This play begins with Antonio's melancholy (1.1.5-7). Examine the trajectory of Antonio's character throughout the play and suggest possible reasons for this melancholy.
Is this sadness resolved in the end (look at 5.1.253-308)? What is Antonio's role in the various plots and how might this affect his disposition? Provide your best theory,
based on support from the play, about why this melancholy has prime importance at the beginning given how the play ends.
Analyze the Lorenzo-Jessica love plot. Consider in particular these contexts: Jessica as a disobedient child--typically, running away from one's father would
not be championed in a society that depends on adherence to authority--what is the representation of this in the play?; Jessica as a foil to her father;
Lorenzo as a parallel for Bassanio (what are similarities and differences?); the overall role of this romance plot in relation to the other major plots in the play.
The romance and city plots intertwine in the courtroom scene in Act 4 and the continuing gender disguises. What is the significance of Shylock's cultural
identification as a Jew (consider, too, the importance of his disappearance at the end of the play)? What is the significance that the learned judge is actually a woman?
How does the ring plot both undermine the romantic plots in the play and reinforce them? Analyze the representation of "other"ed characters in these final scenes.
Discussion: Merchant of Venice within a Tradition of Adaptation
The Literary Past
Work with your group as assigned to answer questions about literary texts related to The Merchant of Venice.
Analyze the character of Gernutus from the poem and Barabas from Jew of Malta (as assigned). Identify key passages that give description or demonstrate important traits.
Analyze the narratives that Gernutus and Barabas (as assigned) are involved in in their respective texts--note key narrative turns, the agency of these characters, and their relationships to others.
Analyze the character of Shylock from Merchant of Venice. Idenitify key passages that give description and language from Shylock that demonstrates important character traits.
Note the key elements of the narrative that Shylock is involved in in Shakespeare's play.
Compare and contrast the sources with Shakespeare's play. Identify at least two significant similarities and at least two significant differences
(so, something like "their names are different" is not a significant difference).
Explain why the main similarities and differences you have identified are important.
History of Adaptation
Use the Canvas reading from Granville for this part.
Examine the "Advertisement to the Reader" included in the excerpt. What does Granville say is wrong with Shakespeare's play?
What is better about Granville's version (in his opinion)?
How is the excerpt from Granville different from Shakespeare's original? How do these differences reflect the different
cultural moment of Granville's version?
Background
Dating and Texts of the Play
Merchant of Venice was first printed as a Quarto edition in 1600; this edition was produced soon after the first performances and is
considered to be a close representation of Shakespeare's original script (British Library). The 1623 First Folio edition of the play was based on an
edited version of this original 1600 edition. There was also a 1619 second quarto edition that is considered by most editors as a
"bad" quarto--as Mowat and Werstine explain: "whoever did the editing for this 1619 quarto does not seem to have had access to either an author's
manuscript or one from the theater and does not even seem always to have understood the play" (xlv). Thus the 1619 edition is generally disregarded.
Most modern editions are based on the original 1600 Quarto or the First Folio edition. The class text is based on the 1600 first quarto.
The play itself was probably written in 1598, and was entered on the Stationer's Register (an official record of all plays produced in London)
on 22 July 1598 (British Library). The first recorded performance of the play in in 1605, when the play was performed for James I on the occasion of
shrove Tuesday (10 February), though earlier performances are alluded to in the first folio edition and other period texts.
Shakespeare's Sources
Most scholars believe that Shakespeare's main source for this play is the Italian drama Il Pecorone (1558), though there is debate about whether
Shakespeare worked directly from the Italian or from an English translation that has since been lost (British Library).
A widely referenced source for the characters of Shylock and Jessica is Christopher Marlowe's Jew of Malta.
Although there is no recorded performance of this play until 1633, it was published in 1589.
Information about additional minor influences can be found on the British Library website: click here
Important Themes
One of the most notable elements of this play is the contrast between romantic plots and economic intrigue. This contrast extends to elements
of both setting and character, and as you read, you should pay attention to the differences between Belmont and Venice (for example), but also
the elements of similarity that unite these disparate forces (for example, Jessica's dual transgressions against her father).
Another noted contrast that between insiders and outsiders (one of the most prominent examples is the difference between Christian and Jew,
but there are other important distinctions as well). This play is very concerned with the different rules for those who belong and those who do not.
Consider who the insiders and outsiders are in the various contexts represented in the play, and attend particularly to whether that boundary can be
crossed (can an outsider become an insider? can an insider be expelled?) and if so, how.
This play also explores friendship and fidelity, particularly in relation to the law and justice. Social behavior is governed by all of these forces,
but as this play demonstrates, obligation may drive one to violate fidelity; friendship may motivate a violation of law; and the law and justice
are not by any means identical forces. Pay attention to these various elements and how they interact over the course of the play.
Works Consulted
Bevington, David. The Complete Works of Shakespeare, 4th ed. New York: Longman, 1997. Pp. 178-82.
British Library. "Shakespeare's Quartos: The Merchant of Venice." N.d.
Mowat, Barbara A. and Paul Werstine. "An Introduction to this Text." The Merchant of Venice. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Pp. xlv-xlix.
