Your lying eyes

Shakespeare’s "The Merchant of Venice" and the deception of appearances

The Grand Canal of Venice, Canaletto

I’m reading through Shakespeare’s plays in an attempt to make sense of the world. Today I’m writing about “The Merchant of Venice.” For a quick reference to posts on previous plays, click here. Next week, “Henry IV, Part I.”

No matter how many times I read this play or see it performed, I struggle to hold onto two slippery facts. Despite its tragic subject matter, the play is a comedy. And, the title doesn’t refer to its most memorable character, Shylock, but to a lesser character whose name hasn’t entered our modern vocabulary.

A comedy in Elizabethan theatre didn’t necessarily mean funny, but instead was used to describe a play ending in marriage with the promise of future life (i.e., children), rather than death (the definition of a tragedy). This play certainly ends with marriages, but it lands lumpily after the humiliation and destruction of its major character. It doesn’t feel entirely uplifting, even accounting for modern sensibilities.  

To the second fact: Shakespeare alternatively titled the play “The Jew of Venice.” That could be a nod to the relative importance of Shylock compared to Antonio, the merchant who borrows from him. It also recognizes what I think is an intrinsic ambivalence within the play.

The play dives deeply into things not being what they seem. It starts with the genre and title and threads throughout the play. If you find your reactions ambivalent—squeamish with the racist and antisemitic tropes while appreciating the righteous indignation with which Shylock defends his humanity—then you’ve caught the play ‘on the hip,’ in the language of the play.

Synopsis

Antonio is a wealthy merchant in Venice, whose money is tied up in many shipments now on the water. As the play opens, he’s literally waiting for his ship(s) to come in, and he wears the care of a man whose livelihood is at risk.

His friend Bassanio is in desperate need of money and asks Antonio for help. Antonio would do so without hesitation were his assets liquid, but he tells his friend to find a money lender and Antonio will back the loan. They’re both confident in this solution.

Bassanio seeks out Shylock, who’s distracted as Bassanio asks for a loan of 3,000 ducats for a term of 3 months. When Antonio approaches to provide the surety for the loan, Shylock’s interest is piqued. Shylock knows of Antonio and loathes him. Antonio, not being in the business of money lending, is nonetheless a man generous to his friends, often making no-interest loans to them. This practice devalues the rate of interest that money lenders can charge, so Antonio’s practices are bad for Shylock’s business.

His greater grievance is that Antonio is virulently antisemitic: when their paths have crossed, Antonio has used slurs to demean Shylock and has spat on him. Antonio not only doesn’t deny these accusations, he maintains that he can’t promise he won’t do the same in the future. But Antonio wants to set that aside for the purpose of this loan, which he considers merely a commercial transaction. From his antisemitic viewpoint, he thinks Shylock should too: a Jew’s only motive is profit, right?

Antonio easily agrees to the outrageous bond that Shylock proposes: if the loan isn’t repaid in three months, Antonio must give up a pound of his flesh, which will be chosen by Shylock. Antonio laughs off the potential risk: his ship is to arrive in two months, so he claims to have no worries that he’ll be bound to the gruesome guarantee.

Portia is a young woman living in Belmont who possesses beauty, wealth, and intelligence. When we first meet her, she’s chafing at the restraints laid upon her by her deceased father. Before his death, he set up a scheme for her and her suitors. Within each of three metal boxes (made of gold, silver, and lead) he’s placed a picture, only one of which is of Portia. Each of her suitors must agree to these terms: he can pick only one box; if the box doesn’t contain Portia’s picture he must depart immediately and be sworn to silence; if he’s fortunate enough to open the box with her picture, he must marry her. Portia herself is bound to the same rules: she can’t indicate to any suitor which box might be the right one, and she must marry whoever opens the correct box.

She has many suitors, two of which guess wrongly—a great relief to Portia, who likes neither of them. She and Bassanio fall in love, and Bassanio chooses the lead box that contains Portia’s picture. They are wed.

Shylock’s daughter, Jessica, elopes with Lorenzo (a friend of Antonio’s), robbing her father’s house of money and jewels. Shylock is distraught over the loss of his daughter to marry a man who’s a Christian and friend of his adversary, her betrayal in stealing from him, and the theft of his wealth.

Antonio’s ships don’t come in, and three months later Shylock is demanding Antonio make good on his bond: a pound of flesh closest to his heart, which will ensure his death. Bassanio, having learned of this, rushes to Venice and his friend. Before he leaves, Portia gives him a ring, warning him to keep the ring secure or lose her entirely. Portia engineers a ruse to arrive in Venice disguised as a young man, with papers allowing her to adjudicate Shylock’s case against Antonio.

