The Merchant of VeniceWilliam Shakespeare

Unit OpenerWith your small group, go to one of the small posters around the classroom.

Read the statement you find there, and decide whether you agree or disagree.

Use a sticky note to explain your group’s position on the statement.

When you are ready, move to a new poster and repeat this process.

When every group has visited every poster, you will be given 1-2 posters and their

accompanying sticky notes to synthesize and present to the class.

Poster StatementsMoney can affect my level of happiness.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Spouses should have the same values.

True friends will do anything to support each other.

People should always forgive one another.

People should keep their promises, no matter what.

Parent/child relationships are important in shaping children’s characters.

Elizabethan EnglandThe Merchant of Venice was written between 1596 and 1600

● “Golden age” in English history

● Queen Elizabeth never married

● During her reign, England was a Protestant nation

● Queen Elizabeth was a patron of the arts

● Period of relative wealth and prosperity

Powerful Patriarchy

● Watch for evidence of male control. Several women will play restricted roles.

Anti-Semitism in Elizabethan EnglandAnti-Semitism

● As you know, Jewish people have suffered terrible persecution throughout history

● Frequently prevented from owning businesses/land, but allowed to lend money

● New Testament said usury was sinful, so Christians couldn’t lend with interest

● Jewish people who did were often seen as benefitting from others’ misfortunes

Shakespeare’s audiences were well aware of this prejudice against Jews.

● Officially expelled from England from 1290-1655

● The Jew of Malta - Christopher Marlowe

ThemesPrejudice

Appearance vs. Reality

Friendship

Self-interest vs. Love

Justice vs. Mercy

Literary TermsAllusion Metaphor

Aside Pun

Comic Relief Soliloquy

Foreshadowing Theme

Internal Rhyme

Irony (verbal, situational, dramatic)

Malapropism

CharactersAntonio - title character, older merchant, good friend

Salerio and Solanio - friends of Antonio and Bassanio, comment on play’s action

Bassanio - young man with expensive taste and rich friends, wants to woo Portia

Gratiano - Bassanio’s clownish friend, falls in love with Portia’s servant Nerissa

Lorenzo - Bassanio’s friend, falls in love with Shylock’s daughter Jessica

Portia - intelligent, rich, beautiful noblewoman controlled by her father

Nerissa - Portia’s handmaid

CharactersShylock - clever Jewish merchant of Venice, simultaneously tragic and villainous

Prince of Morocco - suitor of Portia

Launcelot Gobbo - Shylock’s comic servant

Old Gobbo - Launcelot’s blind, distant father

Jessica - Shylock’s daughter

Prince of Arragon - one of Portia’s greedy suitors

Tubal - Shylock’s friend

Duke of Venice - reigning official of Venice

Three PlotsCasket Plot

● Portia’s late father helps/hinders her courtship process. Is he taking control, or is

he giving her more of a voice that she would have otherwise? Read carefully!

Bond Plot

● Bassanio needs cash, so he turns to his bff Antonio. Antonio’s money is “at sea,” so

he sends Bassanio to Shylock. Note the terms of Shylock’s loan, and prepare for

drama.

Ring Plot

● Rings - those symbols of eternal love - can sure cause trouble...

Two SettingsBelmont vs. Venice

● Fairy tale vs. realistic

● Female vs. male

● Romantic vs. mercantile

● Feudal vs. capitalist

● Folkloric vs. modern

Shakespeare likes to set up such dichotomies and then show us their similarities. Think

of Venice and Cyprus in Othello. As you read, consider whether Belmont is Venice’s

opposite or its logical partner.

Act I

Act I scene iSetting: A Venetian street

Topics to consider:

● Why is Antonio so sad?

● Describe Gratiano and Lorenzo.

● How does Bassanio try to flatter Antonio before asking for money?

● What does Antonio suggest Bassanio do about his need for money?

Act I scene iiSetting: Belmont. A room in Portia’s house.

Topics to consider:

● Identify the terms of Portia’s father’s will.

● Note the three caskets. Which is the right choice? How do you already know?

● Identify a few examples of the suitors Portia critiques.

● What does Portia think of Bassanio?

Key Quote:

● “If to do were as easy to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches,

and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces” (1.2.12-14).

Act I scene iiiSetting: Venice. A public place.

Topics to consider:

● What are the terms of the loan Bassanio secures?

● Why doesn’t Shylock like Antonio?

● How do Antonio and Bassanio feel about this loan arrangement?

Key Quote:

● “Mark you this, Bassanio, the devil can cite scripture for his purpose” (1.3.97-98).

Act II

Act II scene iSetting: Belmont. A room in Portia’s house.

Topics to consider:

● Note the formality of the casket scenes.

● What new term of Portia’s father’s will is learned here?

● When will this suitor make his choice?

Act II scene iiSetting: Venice. A street.

Topics to consider:

● Who is Launcelot Gobbo, and what action is he considering?

● Why doesn’t Launcelot Gobbo’s father recognize him?

● For whom does Launcelot Gobbo prefer to work?

● What do Gratiano and Bassanio argue about? What decision is made?

