A Closer Look at The Merchant of Venice

This is my attempt of a close reading eassay. The text I had the pleasure of working with was The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, written in 1596/ 97. It is amazing to see how much information you can get out of such a small piece of text. Exercises like this make you fall in love with Shakespeare even more, or at least I do. If anything should be unclear, please feel free to leave a comment. Enjoy!

– Dea ♔

A Closer Look at The Merchant in Venice

Love is a central part of William Shakespeare's comedies. I am going to have a closer look at Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, act 3, scene 2, line 1-185. This is a passage where we very clearly see the important role love plays. Here Bassanio determines which casket he wants to open, and after choosing the right one, he receives a ring from Portia. The scene is the moment which eventually brings the two plots of the play together, and it is a key moment for understanding the rest of the play.

In the opening of act 3, scene 2 we meet Portia, Bassanio and their trains. It is time for the casket ceremony. The two princes who have undertaken this task before Bassanio chose two different caskets and both of them were unsuccessful. The reader is therefore quite certain of which casket Bassanio needs to pick to win Portia's love. We might also have an expectation that the leaden casket is going to be his choice because it is the only casket that has not yet been opened. Another fact we might put into consideration is that the Merchant of Venice is a comedy, and that Bassanio and the other Christians are the ones we root for. A happy ending is therefore very likely, especially since there is love and marriage involved. Still, there is always a chance of failure. This choice may be the always included 'obstacle' the lover has to overcome, or it may lead to it. To begin with, we might think that Bassanio knows nothing more than the princes before him. Then again, when having a closer look, it might be that he actually does. The performance comment in The Norton Shakespeare informs us that some directors decide to present it as if Bassanio has been in Belmont for some time. This is, however, an interpretation. We do also find evidence of hints given by just looking at the text, both explicit and implicit. Portia plays with the idea of helping Bassanio decide on the right casket but arrives at the conclusion that she can not. However, the song that is sung right before Bassanio is to make his choice, tells us that love enters through the eye, and also says that 'With gazing fed: and fancy dies'. This might implicate that the caskets that are the prettiest to look at are not the right choices. If you only love with your eyes, love will die. If we transfer this meaning to Portia, Bassanio should want her and her love not because she is fair and rich, but for her inner qualities. In addition to this clue, the ending syllables, in 'bred', 'head' and 'nourishèd', at the beginning of the song, rhymes with lead. Harry Berger Jr's reflects in his article on 'The Casket Scene' on the fact that we do not know whether Portia is responsible for the hints given or not, or even if she knows about them. Neither do we know if Bassanio picks up on them. However, he claims that the important part is that 'the script encourages us to wonder about, and even to debate, the possibility'. If it is Portia who is behind the leak of information she has acted against her father's will, and also in a way managed to choose her own husband.

We understand from the very beginning that Portia wants Bassanio to choose the right casket. She has mentioned him before by name, in act 1, where Nerissa also says of him that he 'was the best deserving a fair lady'. In the opening sentence of act 3, scene 2 Portia expresses her worry that Bassanio might choose wrongly like the others. She says 'I pray you, tarry: stay a day or two/ Before you hazard, for in choosing wrong I lose your company'. Bassanio is an attractive suitor because he speaks Portia's language and has a more similar cultural background to her than the previous suitors. She has seen him before and has positive thoughts of him. Unlike the other suitors who were princes, lords and counts, Bassanio is described as 'a scholar and a soldier'. This might make him seem a bit more humble than the rest. It could also be that Portia wants a man that originally has less authority than herself. Portia stresses the fact that she can not choose her own husband, nor turn any of the suitors down. Bassanio seems to be the best candidate so far, and if he chooses wrong she could end up with someone she does not approve of. It is therefore important not just to Bassanio that he chooses right, but also to Portia.

Men from all over the world come to take part in the 'lottery' for Portia's hand. As mentioned earlier in the play, suitors who end up choosing the wrong casket are never allowed to marry at all. In other words, by taking part in this 'competition' much is at stake. Yet, maybe the fact that it is so similar to a game, where you might win or you might lose, is what makes Bassanio and the other men so interested? When we think about it, this 'lottery' has some parallels to the bond between Antonio and Shylock. There is a chance that Antonio will not be able to pay Shylock back in time, yet he agrees to the uneasy bond. Antonio is confident, and so is Bassanio in his choice of casket. The two situations are also connected in the way that Portia's money is a way to resolve Bassanio's economic issues. Marrying her is an investment. The 'lottery' is, of course, less of a gamble if Bassanio picks up on the hints.

