1. William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice
ANALYSIS

2. Plot and Subplots
The main plot:
 The bond between Antonio and
Shylock
Subplots:
 The love between Portia and Bassanio
 The elopement of Shylock's daughter,
Jessica, with Lorenzo
 The rings story

3. Stages of the plot
Exposition: The opening scenes introduce the main
characters, Antonio, Bassanio, Shylock and Portia and
the setting in Venice and Belmont. The initial situation
is Antonio’s need to borrow money to help Bassanio
from Shylock, who hates him.
Rising Action:
Complications of the main situation between Antonio
and Shylock happen. A letter comes announcing that
Antonio's ventures have failed. Shylock becomes
more enraged when Jessica runs away with his money,
which adds to his anger. He becomes more
determined on having his bond to the letter of the
law.

4. Climax:
In the trial scene, it seems that nothing can save
Antonio from Shylock’s knife.
Falling Action:
Shylock cannot have his bond. He is ordered to
convert to Christianity and leave his possessions to
his daughter, Jessica and Lorenzo. Portia and Nerissa
persuade their husbands to give up their rings.
Denouement:
Finally, all lovers gather safely in Belmont. Portia and
Nerissa forgive Bassanio and Gratiano after teasing
them. Antonio’s ships safely return.

5. Setting
TIME: The Sixteenth century
PLACE:
Venice:
A city of trade, of business deals, and of conflicts
and intrigues. It represents the world of relentless
materialism.
Belmont:
The romantic city of peace and love, a contrast to
Venice. It stands for mercy versus the Venetian
veneration of mere justice.

6. Themes
Prejudice and Intolerance
The Venetians in The Merchant of Venice express extreme
intolerance of Shylock and the other Jews in Venice. It is possible to
argue that Shakespeare himself shares his characters’ certainty
that the Jews are naturally wicked and inferior to Christians
because of Shylock’s ultimate refusal to show any mercy at all.
Yet there are also reasons to think that Shakespeare may be
actually criticizing the prejudices of his characters. Shylock’s
anger and his desire of revenge are the result of years of abuse and
mistreatment. Shylock insists that he “learned” his hatred from
Christians. It is Shylock alone who argues that all of the characters
are the same, in terms of biology and under the law.

7. Mercy vs Justice
The conflict between Shylock and the Christian characters
centers around mercy. The other characters acknowledge that
the law is on Shylock’s side, but they all expect him to show
mercy, which he refuses to do. When, during the trial, Shylock
asks Portia what could possibly force him to be merciful, Portia’s
long reply, beginning with the words, “The quality of mercy is not
strained,” explains that human beings should be merciful
because God is merciful: mercy is an attribute of God himself and
therefore greater than power, majesty, or law.
Shylock, on the other hand, is not capable of showing
mercy towards Antonio. He insists on the letter of the bond,
asking for a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. He calls for
justice and repeats the word as his slogan.
Shylock says that Christians pretend to be merciful, but
they actually are not. He says that he has learned the lesson on
revenge and intolerance from them. Shylock gives many
examples on how mercy has never been shown to him by
Christians. By the end of the trial, Portia, in spite of her speech
about mercy, does not show any mercy towards Shylock.

8. CHARACTERS
Antonio
• Sad and lonely
• Generous
• Has a warm regard for his friend and kinsman
Bassanio

9. Portia
• A highly intelligent woman
• She has a keen sense of humor.
• Her love of Bassanio
• Her ability to think clearly and quickly – as
when she hears about Anontio’s trouble.

10. Shylock
• Greedy
• Vengeful
• His hatred for Antonio
• His relationship with his daughter
• Sympathy for him

11. Bassanio
• His love for Portia.
• His friendship with Antonio
• His good nature puts him in trouble at the end
of the play –the ring.