system controlled from the king on

top.6 No such system exists in Venice where merchants like

Antonio are the equivalent of lords. Kings are born to rule, but the

merchants have to be successful businessmen to enjoy any kind of

power and luxury. The Duke, the leader of Venice and the most

important person in the trial, says very little and does not seem to

have the power to command Shylock to abandon the bond. The

Duke knows that the law is the thing that keeps Venice working.7

Antonio has said in a key speech in Act 3 scene 3, ‘The Duke

cannot deny the course of law’ (line 26). If the Duke bends the law

to let Antonio off, this will make people who want to come and trade

in Venice think that perhaps they won’t be protected by a strong

system of laws if they get into trouble.8

Antonio is ready to give himself up to the law of Venice, just as

Portia seems ready to obey the rules of her father’s will. She allows

herself to be ‘a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father’

(1.2 20–21). This means that any man who wants to try to marry has

to choose between three caskets, of gold, silver and lead. In the

lead one, the least attractive one, is Portia’s portrait and whoever

chooses this casket automatically gets to marry her.9 It seems as if

1 A partial overview of the structure of the play that could also be expressed more neatly. 2 Again some good ideas for an introduction, but still not well expressed.3 We know which characters are being referred to here, but it is still best to name Bassanio and Antonio, especially in the introduction.4 This is only half the point that should be made here: people obey the law, and believe it is right that they do so, but the happy ending of the play is completely brought about by these same people bending the law — or at least being able to employ its details and subtleties — to suit their ambitions and to gain what they want.

5 Not quite clear if the Venice of the play or the real Venice is being referred to here. This could be rephrased to show more contextual knowledge.6 A good attempt at showing knowledge of other Shakespeare plays, but not very well expressed.

7 A good point, but saying the Duke is important then only describing his limited action in the trial is confusing. The point would gain marks if the power of the law, a force greater than that of the Duke, was better explained.

8 There is a good point in here struggling to be heard through bad writing!

9 The unattractive appearance of the lead casket is a very interesting point and marks would be gained if this was developed, contrasting the casket’s dull appearance with Portia’s beauty for example.


Sample essays



her dead father is leaving his daughter’s life and happiness to a

game of chance. Portia could throw the caskets away and choose

to marry whoever she wants, but she doesn’t. Shakespeare took the

idea of this marriage lottery from a simple folk tale and it feels as if

Portia is too clever to be part of this. But maybe her father knew that

a rich, beautiful single woman would be pursued by many men, and

that some of them would be attracted by her fortune as much as by

love.10 Perhaps her father knew Portia was clever enough to steer

anyone she actually wanted to marry towards the right casket, while

a lot of men would keep away because of the rule that they have to

stay single for ever if they choose the wrong casket.11

Portia disguises herself as a lawyer and achieves what no man in

the play can do: she saves Antonio from Shylock’s knife. She warns

Shylock at the very last minute that the bond allows him exactly a

pound of flesh and ‘If thou tak’st more or less than a just pound’ (4.1

322–23), ‘if the scale do turn/but in the estimation of a hair,/Thou

diest’ (4.1 326–28).12 He will die because if Antonio bleeds this

indicates that Shylock is trying to kill a Venetian citizen, who is

protected from such attempts by the law. We are not sure if Portia

is in fact being very clever or just sly and cunning.13 The idea is that

Portia has worked out that Shylock has failed to write the details of

the bond accurately.

Some critics suggest that Portia shows her skill or cunning by subtly

guiding Bassanio to the lead casket, the casket that contains her

portrait, because she wants to marry him.14 She has a song sung

when Bassanio makes his choice, which is a strange thing to do at

such a highly dramatic time. The first three lines all end in words that

rhyme with lead (‘bred’/’head’/’nourished’, which is written with the

accent over the ‘e’ to indicate it is to be pronounced ‘nour–ish–èd’)

so Bassanio is being given clues to suggest that lead is the right

place to look.15

10 A good point that would gain marks if Bassanio (who is penniless!) was mentioned here.

11 A valid point simply but clearly expressed, but marks would be gained if it was linked back to Antonio and how he chooses to obey a different kind of law.

12 The last-minute nature of Portia’s plan is mentioned, but marks would be gained if it was explained why Shakespeare wanted her warning to come right at the point in the scene when the audience would think that nothing could save Antonio.13 Need to explain why we do not understand the trial. (It does not seem to follow any normal legal process such as happens in an actual court.)

14 A fair point but as written it is a bit muddled.15 Marks would be gained if this point was concluded by some further comment about Portia’s character: her intelligence, resourcefulness, or her ability to obey the law but still obtain what she wants.


Sample essays



conclusion (paragraph 6)In this play people obey the law even when it apparently does not

work to their advantage to do so. Portia is probably the most

powerful person in the play,16 she uses her intelligence to bend

both the ‘law’ of her father’s will and the law of Venice to gain what

she wants. Her actions lead to a happy ending for everyone except

Shylock, but the way she controls events leaves us wondering if

Shakespeare was being more subtle than merely writing a happy

ending. Perhaps Shakespeare is saying that the law serves those

who are cunning enough to know how to twist it to their needs.17

16 ‘Probably’ is a weak word, especially when used to introduce an idea in the conclusion. Do you think she is or is not the most powerful character? Be decisive.

17 This last point explores a good idea, but it needs more detail, and maybe a quotation from the play to support the argument.

Documents

1790 PALG MerchantVenice SampleEssay - Philip Allan ...literatureguides.philipallan.co.uk/BookFiles/32/851/Merchant... · introduction Paragraph 1 Identify Shylock, ... his speech