At the Duke’s court in Venice, Portia (in disguise) agrees with Shylock’s argument that Venice’s commercial markets depend on the faithful execution of contracts. She also makes a case for mercy: Shylock could accept Bassanio’s offer of three times the value of the loan in exchange for leaving Antonio untouched. Shylock stands his ground: he will have nothing but retribution.

Portia agrees that he can proceed but makes two stipulations: in taking the flesh he cannot cause any loss of blood, not even a drop, which would be against the law. Additionally, he can only take an exact pound of flesh, not more nor less. Since these stipulations make it impossible for him to proceed, Shylock admits defeat and agrees to accept the threefold repayment.

But that offer is now off the table. Portia rules, and the Duke of Venice decrees, that Shylock must forfeit everything he owns: half to Antonio and half to the state. Antonio asks the Duke to leave Shylock with half his wealth and give half to him to hold in trust for Shylock’s heirs. He also stipulates that Shylock must convert to Christianity and sign over his estate to Jessica and her husband once he is dead. Shylock departs a broken man.

Portia, still in disguise, stays after the trial to talk with Antonio and Bassanio. The men express their deep indebtedness to her. Portia asks for the ring on Bassanio’s hand; he says he cannot give it to her, so Portia walks away. Antonio scolds Bassanio, and Bassanio gives in, sending the ring to Portia.

Portia races back to Belmont, changes out of her disguise, and is reunited with Bassanio. She asks about the ring, and Bassanio admits he gave it to the judge of the case. She toys with him before admitting that she was that judge and shows him the ring he gave away. The play ends with three couples celebrating their weddings, and Antonio learning that some of his ships have indeed landed safely.

Thoughts

The play has much to say about how deceptive appearances can be. Its main device—the three boxes (caskets) from which the suitors can choose to win the hand of Portia—explicitly and symbolically spell it out. Each casket bears an inscription, guidance to what is within it.

Gold: “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.” It contains the image of death, with these words:

    ‘All that glisters is not gold;
    Often have you heard that told.
    Many a man his life hath sold
    But my outside to behold.
    Had you been as wise as bold,
    Young in limbs, in judgement old,
    Your answer had not been enscrolled.
    Fare you well; your suit is cold.’
-Act 2 Scene 7 

Silver: “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.” It contains the image of a fool.

    ‘The fire seven times tried this;
    Seven times tried that judgement is
    That did never choose amiss.
    Some there be that shadows kiss;
    Such have but a shadow’s bliss.
    There be fools alive, iwis,
    Silvered o’er; and so was this.
    Take what wife you will to bed,
    I will ever be your head.
    So be gone; you are sped.’
-Act 2 Scene 9

Lead: “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.”  It contains Portia’s image.

    ‘You that choose not by the view
    Chance as fair and choose as true.
    Since this fortune falls to you,
    Be content, and seek no new.
    If you be well pleased with this,
    And hold your future for your bliss,
    Turn you where your lady is,
    And claim her with a loving kiss.’
-Act 3 Scene 2

The inscriptions on the two caskets made of precious metals appeal to what the suitor will gain in the transaction; the casket of lead promises that the suitor must not only give rather than receive, but risk everything he owns.

Speculation based on prospective value, it would seem, is rewarded with death and loss (being made a fool of). Marriage, in contrast, is a contract of obligations. The sources of Portia’s attraction that are most apparent (her beauty and wealth), which are reflected in the gold and silver caskets, can be diminished over time. Only a suitor prepared to yield to her will win her hand.

Deceptive appearances and hubris

Antonio is blind to the risk of the bond he makes to Shylock, even though he’s supposedly a savvy merchant well accustomed to managing risk. He burnishes his self-image as a wealthy benefactor to his friends. He wants to be seen as decisive and confident. He becomes intent on showing up the Jew, waving away his risk as if it and Shylock were meaningless to him. His hubris prevents him from negotiating a loan with more agreeable terms, or in seeking out a lender who might be more amenable.

Shylock’s single-mindedness in exacting revenge is no less an act of hubris. He imagines himself as the avatar for all Jews overcoming their Christian oppressors. His outrage over Antonio’s ill-use focuses his mind on retribution even though it will gain him nothing. He stood to gain three or even 10 times the amount of the loan, at no personal risk, if he would only demonstrate mercy. He doesn’t, and loses everything, even his identity.