Key Quote:

● “It is a wise father that knows his own child” (2.2.76-77).

Act II scene iiiSetting: The same. A room in Shylock’s house.

Topics to consider:

● Who is Jessica?

● Is she sympathetic toward Launcelot Gobbo? Explain.

● How does Jessica feel about her father?

● To whom does she ask Launcelot Gobbo to give a letter? Why?

Act II scene ivSetting: The same. A street.

Topics to consider:

● In this scene, the gentlemen are preparing for a masque. What is a masque?

● What are the contents of Jessica’s letter to Lorenzo?

Act II scene vSetting: The same. Before Shylock’s house.

Topic to consider:

● What words of Jessica indicate her plans to elope?

Key Quote:

● “Farewell, and if my fortune be not cross’d, I have a father, you a daughter, lost”

(2.6.56-57).

Act II scene viSetting: The same.

Topics to consider:

● Gratiano marvels that Lorenzo is late. Why?

● How does Jessica disguise herself?

Act II scene viiSetting: Belmont. A room in Portia’s house.

Topics to consider:

● What is contained in the correct casket?

● Which casket does the Prince of Morocco choose? Why? Describe the lesson

there.

● Why doesn’t the Prince of Morocco choose the lead casket?

● How does Portia reveal her prejudice at the end of this scene?

Act II scene viiiSetting: Venice. A street.

Topics to consider:

● For what two reasons does Shylock bewail the loss of his daughter?

● What is the news about Antonio’s ships? What does this foreshadow?

Act II scene ixSetting: Belmont. A room in Portia’s house.

Topics to consider:

● Describe the Prince of Arragon’s character.

● What additional terms of Portia’s father’s will are learned in this scene?

● Which casket does the Prince of Arragon choose (of course)?

Act III

Act III scene iSetting: Venice. A street.

Topics to consider:

● To whom does Salanio compare Shylock?

● What happens in this scene that whets Shylock’s appetite for revenge?

● What does Shylock say he will do with Antonio’s pound of flesh?

● Identify two pieces of news that Tubal has for Shylock.

● Why was the ring so important to Shylock?

Key Quote:

● “Hath now a jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses…”

(3.1.59-70).

Act III scene iiSetting: Belmont. A room in Portia’s house.

Topics to consider:

● How can we tell that Portia likes Bassanio?

● Does Portia aid her suitor in choosing the correct casket?

● What gift does Portia give to Bassanio? What was the third key plot again?

● Note the parallelism with Nerissa and Gratiano.

● What does the letter Salerio brings Bassanio reveal?

● What is Portia’s reaction to this letter?

Act III scene iiiSetting: Venice. A street.

Topics to consider:

● How do we know Shylock is determined to have revenge?

● What does Antonio think his chances of escape are?

● Who does Antonio want to see? Why?

Act III scene ivSetting: Belmont. A room in Portia’s house.

Topics to consider:

● What does Portia tell Lorenzo that she and Nerissa plan to do?

● Who is the man to whom Portia asks Balthasar to take a letter?

● What do Portia and Nerissa plan to do in secret?

Act III scene vSetting: The same. A garden.

Topics to consider:

● What does Launcelot Gobbo say is Jessica’s greatest hope for salvation?

● What does Jessica think of Portia?

Key Quote:

● “It is very meet the Lord Bassanio live an upright life; for having such a blessing in

his lady, he finds the joys of heaven here on earth” (3.5.73-76).

Act IV

Act IV scene iSetting: Venice. A court of justice.

Topics to consider:

● For whom does the Duke have sympathy?

● When does Antonio give up? What does Bassanio offer?

● Why doesn’t Doctor Bellario attend the trial? Who comes in his place?

● Why should the court listen to this replacement?

● Where is the pound of flesh to be taken from? What does Portia request first?

● How do the tables turn on Shylock? What is his reaction?

● How does the Duke show mercy toward Shylock? What does Antonio suggest?

● What does the lawyer request as payment from Bassanio? Significance?

Act IV scene iKey Quote:

● “The quality of mercy is not strain’d, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: it blesseth him that gives and him that

takes. ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest, it becomes the throned monarch better than

his crown. His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, the attribute to awe

and majesty, wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings, it is an attribute to God

himself; and earthly power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons

justice” (4.1.184-96).

Act IV scene iiSetting: The same. A street.

Topics to consider:

● What must Shylock do to finalize the court proceedings?

● What does the lawyer’s clerk intend to ask Gratiano?

● To whose house does Gratiano direct the lawyer’s clerk?

Act V

Act V scene iSetting: Belmont. Avenue to Portia’s house.

Topics to consider:

● How do Portia and Nerissa tease Bassanio and Gratiano when they return?

● What mission does Antonio fulfill regarding the missing rings?

● What good news does Portia announce to Antonio?

Key Quote:

● “Ay, if a woman live to be a man” (5.1.160).

Essential Questions

Essential QuestionsWhat causes prejudice?

Can money buy happiness?

When is a person obligated to break the rules?

How do parents influence their children?

Who defines justice?