Merchant of Venice Study Guide - The New American Shakespeare ...

The Merchant of VeniceStudy GuideCompiled by Laura Cole,Director of Education and TrainingLaura@ShakespeareTavern.comForThe Atlanta Shakespeare Companyat The New American ShakespeareTavern499 Peachtree St. NE,Atlanta, GA 30308Phone: 404-874-5299www.shakespearetavern.comOriginal Practice and PlayingShakespeareThe Shakespeare Tavern on Peachtree Streetis an Original Practice Playhouse. OriginalPractice is the active exploration andimplementation of Elizabethan stagecraftand acting techniques.For the Atlanta Shakespeare Company(ASC) at The New American ShakespeareTavern this means every ASC productionfeatures hand-made period costumes, live,actor-generated sound effects, and liveperiod music performed on periodinstruments in our Elizabethan playhouse.Our casts are trained to speak directly to theaudience instead of ignoring the audiencethrough the modern convention of actingwith a “4 th wall.”You will experience all of this and morewhen you see ASC’s The Merchant ofVeniceWho’s Who in MerchantPortia: The young lady of Belmont, constrained byher dead father’s edict to wait for a suitor to“win” her by picking the correct casket.Antonio: The merchant of the title and good friendto Bassanio. He agrees to guarantee Bassanio’sloan from Shylock.Bassanio: Young man of Venice, hoping to winPortia by picking the right casket. He does nothave enough money to travel to Belmont and soasks hisclosefriend,Antonio,to helphim witha loan.Gratiano:Bassanio’s friend and interested in Nerissa.Nerissa: Lady in waiting to Portia.Shylock: A moneylender in Venice.Jessica: Shylock’s daughter and in love withLorenzo. She elopes with him.Lorenzo: Young man of Venice, and friend toBassanio.Lancelot Gobbo: Servant to Shylock and later,Bassanio.Prince of Morocco: Suitor to Portia, who must pickthe correct casket, to win her.Prince of Aragon: Another suitor to Portia whomust also choose the correct casket.Solanio and Salarino: Friends to Antonio.Duke of Venice: Presides over Shylock’s trial.Tubal: Friend of ShylockOld Gobbo: Launcelet’s blind father.The Story“In sooth, I know not why I am so sad” saysAntonio, a merchant in Venice. He ismelancholy and will not admit to his friendsSolanio and Salarino why this is. Theyspeculate about his reasons, the main onebeing that all his money is currently tied upin overseas ventures or perhaps he is inlove? Antonio denies both reasons.Bassanio, Lorenzo and Gratiano, young menof Venice enter at this point and Solanio andSalarino quickly (and somewhat strangely)make their exit.Bassanio is a good friend of Antonio’s andconfesses a secret. He is in love with Portia,and tells Antonio “In Belmont is a Lady

Merchant Study Guide page 2richly left.” Bassanio is not very rich andseeks a loan from Antonio that he mighttravel in style to Belmont and win fairPortia. Unfortunately, all Antonio’s moneyis tied up in his ships and he cannot lend anymore to Bassanio. He proposes thatBassanio “enquire where money is” furtherand Antonio will guarantee any loanBassanio can find.Portia, meanwhile, is recounting the idiotsshe is forced to entertain when they come tocourt her for her hand in marriage. Herfather left her all his money when he died,but he also left the instruction that any manthat wishes to marry Portia must first choosefrom three small caskets, one made of lead,one of silver and one of gold. Portia wishesthat Bassanio, whom she has met briefly,would come and choose.Bassanio, meanwhile, has met with Shylock,a Jewish moneylender in Venice, who hasagreed to loan 3000 ducats, for threemonths, with a guarantee from Antonio.Shylock is a bit doubtful that this is goodbusiness, as all of Antonio’s money is tiedup in his ships, but agrees to talk to Antoniofirst. Antonio shows up, and Shylock tellsus in an aside, that he hates Antonio becauseof Antonio’s very disrespectful treatment ofhim, and his practice of loaning money topeople at no interest, which damagesShylock’s business of loaning money withinterest, known as usury in ElizabethanEngland. Rest assured, there is no love lostbetween the two men, and it appears to bequite personal on both their parts.Shylock eventually agrees to loan the moneyat no interest if for “merrie sport” Antoniowill instead guarantee the loan by forfeit of apound of his own flesh, if he cannot repaythe loan in time. The two men agree,although Bassanio expresses somemisgivings. They go off to have thebusiness transaction recorded.Portia is entertaining the Prince of Morocco,who has come to try his luck at the casketgame.Launcelet Gobbo, servant to Shylock, istrying to get another job. He meets up withhis old, blind father, and gets Dad tointercede on his behalf with Bassanio.Bassanio hires him on the spot. Bassanioand his friend Gratiano, who will travel toBelmont with him, go off to party the nightbefore they plan on leaving.Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, has beensecretly plotting to leave her father andelope with Lorenzo, a Christian man. She isunhappy in her father’s house and hopes toconvert after marrying Lorenzo. She stealsmoney and jewelry from her father andescapes with Launcelet’s help.Portia, meanwhile, has shown Morocco thethree caskets. The Prince picks the goldcasket but he picks wrong and leaves, muchdistressed. The Prince of Aragon, whoshows up next, picks the silver (wrong,again!) casket.Shylock discovers his daughter’s betrayal,and confronts Solanio and Salarino, whotaunt him for his losses. Tubal tells him thatAntonio has lost his ship and Shylockderives some comfort from that bit of goodnews.Bassanio has arrived, to court Portia, andeveryone is on pins and needles, hoping hewill choose the correct casket. He does(hint: it’s the lead one) and Portia gladlymarries him. Gratiano has fallen in lovewith Nerissa and gladly marries her. Salerioarrives at that moment, with Jessica andLorenzo in tow, to deliver the bad newsfrom Venice. Portia sends Bassanio withdouble and triple the amount of the loan, tohelp her husband’s dear friend out. Afterthey leave, Portia determines to disguise as aboy and follow her new husband back toVenice, as a joke. She leaves Jessica andLorenzo in charge of her estate while sheand Nerissa are gone.The Duke of Venice has been asked topreside over the forfeiture of Antonio’s bondto Shylock. He asks Shylock to be mercifuland have pity on Antonio. Shylock will notand demands his payment. The Duke is

