The Comical History of the Merchant of Venice

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1. ACT 1.

   Antonio borrows from Shylock to fund Bassanio's suit; the deadly bond is sealed.

   1. Scene 1 — Venice. A street

      On a Venice street the merchant Antonio confesses an inexplicable sadness. His friend Bassanio, deep in debt, asks to borrow money to court the wealthy heiress Portia of Belmont; Antonio, his own cash tied up in ships at sea, offers his credit instead.

   2. Scene 2 — Belmont. A room in PORTIA'S house

      At Belmont, Portia complains to Nerissa of the lottery in her dead father's will, which binds her to marry whoever chooses the right one of three caskets. They mock the parade of foreign suitors; Portia recalls Bassanio with favour.

   3. Scene 3 — Venice. A public place

      Shylock agrees to lend three thousand ducats, recalling Antonio's insults and spittings. He proposes a 'merry bond': forfeit is a pound of Antonio's flesh. Citing Jacob and Laban, he defends thrift; Antonio, confident his ships will return, signs.

2. ACT 2.

   Morocco and Arragon fail the casket test; Launcelot changes masters; Jessica elopes with Lorenzo.

   1. Scene 1 — Belmont. A room in PORTIA's house.

      The Prince of Morocco arrives at Belmont to try the caskets, asking Portia not to mistrust him 'for my complexion.'

   2. Scene 2 — Venice. A street

      Shylock's servant Launcelot Gobbo debates his conscience and resolves to leave 'the Jew' for Bassanio. His blind father, Old Gobbo, fails to know him; together they petition Bassanio, who takes Launcelot into service.

   3. Scene 3 — The same. A room in SHYLOCK's house.

      Jessica bids the departing Launcelot a fond farewell, ashamed of her father's house, and sends a secret letter to her beloved Lorenzo.

   4. Scene 4 — The same. A street

      Lorenzo and friends plan a masque; Launcelot brings Jessica's letter, and Lorenzo arranges to carry her off that night, disguised as his torch-bearer.

   5. Scene 5 — The same. Before SHYLOCK'S house

      Shylock, uneasy, goes to sup with the Christians, charging Jessica to lock up the house against the masque's noise.

   6. Scene 6 — The same.

      Jessica, disguised as a boy, escapes with Lorenzo, taking a casket of her father's ducats and jewels.

   7. Scene 7 — Belmont. A room in PORTIA's house.

      At Belmont, Morocco reasons his way to the gold casket — and finds a skull and the motto 'All that glisters is not gold.' He departs rejected.

   8. Scene 8 — Venice. A street

      Salarino and Salanio report Shylock's raving at his stolen daughter and ducats, and the rumour that one of Antonio's ships has wrecked. They note Antonio's tender love for Bassanio.

   9. Scene 9 — Belmont. A room in PORTIA's house.

      The Prince of Arragon chooses the silver casket — 'as much as he deserves' — and gets a fool's head. As he leaves, word comes of a young Venetian (Bassanio) newly arrived.

3. ACT 3.

   Shylock whets his knife; Bassanio wins Portia; Antonio's bond falls due.

   1. Scene 1 — Venice. A street

      Salarino and Salanio taunt Shylock, who answers with 'Hath not a Jew eyes?' and vows revenge. His friend Tubal alternately torments and comforts him with news of Jessica's spending and of Antonio's further losses.

   2. Scene 2 — Belmont. A room in PORTIA's house.

      At Belmont, Bassanio rejects gold and silver as mere 'ornament' and chooses the lead casket, winning Portia, who gives him a ring. Gratiano pairs with Nerissa. A letter brings word that Antonio's ships are all lost and his bond forfeit; Bassanio hurries to Venice with Portia's gold.

   3. Scene 3 — Venice. A street

      Shylock, deaf to pleas, insists on his bond and has Antonio led to prison; Antonio resigns himself, longing only to see Bassanio before he dies.

