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A short summary of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of The Merchant of Venice.
- Act 4: Scene 1, Lines 1–163
A summary of Act 4: Scene 1, Lines 1–163 in William...
- Key Facts
Full Title The Comical History of the Merchant of Venice, or...
- No Fear Translation
The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare, scene summary,...
- Full Play Analysis
The major conflict driving the plot of The Merchant of...
- Shylock
Although critics tend to agree that Shylock is The Merchant...
- Portia
A detailed description and in-depth analysis of Portia in...
- Scene II Summary & Analysis
A summary of Act 4: Scene 1, lines 397–453 & Scene 2 in...
- Quick Quiz
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year...
- Act Iii, Scenes I–Ii
A summary of Act 3: Scenes 1 & 2 in William Shakespeare's...
- Suggestions for Further Reading
Auden, W. H. “Brothers & Others.” In The Dyer’s Hand and...
- Act 4: Scene 1, Lines 1–163
Get all the key plot points of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice on one page. From the creators of SparkNotes.
A complete summary of William Shakespeare's Play, Merchant of Venice. Find out more about the pursuit of Portia and the lengths Antonio will go to.
- KEY FACTS
- EXTRA CREDIT
- CHARACTERS
- PREJUDICE AND INTOLERANCE
- HUMAN AND ANIMAL
- LAW, MERCY, AND REVENGE
- GREED VS. GENEROSITY
- READING AND INTERPRETATION
- LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP
- STONES, RINGS, AND CASKETS
- ACT 2, SCENE 4
- ACT 2, SCENE 5
- ACT 3, SCENE 2
- ACT 3, SCENE 3
- ACT 3, SCENE 5
- ACT 4, SCENE 2
- ACT 5, SCENE 1
Full Title: The Merchant of Venice Genre: Comedy/tragicomedy; Revenge tragedy Setting: Venice, and the nearby country estate of Belmont Climax: The trial of Antonio, the merchant, and Shylock, the Jewish moneylender Protagonists: Antonio, Bassanio, Portia Antagonist: Shylock
"Which is the merchant here? And which the Jew?" Modern audiences of Merchant of Venice often mistake Shylock for the "merchant" of the title—which actually refers to Antonio.
Shylock - A Jewish moneylender in Venice who has been embittered by years of abuse at the hands of Venetian Christians and Antonio, the merchant, in particular. Shylock's anger and bitterness lead him to sign a contract with Antonio, in which Antonio puts up a pound of his own flesh as collateral for a loan. When Antonio can't cover his loan, Shylo...
The Venetians in The Merchant of Venice almost uniformly express extreme intolerance of Shylock and the other Jews in Venice. In fact, the exclusion of these "others" seems to be a fundamental part of the social bonds that ridiculous clown why would the is possible to cement the Venetian Christians together. How otherwise would the Launcelot ingrat...
Closely related to the theme of prejudice and intolerance is the theme of humanity—and the inhumanity of which various characters accuse one another. In insulting and abusing Shylock, the Venetians frequently denigrate him as an animal or devil. Shylock, in turn, seeks to reduce his debtor Antonio to the status of an animal whose body can be bought...
Both the central action of The Merchant of Venice—Shylock's attempt to revenge himself on the Christian Antonio—and the romantic subplot—between Bassanio and Portia—explore the relationship between law, mercy, and revenge. Shakespeare's contemporary, the philosopher Francis Bacon, defined revenge as a "kind of wild justice." When one private indivi...
The primary grievance that Antonio has against Shylock is that he is greedy—for charging interest to those who borrow money from him when they are in need. The Venetians implicitly contrast Shylock's greed with the generosity that they show one another. For instance, Antonio is willing to place his whole "purse and person" at Bassanio's disposal an...
Instances of reading and interpretation occur many times in The Merchant of Venice. An early scene in which Shylock and Antonio bicker over the meaning of Biblical scripture shows that the all-important distinction between Jews and Christians basically boils down to interpretive differences—different ways of reading and understanding a shared herit...
In connection with mercy and generosity, The Merchant of Venice also explores love and friendship between its characters. The central romantic relationship of the play is that between Bassanio and Portia. Their marriage is paralleled by several others: the elopement of Shylock's daughter, Jessica, with the Christian, Lorenzo; and the marriage of Po...
When Shylock raves about the "stones" that Jessica has stolen from him, part of the joke is that in the Renaissance "stones" was a slang word for the testicles. And indeed Shylock's only child's renouncing her father, eloping, and converting to Christianity is symbolically tantamount to castrating him, cutting off his family name. Multiple characte...
On the street in Venice, Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salerio and Solanio discuss Lorenzo's plan to elope with Jessica that night, before the dinner at Bassanio's. They are interrupted when Launcelot enters, carrying Jessica's letter. Reading the letter, Lorenzo is overjoyed and remarks that Jessica's "fair hand" is "whiter than the paper it writ on" (2.4.12...
On the street in front of his house, Shylock reprimands Launcelot for deserting him, and warns Launcelot that Bassanio will be a harsher master than he has been. Then he summons Jessica. Having informed her that he is going to dinner with Bassanio in spite of himself, he instructs her to lock up and keep an eye on the house. He has had a dream that...
In Belmont, Portia begs Bassanio to delay before making his choice among the caskets. If he chooses incorrectly, she will lose the pleasure of his company. Though she refuses to break the terms of her father's riddle of the caskets, she confesses that if it were up to her she would give herself to him entirely. Bassanio, though, is tortured by the ...
Back in Venice, Shylock escorts Antonio to prison, accompanied by a jailer and Solanio. Shylock tauntingly tells the jailer not to have any mercy on Antonio, who is a fool who "lent out money gratis." Antonio begs Shylock for mercy, but Shylock cuts him off: "thou call'dst me dog before thou hadst a cause, / but since I am a dog beware my fangs" (3...
At Belmont, Launcelot quotes the old saying that the sins of fathers are visited on their children, and teases that he is worried that Jessica is damned unless it turns out that Shylock is not actually her father. Jessica retorts that her marriage to Bassanio will save her. Lorenzo enters, and scolds Launcelot for having gotten a Moorish servant pr...
Portia, still dressed as "Balthazar," instructs Nerissa, still dressed as the pageboy, to go to Shylock's house and bring the deed for him to sign, giving half of his property to Antonio. Then they will have to speed to get back to Belmont before their husbands. Portia comments that the deed spells good news for Lorenzo, who is now going to inherit...
Lorenzo and Jessica lounge in moonlit Belmont. Trying to outdo each other, they flirt, comparing themselves to famous lovers of classical legend: Troilus and Cressida, Pyramus and Thisbe, Dido and Aeneas, and Medea and Jason. While the setting seems idyllic and full of love, if you read between the lines the references actually suggest the perils o...
SCENE I. Venice. A street. Enter ANTONIO, SALARINO, and SALANIO ANTONIO In sooth, I know not why I am so sad: It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself. SALARINO
Overview. The Merchant of Venice is a play written in the 1590s by the English playwright William Shakespeare. It concerns a Jewish moneylender in Venice named Shylock who is determined to extract a pound of flesh from a merchant who fails to pay a debt on time.
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