Antonio comes to the brink of losing his life, then is saved by a legal artifice that lifts him up as it crashes down on Shylock. It’s as bitter a judgement against Shylock as it is triumphant for the protagonists.

The original audiences, and Shakespeare himself, might have had no qualms about the treatment of Shylock. Perhaps they considered it gallant of Antonio to allow Shylock to keep half his wealth (even while damning Shylock to relinquish his identity as a Jew). It’s hard to see how Shylock could earn a living after the judgement against him, since the Bible prevents Christians from lending money with interest. He would therefore have Christian values forced upon him as his livelihood is removed. From an Elizabethan Christian viewpoint, this might have been perceived positively. There’s cause to read the play in this light.

And yet, the play continuously argues against deceptive appearance. The play takes care to portray Shylock not as a stock Jewish character, but as a man like any other. This is the speech that for many is central to the play:

SALERIO  Why, I am sure if he forfeit thou wilt not take
    His flesh. What’s that good for?
SHYLOCK To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else it
    will feed my revenge. He 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. Hath not a Jew eyes?
    Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses,
    affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with
    the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed
    by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same
    winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us
    do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If
    you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us
    shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest,
    we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, 
    what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a
    Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian
    example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I
    will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the 
    instruction.
-Act 3 Scene 1    

When Antonio wins the judgement at court, he proves the truth of Shylock’s speech above. Having caught the advantage, he could have stepped in to honor his debt and allow Shylock to leave intact. He could have demonstrated the mercy that Portia had asked of Shylock. Instead, Antonio exacts revenge: performatively generous, but revenge nonetheless. He isn’t magnanimous in giving the state’s half of Shylock’s estate back to Shylock: he pocketed the 3,000 ducats from the loan and he gave back what was due the state, not himself. He promises to give his half of the forfeited estate to Jessica and her husband: this largesse using someone else’s money will accrue to his own reputation.

Both men wear the appearance of savvy, successful businessmen, and yet each blindly accepts existential risks. They are too enraptured of the righteousness of what they do. The suitors who opened the gold and silver caskets had also convinced themselves of the rightness of their choices. They saw what they wanted to see.

Navigating ambiguity in the play and in our world

Despite the celebration that closes the play, it finds the merchant of Venice, its title character, a single man surrounded by couples, poorer from the loss of many ships at sea, saved only by the news of a few of his ships sailing home. Fortune has shone fully on the lovers: Portia and Bassanio, her maid Nerissa and her new husband Graziano, Jessica and her new husband Lorenzo; it has cast but a ray upon Antonio. Meanwhile, Shylock’s full-throated revenge ploy has wrecked him on the rocks. Love triumphs in a comedy, and this play remains true to that formula.

The play underscores that assessing value hastily and superficially invites failure. Whether valuing a business venture, an event, or a person, a true assessment requires insight and contemplation. This play highlights how poorly people are equipped to do this, even in its time when people met face to face to transact business or to court each other. In our times of virtual meetings, virtual currency, online identities, and altered images and videos, we are that much poorer equipped to discern truth and assess risk.

Merchants like Antonio spent months waiting for news of their imported shipments. Today, we receive news from events around the world within minutes. Yet, we have little means to know the accuracy of information widely dispersed, so we rely on our associations: did the information come from a trusted source? Trusted sources might be friends (or online ‘friends’ who sound or look like you); they might be organizations that have motives shaped by profit and power rather than transparency. Recent events in Israel and Gaza have set a stage for people around the world to make facile judgements based on scant understanding. Sadly, as the world has become more global, it has also become more tribal, and we are more easily fooled because of the technology we use.

As this play makes very clear, the stakes of getting it right can be exceedingly high. Pause, and reflect, before sharing what you think you see. Vilification and revenge politics strip humanity from others. Nothing good will come of it.

Ellie’s Corner

“Time to go to bed, Dad.”

Ellie’s first night after we brought her home from the shelter, she stole into the bathroom while Dave was taking a shower. He watched her as she crept in and stole his underpants, sneaking away with them out the door. She didn’t chew them up or destroy them. She just wanted to have his smell nearby, those early days when she wasn’t entirely sure that this home would be permanent. She’d had a rocky couple of years before we found each other.

Ellie is a dog who leads with her nose; smell means everything to her. Sometimes Dave will take a piece of our clothing from the laundry basket and leave it for her on her bed. It seems to make her happy.

Thanks for reading,