   4. Scene 4 — Belmont. A room in PORTIA's house.

      Entrusting Belmont to Lorenzo, Portia sends her servant Balthasar to her lawyer cousin Bellario in Padua, and tells Nerissa they will go to Venice disguised as men.

   5. Scene 5 — The same. A garden.

      Launcelot jokes with Jessica that her conversion only raises the price of pork; Lorenzo praises Portia. A comic interlude before the trial.

4. ACT 4.

   The trial: mercy pleaded, the bond defeated by its own letter, Shylock undone.

   1. Scene 1 — Venice. A court of justice

      In the Duke's court Shylock demands his pound of flesh. Disguised as the lawyer Balthazar, Portia urges that 'the quality of mercy is not strain'd'; when Shylock refuses, she grants the bond — but allows 'no jot of blood,' nor more or less than a pound. Shylock is undone, his goods seized and his conversion ordered. He begs to keep his ring.

   2. Scene 2 — The same. A street

      Still disguised, Portia and Nerissa coax their own rings from Bassanio and Gratiano as a lawyer's fee — setting up the play's last test.

5. ACT V.

   Moonlit Belmont: the ring trick resolved and the lovers reconciled.

   1. Scene 1 — Belmont. The avenue to PORTIA's house.

      At Belmont, Lorenzo and Jessica trade a moonlit duet on music and famous lovers. The wives confront their husbands over the missing rings, reveal that they themselves were the lawyer and clerk, and pardon them. Antonio learns his ships have safely returned.

Characters

• Portia protagonist

  A wealthy, witty heiress of Belmont, bound by her dead father's will to marry whichever suitor chooses the right one of three caskets (gold, silver, lead). She loves Bassanio and steers him to the lead casket. In the Venetian trial she appears disguised as a young male lawyer, 'Balthazar' (her disguise-name is spoken only in dialogue; her speeches keep the prefix PORTIA.), delivers the 'quality of mercy' plea, and out-argues Shylock to save Antonio. Resourceful and commanding, she also engineers the ring trick that closes the play.

• Shylock antagonist

  A Jewish moneylender of Venice, scorned and spat upon by the Christian merchants who borrow from him. He lends Antonio 3,000 ducats on a 'merry bond' forfeiting a pound of flesh, and when Antonio's ships fail he demands the penalty in earnest, partly in revenge for his daughter Jessica's elopement and his own long humiliation. His speeches ('Hath not a Jew eyes?') voice the play's deepest protest against bigotry even as the plot casts him as villain; in court he is defeated and forced to convert. The role sits at the centre of the play's troubling treatment of antisemitism.

• Antonio deuteragonist

  The title 'merchant of Venice': a grave, generous, inexplicably melancholy trader who borrows from Shylock — whom he has openly despised — to fund his beloved friend Bassanio's courtship of Portia. When his merchant ships are reported lost, he forfeits the pound-of-flesh bond and faces death with resignation, until Portia's legal stratagem saves him. His intense devotion to Bassanio anchors the play's exploration of male friendship. (One of several Antonios in Shakespeare.)

• Bassanio major

  A young Venetian gentleman who has run through his fortune and borrows from his friend Antonio (who borrows in turn from Shylock) to court the rich heiress Portia. He chooses the humble lead casket and wins her, then must watch his suit endanger Antonio's life. He gives away Portia's ring to the disguised lawyer, triggering the play's closing comedy.

• Gratiano supporting

  A loud, free-talking friend of Bassanio and Antonio who accompanies Bassanio to Belmont and woos Portia's gentlewoman Nerissa, winning her by the same casket lottery. Coarse and merry, he is also the most openly abusive toward Shylock in the trial scene.

• Lorenzo supporting

  A Christian friend of Bassanio and Antonio who is in love with Shylock's daughter Jessica and helps her elope, carrying off her father's ducats and jewels. He and Jessica take refuge at Belmont, where they share the play's famous moonlit 'In such a night' duet on music and love.

