The Treatment of Shylock and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice

In William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, the trial that takes place to decide Shylock’s legal rights is meant to enforce the structure of Venetian society and deny Shylock, a Jew, from obtaining the rights of a full citizen, under the guise of supporting Christian values and spirit. In trying to teach Shylock to learn the gentle spirit that Christians supposedly have, Portia utterly ruins Shylock—taking not just a pound of flesh, but his identity and livelihood.

The lack of judicial impartiality is meant to temper Shylock’s maliciousness toward Antonio, but Portia’s judgment not only spares Antonio from Shylock’s use of the legal system to exact revenge but effectively takes away Shylock’s rights and religious identity, forcing him to convert to Christianity, give up his profession, and to leave his assets to heirs not of his choosing. The crux of the trial and the action that damns Shylock comes after Portia’s speech. Portia has entered the courtroom disguised as “a doctor of laws” (4.1.2105). The cultural bigotry and anti-Semitism are immediately established in this role when Portia asks “Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?” (4.1.2112). Addressing Antonio by his profession and addressing Shylock by his identity sets up inequality in how both are perceived. Portia asks Shylock once more for compassion, delivering a beautiful speech about the quality of mercy. Because Shylock is seeking revenge and not justice, he rejects the request to be merciful or for more money. Portia responds, “For, as thou urgest justice, be assured / Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest” (4.1.2262-3). What follows, then, is Shylock’s treatment at the hands of justice as his property and identity are stripped from him. Ironically, the Duke says, “That thou shalt see the difference of our spirits, I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it” (4.2.2317-8). However, what follows is the complete ruining of Shylock’s wife. By the end of the trial he is made to promise to convert to Christianity, which necessitates giving up being a moneylender. He must also give his inheritance to Lorenzo, the man who stole his daughter. According to critic Paula Cohen, Shylock is read as both a villain and someone treated unjustly. His refusal to show mercy is ultimately his undoing in the play, but his being ostracized and treated as a secondary, subhuman figure gives legitimacy to his grievance and desire for revenge (Cohen). Shylock’s ruin is part of the formula for the comedy, but his conversion is not salvation but instead a punishment of a group who is power against one who is denied power.

At the end of the play, Portia continues a charade by working Bassanio into a frenzy over the ring she gave him. Because Bassanio gave it to the “lawyers” during the trial, Portia knows what has happened to it, but uses the opportunity to accuse Bassanio of infidelity, proclaims she will cuckold him, and then give him back the ring as supposed proof that she has slept with another man, “I had it of him: pardon me, Bassanio; / For, by this ring, the doctor lay with me” (4.2.2728-29). Portia’s treatment of Bassanio is meant to be comic, but it also shows the power dynamic and how part of Portia’s character seems to delight in causing discord through chicanery.

The results of Portia’s duplicity in this scene are far less harmful than the trial, but it further reinforces that the behavior of the main characters in the play has little to do with showing Christian values as much as playing off power dynamics to preserve a certain social structure and for specific characters such as Portia to get what they want regardless of legality or truthfulness. 

Works Cited

Cohen, Paula Marantz. “Shylock, My Students, And Me: What I've Learned From 30 Years Of Teaching The Merchant Of Venice.” American Scholar 79.1 (2010): 97-101. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.