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The Merchant of Venice has both tragic and comic elements. So some of the themes are light-hearted, such as different types of love, and some of the themes are darker, such as prejudice and intolerance.

Some of the themes of The Merchant of Venice include:

• prejudice and intolerance
• love
• justice and mercy
• wealth

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Remember

Shakespeare explores themes through:

• the language he uses
• the events of the play
• the way his characters behave.

You can write about all of these things when discussing the themes of the play.

Prejudice is an unfair feeling of dislike for someone because of their gender, race, religion or other feature.

Intolerance is unwillingness to accept views, beliefs or behaviours that differ from your own.

There are two main types of prejudice and intolerance in The Merchant of Venice:

• antisemitism
• prejudice against women

Most of the main characters in The Merchant of Venice are Christians. One central character, Shylock the money lender, is Jewish.

The Merchant of Venice is considered controversial because of its portrayal of antisemitism.

Antisemitism is a type of prejudice or discrimination towards Jews individually or as a group. It is based on unfounded stereotypes that target Jews as a people or their religious practices and beliefs.

The impact of antisemitism has resulted in Jewish people facing discrimination, being banished or even murdered.

Antisemitism was common in in Europe when Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice. In Venice itself, Jewish people had been forced to live in a separate area of the city since 1516.

Today there are various interpretations of antisemitism in The Merchant of Venice. People cannot agree on whether the play is antisemitic or seeks to criticise antisemitic behaviour. This is one of the reasons it is sometimes described as a “problem play”.

Question

How does Shakespeare show prejudice and intolerance against Shylock?

Did you know?

Some modern-day directors choose interesting ways to highlight the antisemitism in the play.

A Royal Shakespeare Company production, re-titled “The Merchant of Venice 1936”, first premiered in 2023 and was directed by Brigid Lamour.

It transports the play to 1930s Britain where a female Shylock, first played by Tracy-Ann Oberman, is portrayed as a dignified and strong woman facing the growth of fascism and anti-Jewish propaganda prior to the Second World War.

Women in Shakespeare’s time were subject to a patriarchal system. This means that men held the power in society and women were excluded from positions of power. Women were not allowed to have jobs outside of the home, to choose their husband or to act on the stage.

The power of men against women is seen in two different father/daughter relationships in The Merchant of Venice:

Did you know?

It is common for female characters in Shakespeare plays to disguise themselves as men. In The Merchant of Venice Jessica disguises herself as a young man to escape with Lorenzo. Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as male lawyers.

In Shakespeare’s time, the parts of Jessica and Portia would be played by young men because women were not allowed to act on stage. Shakespeare’s contemporary audiences would find it funny to see a young man, playing a woman, disguising herself as a man.

Question

Romantic love is a common theme in Shakespeare’s comedies.

The main romantic relationship in the play is between Bassanio and Portia. They have a strong and genuine love for each other.

Other romantic relationships in the play include:

• Jessica and Lorenzo who run away from Shylock to marry

• Gratiano and Nerissa who are both involved in the comedy plot involving the missing wedding rings at the end of the play.

Question

What do these quotations show about Portia and Bassanio's love?

There are a number of friendships portrayed in The Merchant of Venice. The strongest of these is between Antonio and Bassanio. This friendship is the basis of the bloodthirsty bargain with Shylock at the start of the play and it propels the plot forward.

Bassanio’s loyalty to Antonio shows him to be a good friend. In fact, audiences might question whether Bassanio values his relationship with Antonio above his relationship with his wife. When Bassanio hears that Antonio has been arrested, he rushes to see Antonio at trial to support him.

He does not realise that Portia is in the court room, disguised as a lawyer. Portia overhears Bassanio say that he would sacrifice his life with his wife to save Antonio.

Portia, disguised as the lawyer responds with:

Your wife would give you little thanks for that
if she were by.

Some productions also choose to suggest that Antonio and Bassanio are romantically or sexually attracted to each other. In such productions, Antonio’s sadness at the start of the play is explained by his feelings for Bassanio.

The main family relationships shown in the play are between fathers and daughters.

Portia loved her dead father but her feelings for him are complicated because he has not allowed her to choose her own husband.

Patriarchal father/daughter relationships are mirrored in the relationship between Shylock and Jessica. Jessica cannot choose a Christian man to marry, and is forced to run away with him.

Shylock's love for his daughter and sadness at her loss is muddled up with his sadness over the loss of a ring given to him by his dead wife and Jessica running away with a Christian.

The play features a courtroom drama in Act 4 and questions of justice and mercy are central to the plot.

In court, Shylock is focused on justice, whereas Portia values mercy. Shylock and Portia’s contrasting ideas about justice and mercy create the dramatic tension in the courtroom trial scene.

Shakespeare portrays Shylock’s idea of justice as a desire for revenge. Shylock says to Antonio:

The villainy you will teach me
I will execute.

In other words, his justice is based on payback - he wants to get even for his bad treatment over the years. Cutting away a piece of Antonio’s flesh is a way of getting his retribution for the terrible antisemitism he has suffered.

In her powerful speech, Portia talks of the importance of mercy. She believes that mercy is kingly and godly. It is gentle and powerful, and allows for forgiveness and understanding. She says:

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.

Portia is recalling the teachings of the New Testament of the Christian Bible, where Jesus encouraged his disciples to practise forgiveness and turn the other cheek when wrong was done to them. She appeals to Shylock to show mercy to Antonio.

Modern audiences might be confused about the behaviour of the Christian characters at the end of the trial.

Shylock is forced to give up the religion he loves and convert to Christianity. Some audience members might think that this is cruel, intolerant and vengeful behaviour.

However, Christians in 16th Century England may have seen the Duke's decision that Shylock convert to Christianity as merciful.

Audiences in the16th century may have felt that conversion to Christianity would save Shylock from hell and give him a chance of redemption in the eyes of Jesus.

Question

The theme of wealth is explored in many ways in The Merchant of Venice. It can see seen as both a positive and negative force.

• Antonio is very wealthy at the start of the play but he is also suffering from an unexplained sadness. Antonio’s wealth does not buy him the happiness he desires

• Antonio’s wealth allows him to support his friends’ ventures, such as Bassanio’s desire to visit Portia in Belmont

• Wealth can be misleading. Most of Portia’s potential husbands assume that the gold casket is the one that holds the prize of her hand in marriage because they incorrectly think that the casket which is worth the most money worth will hold the prize. When one of Portia’s suitors realises his mistake, he says:

All that glisters is not gold.

• There are various examples in the play of Shylock being mocked for his greed and his love of money. Solario and Solanio make fun of Shylock‘s love of money. Shylock’s wealth is criticised by some of the Christian characters in the play as a product of usury.

In Shakespeare's time, Venice was an important trading location and some British traders would have had dealings with Venetian traders.

There were few Jews in Shakespearean England, but there were Jewish communities in Venice where the play is set.

Charging interest on loans was permitted in the Jewish community, but frowned upon in the Christian community. This is important to the plot and the prejudicial views of the Christians in the story, who criticise Shylock for charging interest on loans.

Test your knowledge of the themes of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice by taking this multiple-choice quiz.