• Jessica supporting

  Shylock's daughter, who calls her father's house 'hell,' disguises herself as a boy to elope with the Christian Lorenzo, takes her father's money and her dead mother's ring, and converts to Christianity. Her flight is the personal wound that hardens Shylock toward his bond. Her own happiness at Belmont is shaded with unease.

• Nerissa supporting

  Portia's sharp-tongued waiting-gentlewoman and confidante, who marries Gratiano and accompanies Portia to the trial disguised as a lawyer's clerk (her disguise is named only in dialogue; her speeches keep the prefix NERISSA.). She shares the ring trick that teases the new husbands in Act 5.

• Launcelot Gobbo supporting

  The play's clown: Shylock's servant, who in a comic debate with his own conscience deserts 'the Jew' for the more generous Bassanio. Given to malapropisms and wordplay, he teases his blind father Old Gobbo, jokes with Jessica, and provides the low comedy between the Venice and Belmont plots.

• Old Gobbo minor

  Launcelot's purblind old father, who comes to Venice with a present of doves to find his son and, failing to recognize him, is teased before being told the truth. He helps petition Bassanio to take Launcelot into service.

• Salarino minor

  One of a pair of Venetian gentlemen, friends of Antonio, who open the play guessing at the cause of his sadness and report the news of the sea. He and Salanio are easily confused; this edition spells the two consistently SALARINO and SALANIO.

• Salanio minor

  The second of the two near-interchangeable Venetian gentlemen who attend Antonio, gossip about Shylock's reaction to Jessica's flight, and relay the rumours of Antonio's wrecked ships. (Often modernized 'Solanio'; this edition prints SALANIO.)

• Prince of Morocco minor

  A proud Moorish prince who comes to Belmont to try the caskets for Portia's hand, asking her not to mistrust him 'for my complexion.' He reasons his way to the gold casket — 'All that glisters is not gold' — and chooses wrong, departing rejected. His courtship frames the play's recurring talk of race and outward show.

• Prince of Arragon minor

  A vain Spanish prince, the second on-stage suitor for Portia, who scorns the 'fool multitude' and chooses the silver casket — 'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves' — only to find the portrait of a blinking idiot. He leaves humiliated, clearing the way for Bassanio.

• Duke of Venice minor

  The presiding authority at Antonio's trial, who pities the merchant and presses Shylock to show mercy, but holds that the law of Venice cannot be denied to a creditor. After Portia's verdict he tempers Shylock's punishment, sparing his life and commuting the forfeiture.

• Tubal minor

  A Jew of Venice and Shylock's friend, who reports on his hunt for the runaway Jessica — alternately tormenting and comforting Shylock with news of her spending and of Antonio's losses ('Thou stick'st a dagger in me... I shall never see my gold again').

• Balthasar minor

  A servant of Portia, sent in haste from Belmont to her cousin Doctor Bellario in Padua to fetch the lawyer's notes and garments she will use in her disguise. (His name happens to be the one Portia later borrows for her own male disguise — a separate use, spoken only in dialogue.)

• Clerk minor

  A clerk of the Venetian court who reads aloud the letter from the learned Doctor Bellario commending the young lawyer 'Balthazar' (the disguised Portia) to the Duke. A distinct functionary from Nerissa's lawyer's-clerk disguise.

• Stephano minor

  A messenger of Portia's household who, in Act 5, brings word to Belmont that his mistress is on her way home, walking by the holy crosses 'and prays for happy wedlock hours.' (A different character from the drunken butler Stephano of The Tempest.)

• Leonardo minor

  A servant of Bassanio, sent to provision his master for the journey to Belmont.

• Servant minor

  Unnamed serving-men of Belmont and Venice who announce arrivals and carry messages between the households.

• Musicians ensemble

  The unnamed singer(s) of Portia's household who perform the song 'Tell me where is fancy bred' (3.2) while Bassanio deliberates over the caskets — a song whose rhymes (bred / head / nourished) are sometimes thought to hint 'lead' to him.

Cross-references

• Folger Shakespeare
• MIT plain text
• Wikipedia