Merchant of Venice Tragedy Analysis
An Analysis on the Tragedy of Shylock from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.The Merchant of Venice was believed to write between 1596 and 1598, and it is Shakespeare’s most controversial play. The theme of this play is praises kindheartedness, friendship and love, but also reflects the contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the usurer in the early commercial capitalism period. The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, is more tragic than Comedic in many ways. Throughout the play we discover cycles of depression, hatred, and finally revenge that doesn’t quite happen as planned and backfires tragically. In the beginning of the play we are introduced to Antonio who is sad for no obvious reason.
The holocaust claimed the lives of 6 million Jews and the cultural shock of this genocide has echoed throughout the modern world to this day. Thus, post-holocaust readers will forever be sensitive to acts of racism present in literature, particularly anti-Semitism. The play The Merchant of Venice is a tragedy to the modern reader due its exploration of prejudice towards Jewish people. The play is set in Venice and begins with young Bassanio needing 3000 ducats to court a wealthy heiress named Portia. Bassanio goes to his good friend Antonio who provides Bassanio with the funds through borrowing a short-term loan from a Jewish money lender, Shylock. Shylock dislikes Antonio due to his anti-Semitic views and thus declares that if the money is not replayed within three months he will extract a ‘pound of flesh’ from Antonio.
The play concludes with Shylock attempting to claim his bond but through Portia’s deception ends up losing all of his wealth and property, with the play ending in marriage between Bassanio and Portia. The Merchant of Venice can be seen as tragedy because it exhibits the key qualities of the genre including; Shylock fulfilling the archetypal role of the tragic hero, characters possessing fatal flaws and making fatal choices that lead to their downfall and lastly the presence of key themes such as isolation that questions the morality of society.
Firstly, The Merchant of Venice can be seen as a tragedy due to Shylock fulfilling the archetypal role of the tragic hero. The tragic hero always begins as a ‘good’ man who is up-standing and moral. Shylock is a ‘good’ man because he is successful and wealthy despite the discrimination that he endures. Within the context of the 16th century, Jewish people’s occupations were limited to money lending and they were often abused and maltreated by Christian society. Thus, for Shylock to overcome the racism and have Christians coming to him and asking for loans conveys what a successful man.
The Merchant of Venice As a Comedy
There are three successful romantic sub plots in the Play namely( in the order of importance in the Play) the Bassanio-Portia Love Story, the Lorenzo-Jessica Love Story and the Gratiano-Nerissa Love Story. None of these plots has a tragic ending; On the contrary, their bonds of love are strengthened to a great extent at the end of the Play.
The Play is generally considered a Comedy as it features a happy ending. In Shakespeare’s time the victory of Christians over a Jew could never be deemed as a tragedy. The downfall of Shylock adds to the happiness at the conclusion of the Play. The presence of Launcelot Gobbo also adds to the comic elements of the Drama.
As a Tragedy:-
Anybody who has read The Merchant of Venice will surely agree that the most influential character in the whole Play is Shylock, the Jewish Moneylender. He had numerous reasons of grievance only because of the radical Christians, chiefly Antonio. In his words:- He [Antonio] hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what’s his reason? I am a Jew.
The revengeful nature of Shylock is the outcome of the evil deeds of Antonio and his friends. It’s perfectly natural for one to be harsh if one is subjected to such treatment. However Shylock here too fails to attain what he wished to due to his own fault of stressing on “equal pound” which was a legal loophole in the bond. In brief, he suffers throughout the play; even his own daughter betrays him.
If viewed from the perspective of Shylock, the play is nothing but a tragedy. The climax of the Drama is not the Ring Episode but the Great Trial Scene. Only if the last scene of the Play was either absent or shorter, this play would have been regarded as a perfect tragedy.
