Illustrations of “The Merchant of Venice”

Richard Parkes Bonington. Bassanio and Portia, c. 1826.

Although other titles have been suggested for this small picture, the source is clearly Act III, Scene ii, of The Merchant of Venice.

Bassanio has wisely chosen the lead casket on the table behind them and found inside it Portia's picture. He now claims her with a kiss

as he has been directed by the poem that accompanies "fair Portia's counterfeit":

You that choose not by the view

Chance as fair, and choose as true.

Since this fortune falls to you

Be content and seek no new.

If you be well pleased with this

And hold your fortune for your bliss,

Turn you where your lady is,

And claim her with a loving kiss.

In the background of the picture stand Portia's maid Nerissa and Bassanio's friend Gratiano, two lovers who have had no need of caskets

or poems to make their choice of mates.

Sir Samuel Luke Fildes. Jessica, exhibited in 1888.

By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library "There will come a Christian boy, will be worth a Jewess' eye"

(The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene v).

Fildes's Jessica was shown in 1888 in an exhibition of twenty-one paintings sponsored by the newspaper Graphic. The series

of pictures was entitled Shakespeare's Heroines.

Sir John Gilbert. Shylock After the Trial. Steel engraving, approximately 6.5 x 10.5 inches, by G. Greatbach. The engraving is from Charles Knight's two-volume Imperial Edition of The Works

of Shakespere(London: Virtue and Company, 1873-76).

The title of Gilbert's painting is a misidentification and is thus misnamed. After the trial (Act IV, Scene i), Shylock leaves the stage and we hear no

more of him. The action Gilbert i llustrates occurs in Act II, Scene vii after Shylock learns that his daughter Jessica has eloped with Lorenzo--and a

sizeable portion of his money. Salerino and Salanio, friends of Antonio's, describe Shylock running madly through the streets lamenting his lost

daughter and money.

Salanio: The villain Jew with outcries raised the duke,

Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship.

Salarino: He came too late, the ship was under sail: But there the duke was given to understand

That in a gondola were seen together

Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica: Besides, Antonio certified the duke

They were not with Bassanio in his ship. Salanio: I never heard a passion so confused,

So strange, outrageous, and so variable,

As the dog Jew did utter in the streets: 'My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!

Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter! A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,

Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!

And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl;

She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats.'

Frederic Leighton. Two Venetian Gentlemen, c. 1862-3.

Oil on canvas, 38.5 x 28.5 inches. Private collection.

Thomas Sully. Portia and Shylock, 1835.

By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library Oil on canvas, 29 x 38 inches. The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.

An inscription on the back of the canvas says it illustrates The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene i, lines 230-232. The relevant passage is "Be merciful. / Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond." In Sully's painting Portia is poised to tear

the bond in two, but Shylock, holding the scale with which he intends to weigh the pound of flesh cut from Antonio, looks harshly upon her and points to the bond. The painting seems unconcerned with fidelity to the text; Portia is not disguised effectively as a judge and Sully is more intent on depicting the merciful, feminine Portia than a "Daniel come to judgment."

Henry Woods. Portia, exhibited in 1888. By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library

"Tarry, Jew: The law hath yet another hold on you" (The Merchant of

Venice, Act IV, Scene i). Portia was shown in 1888 in an exhibition of

twenty-one paintings sponsored by the newspaper Graphic. The series of pictures was entitled Shakespeare's Heroines.

Welcome to Renaissance

England

It’s

Time!

It’s time to don

your doublet!

Tighten your trussing!

Get on your galligaskins!

Females, fit on your farthingales!

Smooth your stomachers!

Remember your ruffs!

Slip on your shoes!

And grab your gloves!

Ladies?

Gentlemen?

Is everybody ready?

We’re going to the theatre!

Shakespeare

� 1563-1616

� Born: Stratford upon Avon, England

� Wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets

� He started out as an actor

Stratford upon Avon

•Shakespeare’s birthplace

and burial place

•Shakespeare’s residence

outside of London

•Anne Hathaway’s cottage

still stands here along with

other monuments

•Home of the Royal

Shakespeare Company

London

•Shakespeare’s workplace as

an actor and playwright

•Home of the Globe Theatre

(1599) which was built by

(and for the performances of) ‘The Lord Chamberlain’s

Men’ until it burnt in 1613.

The Globe!

Shakespeare’s theatre

is located just outside

of London, England.

The Globe Theater 1599

The Theatre

� Plays produced for the general public

� Roofless- open air

� No artificial lighting

� Courtyard surrounded by 3 levels of galleries

The New Globe Theater 1999

Spectators

� Wealthy got benches

� “Groundlings”- poorer people stood and watched from the

courtyard (“pit”)

� All but wealthy were uneducated/illiterate

� Much more interaction than today

Staging Areas

� Stage>platform that extended into the pit

� Dressing & storage rooms in galleries behind & above stage

� Second-level gallery> upper stage> famous balcony scene in R & J

� Trap door>ghosts

� “Heavens”> angelic beings

Differences

�No scenery

�Settings > references in dialogue

�Elaborate costumes

�Plenty of props

�Fast-paced, colorful- 2 hours!

