The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.

The merchandiser of Venice by William Shakespe be. The Merchant of Venice is a tragic drollery by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in the midst of 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First paging and sha closed chain certain aspe cts with Shakespeares other ro valetticistic comedies, the play is perhaps close immortali hangd for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for loan shark and the known Hath not a Jew eyes speech. Also notable is Portias speech about the quality of mercy.The act character is the merchant Antonio, not the Jewish goldlender loan shark, who is the plays most prominent and most famous character. This is make explicit by the title page of the first quarto The most excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. With the extreme cruelty of usurer the Jew towards the Merchant. compendious Antonio, a Venetian merchant, complains to his friends of a regret that he cannot explain. His friend Bassanio is desperately in n eed of bills to court Portia, a wealthy heiress who lives in the metropolis of Belmont.Bassanio asks Antonio for a add in revise to travel in style to Portias e situate. Antonio agrees, unless is unable to make the add himself because his own money is all invested in a number of trade ships that are still at sea. Antonio suggests that Bassanio secure the loan from one of the citys moneylenders and yell Antonio as the loans guarantor. In Belmont, Portia expresses sadness over the terms of her fo unders provide, which stipulates that she must tie the human beings who correctly chooses one of three caskets.None of Portias current suitors are to her liking, and she and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa, fondly remember a visit paid several(prenominal) time beforehand by Bassanio. In Venice, Antonio and Bassanio approach loan shark, a Jewish moneylender, for a loan. loan shark nurses a long-standing grudge against Antonio, who has made a habit of berating shylock and other Jews for their usury, the practice of loaning money at exorbitant rates of interest, and who undermines their logical argument by offering interest-free loans. Although Antonio refuses to apologize for his behavior, Shylock acts agreeably and offers to lendBassanio three thousand ducats with no interest. Shylock adds, however, that should the loan go unpaid, Shylock will be authorise to a pound of Antonios own fig. despite Bassanios warnings, Antonio agrees. In Shylocks own household, his servant Launcelot square offs to leave Shylocks service to work for Bassanio, and Shylocks daughter Jessica schemes to elope with Antonios friend Lorenzo. That night, the streets of Venice fill up with revelers, and Jessica escapes with Lorenzo by dressing as his page.After a night of celebration, Bassanio and his friend Gratiano leave for Belmont, where Bassanio intends to win Portias hand. In Belmont, Portia welcomes the prince of Morocco, who has come in an act to choose the right casket to m arry her. The prince studies the inscriptions on the three caskets and chooses the gold one, which proves to be an incorrect choice. In Venice, Shylock is untrained to flummox that his daughter has run away, save rejoices in the accompaniment that Antonios ships are rumored to have been wrecked and that he will soon be able to maintain his debt.In Belmont, the prince of Arragon also visits Portia. He, too, studies the caskets carefully, but he picks the fluid one, which is also incorrect. Bassanio arrives at Portias estate, and they affirm their get laid for one another. Despite Portias request that he wait before choosing, Bassanio straightaway picks the correct casket, which is made of lead. He and Portia rejoice, and Gratiano confesses that he has fallen in love with Nerissa. The couples decide on a retroflex wedding.Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a token of love, and makes him swear that under no circumstances will he differentiate with it. They are joined, unexpecte dly, by Lorenzo and Jessica. The celebration, however, is cut short circuit by the intelligence service that Antonio has indeed at sea his ships, and that he has forfeited his bond to Shylock. Bassanio and Gratiano immediately travel to Venice to try and save Antonios life. After they leave, Portia tells Nerissa that they will go to Venice hide as men. Shylock ignores the many pleas to purposeless Antonios life, and a trial is called to decide the matter.The duke of Venice, who presides over the trial, announces that he has sent for a legal expert, who crops out to be Portia wrapped as a young man of righteousness. Portia asks Shylock to show mercy, but he remains inflexible and insists the pound of flesh is rightfully his. Bassanio offers Shylock twice the money due him, but Shylock insists on collecting the bond as it is written. Portia examines the peg down and, finding it legally binding, declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchants flesh.Shylock ecstatically prais es her wisdom, but as he is on the confines of collecting his due, Portia reminds him that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed, as the father does not entitle him to any blood. trap by this logic, Shylock hastily agrees to discipline Bassanios money kind of, but Portia insists that Shylock take his bond as written, or nothing at all. Portia informs Shylock that he is guilty of conspiring against the life of a Venetian citizen, which means he must turn over fractional of his property to the state and the other half to Antonio.The duke spares Shylocks life and takes a fine instead of Shylocks property. Antonio also forgoes his half of Shylocks wealth on two conditions first, Shylock must diversify to Christianity, and second, he must will the totality of his estate to Lorenzo and Jessica upon his death. Shylock agrees and takes his leave. Bassanio, who does not see through Portias disguise, showers the young legal philosophy clerk with thanks, and is eventually pres sured into giving Portia the ring with which he promised never to part. Gratiano gives Nerissa, who is disguised as Portias clerk, his ring.The two women return to Belmont, where they find Lorenzo and Jessica declaring their love to each other under the moonlight. When Bassanio and Gratiano arrive the next day, their wives accuse them of faithlessly giving their rings to other women. before the deception goes too far, however, Portia reveals that she was, in fact, the law clerk, and both she and Nerissa reconcile with their husbands. Lorenzo and Jessica are jocund to learn of their inheritance from Shylock, and the joyful news arrives that Antonios ships have in fact made it back safely. The group celebrates its effective fortune.