Bassanio's motive for wanting to marry Portia is questioned quite early in the act. Portia says to him 'Then confess/ What treason there is mingled with your love', and the song includes the lines 'Tell me where is fancy bred:/ Or in the heart or in the head'. The reader also questions his motives because of the way Bassanio introduced Portia to Antonio in act 1. His main focus seems to be on her wealth, and his first sentence about her is 'In Belmont is a lady richly left'. Bassanio needs money, and marrying Portia would be an easy and quick way of gaining wealth. Furthermore, Portia compares herself to the virgin being sacrificed to a sea monster, in Greek mythology. She thereby suggests that Bassanio only wants her for the reward he is given if he 'saves her'. 

Nevertheless, Bassanio ends up choosing the leaden casket containing a picture of Portia. Portia at once places herself below her husband to be. She calls him 'her lord, her governor, her king', and says that 'Myself and what is mine to you and yours/ Is now converted'. All that she rules over and possesses is now his. As a man, he is a natural authority, though Portia is initially the more powerful and the one with the title. Portia is objectified as a 'thing' Bassanio gets along with the castle and wealth, as a reward for choosing right. This is a bit of a contrast to the symbol of the leaden casket, where Bassanio was to appreciate the inner qualities of Portia rather than just pay attention to her beauty and wealth.

In addition to the wealth, property and herself, Portia gives Bassanio one of the greatest symbols of the play, a ring. This is to symbolise her love and their unity. She says it is a ring 'Which when you part from, lose, or give away,/ Let it presage the ruin of your love'. Bassanio answers 'But when this ring/ Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence'. At this moment the ring becomes more than just an object. It is a vow. Bassanio claims that the ring will not come off his finger until he is dead. This is especially important to keep in mind when Portia and Nerissa later in the play dress up as men and ask for the ring back. When Bassanio agrees to give away his ring he does not just give away an object, but he also breaks his vow. At the same time, he becomes in a sort of debt to Portia. Portia has given him all she possibly can. She even helps save Antonio, and might have given him hints on which casket to chose. Bassanio on the other hand, after giving the ring away, has done nothing but take and receive. Bassanio's debt to Portia gives her a form of power in their marriage, similar to the power Shylock has over Antonio because of the bond. 

Apart from the action of the play, it is worth noticing the language used. In this act, as well as  in the rest of the play, the language is characterised by its frequent use of words referencing to economy and business. Bassanio says amongst other things that the caskets are 'purchased by the weight', and he uses phrases such as 'the very sum of' and 'underprizing it'. Portia's language, on the other hand, is marked by love, poetry and mythology. This affect how we see them. We think of Bassanio as a man of business, even in his marriage, while Portia seems to be a dutiful Lady. From line 1-185, with exception of the song, only Portia and Bassanio speak. This might emphasise the emotions of the two characters, and increase the tension and excitement in the room.

As we can see at lot of action crucial to the rest of the play is taking place in act 3, scene 2, from line 1-185. Bassanio has come to Belmont with the same hope as the other suitors, to marry Portia. His motives are questioned, with reason, but Portia likes him better than the other suitors. She might have had a role in indicating which casket to choose through the song, but we do not know this. Neither do we know if Bassanio chooses right because of this. He anyways become Portia's soon to be husband, and she gift him the symbolic ring, which he swears will not come off his finger until he is dead. When he later breaks his vow he also builds up his debt to Portia, something that gives her power in their marriage. The language used reflects on the personalities. Bassanio's choice of words linked to economy portrait him as a businessman both in context to his job and in personal life.

Bibliography:
Dr Elizabeth Elliott, Gender, performance and desire in The Merchant of Venice, lecture, University of Aberdeen, 09.10.18.
Dr Syrithe Pugh, The Merchant of Venice, tutorial, University of Aberdeen, 16.10.18.
Harry Berger, Marriage and Mercifixion in The Merchant of Venice: The Casket Scene Revisited, in Shakespeare Quarterly, volume 32, 1981. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2870008.pdf> [accessed 23 October 2018] (para. 8 of 20)
William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, in The Norton Shakespeare: International Student Edition ed. by Stephen Greenblatt et al. (New York and London: Norton: 2008)