Actors

�Only men and boys

�Young boys whose voices had not changed play women’s roles

�Would have been considered indecent for a woman to appear on stage

A white flag

is flying.

There’s a

play today!

It’s afternoon, time for

the play to start.

The groundlings have paid their

penny and are standing to watch

the play. The young men are dressing

up to take the female roles.

The stage is a lower class

profession, and no women will

appear there.

Poetry is a higher class

of art than play writing is.

The wealthy are in the upper decks.

The play is about to begin!

We’re in for a real treat!

It’s one of Shakespeare’s tragedies!

It’s good the plague is over and

the theaters are open again.

William Shakespeare

What do we know

about Shakespeare?

He was born

in 1564.

His hometown

is Stratford-on-

Avon.

His father was

a middle class

butcher, mayor,

& glovemaker.

He married

Anne

Hathaway

when he was

18 years old.

She was 26! They had three

children, including

a set of twins. He moved to London and

became an actor, playwright,

and theater owner.

His acting company

was called “The Lord

Chamberlain’s Men.” Later it became

“The King’s Men.”

He wrote 37

very successful

plays. Even Queen Elizabeth

enjoyed his plays!

His vocabulary

was huge:

17,000 to

34,000 words!

He purchased a

coat of arms to

make his

family upper

class.

When he retired he

went back to

Stratford-on-Avon

and bought the best

house in town.

He has a monument

in Westminster

Abbey though he’s

buried in Stratford-

on-Avon.

He died in 1616.

What do we know

about Shakespeare? He has had

an amazing

influence on

our English

language.

Shakespeare wrote:

�Comedies

�Histories

�Tragedies

Have you heard these phrases?

� I couldn’t sleep a wink.

� He was dead as a doornail.

� She’s a tower of strength.

� They hoodwinked us.

� I’m green-eyed with jealousy.

� We’d better lie low for awhile.

� Keep a civil tongue in your head.

They are just some of the

many expressions coined

by that master of

language, William

Shakespeare.

Now, let the show begin!

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Using the handout provided, write the following definitions on your sheet.

Elizabethan (QE1) Words

�An,and: If

�Anon: Soon

�Aye: Yes

�But: Except for

�E’en: Even

�E’er: Ever

�Haply: Perhaps

�Happy: Fortunate

�Hence: Away, from her

�Hie: Hurry

�Marry: Indeed

�Whence: Where

�Wilt: Will, will you

�Withal: In addition to

�Would: Wish

Blank Verse

�unrhymed verse

�iambic (unstressed, stressed)

�pentameter( 5 “feet” to a line)

�ends up to be 10 syllable lines

Prose

�Ordinary writing that is not poetry, drama, or song

�Only characters in the lower social classes speak this way in

Shakespeare’s plays

�Why do you suppose that is?

Plot

�The sequence of events in a literary work

Exposition

� The plot usually begins with this:

� introduces>>>>

�setting

�characters

�basic situation

Inciting Moment

�Often called “initial incident”

�the first bit of action that occurs which begins the plot

�What is the inciting moment in ‘The Merchant of Venice’?

Conflict

�The struggle that develops

�man vs. man

�man vs. himself

�man vs. society

�man vs. nature

Crisis

�The point where the protagonist’s situation will either get better or worse

�protagonist>good guy

�antagonist>bad guy

Climax

�The turning point of the story>everything begins to unravel from here

�Thus begins the falling action

Resolution

�The end of the central conflict

Denouement

�The final explanation or outcome of the plot

�If this is included in literature, it will occur after the resolution.

Theme

�Central idea or …

�Insight about life which explain the downfall

Dramatic Foil

�A character whose purpose is to show off another character

�Can you think of any in ‘The Merchant of Venice’?

Round characters

�Characters who have many personality traits, like real people.

Flat Characters

�One-dimensional, embodying only a single trait

�Shakespeare often uses them to provide comic relief even in a tragedy

Static Characters

� Characters within a story who remain the same. They do not change. They do not change their minds, opinions or character.

Dynamic Character

�Characters that change somehow during the course of the plot. They generally change for the

better.

Monologue

�One person speaking on stage- may be other character on stage too

�Find an example from the text.

Soliloquy

�Long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage.

�Find an example from the text.

Aside

�Words spoken, usually in an undertone not intended to be heard by all characters

Pun

� Shakespeare loved to use them!!!

�Humorous use of a word with two meanings > sometimes missed by the reader because of Elizabethan language and sexual innuendo

Dramatic Irony

�A contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader/audience knows to be true

Verbal Irony

�Words used to suggest the opposite of what is meant

Situational Irony

�An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience

Comic Relief

� Use of comedy within literature that is NOT comedy to provide “relief” from seriousness or sadness. � Find an example from the text.