Merchant Study Guide page 3troubled deeply and has sent to a wiseDoctor of Law named Bellario, for advice.In walk Portia and Nerissa, disguised as ayoung male lawyer “Balthazar” and hisclerk. Balthazar asks Shylock to be mercifuland explains that “Though Justice be thyplea, consider this, That in the course ofJustice, none of us should see salvation.”Shylock wants justice, not the repayment ofthe loan, and since “there is no power inVenice can alter a decree established” he, bylaw, can have his pound of flesh. AsShylock prepares to take his lawful due,Balthazar warns him that by law he can takeno more or less that an exact pound of flesh,nor can he have any blood. If he takesanything else, his lands and goods areconfiscate. Shylock cannot do this and asksfor his principle, instead. Balthazar will notagree to this, since he already refused it oncein open court. In fact, he will not letShylock go at all, until all his goods, landsand money are turned over to Antonio andthe Duke, partly in trust for his new son-inlawand daughter. Before Shylock canleave, Antonio is allowed to decree twothings: the return of half his goods, but also,that Shylock give up his religion and convertto Christianity. Mercy, indeed.Portia, still disguised as the lawyer, asksBassanio for the ring she had given her newhusband, as payment for a job well done. Atfirst he refuses to hand it over but Antonioeventually changes his mind. Wheneveryone gets back to Belmont, much gaietyensues as Portia and Nerissa tease theirseemingly faithless husbands. All isrevealed in the end and everyone happilyreconciles.Before a Performance, ThinkAbout This:What is mercy in this play?Who is capable of mercy? Who deservesmercy? What do you believe?Why has Shylock remained such anindelible character for us?What do you think are Shylock’s strongpoints? What are his weaknesses? Arethese character traits that you recognize?What has made him this way?Base lead versus tawnie gold:What does Bassanio’s speech in Act III,scene ii mean to you? It starts with “So maythe outward shows be least themselves….”Which casket would you choose?Theatergoing Then and Now:Find out what the typical Elizabethanaudience was like and imagine what aperformance might have been like backthen. What is different about theatre goingnowadays? The answers may surprise you!Clue: What would this play be like to watchoutside, in the light of day?During a Performance, Watch AndListen For This:Notice what we hear about Shylock beforehis first entrance. Notice what others sayabout him after his first entrance. What dowe hear about Antonio from other people,especially Bassanio? What does Antoniodo- what does he say about other people?Whose actions speak louder than words andwhose words speak louder than theiractions?After a Performance, Talk AboutThis:Religion and the Elizabethan Age:Do some research and discover for yourselfwhat the Elizabethan experience of religionmight have been.Which religion was “Elizabethan” anyway?How many people of Jewish faith lived inEngland during the period that Shakespearewrote The Merchant of Venice?How does your own concept of otherpeoples and other faiths reflect or conflictwith an Elizabethan understanding of thosepeople or that faith?

Merchant Study Guide Pg 4Shakespeare A to Z by Charles BoyceOriginal Practice Theatre:Does directly addressing the audience affectwhat you think and feel about thecharacters? Does it affect yourunderstanding of what is going on onstage?Does it interfere? Why do you thinkShakespeare wrote his plays this way?What are the benefits to the actor and/oraudience? What are the risks?Words Invented by Shakespeareand Used for the First Time in thisPlay:CompromiseGreen –EyedLaughableRivalUndervalueFind for yourself where they appear in theplay! Can you spot them inperformance? Do they mean what youthought they meant?For Further Information/Exploration:Websites:Mr. William Shakespeare and The Internet:http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/- this sitecontains excellent resources and is a greatmetasite.Shakespeare’s Globe websitewww.shakespeares-globe.orgBooks:The Merchant of Venice Folger EditionShakespeare and the Jews James ShapiroShakespeare: The Invention of the Humanby Harold BloomAsimov’s Guide to Shakespeare by IsaacAsimovStaging In Shakespeare’s Theatres byAndrew Gurr and Mariko IchikawaOur performance text is:The Applause First Folio of Shakespeare inModern Type, Neil FreemanFor more information on the First Folio ofShakespeare go to:http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Annex/DraftTxt/index.htmlMovie Versions:The Merchant of Venice, 2004, with AlPacino as Shylock, and Joseph Fiennes asBassanio.Definitions of Words Invented for Merchant:Compromise- to bind by mutual agreement; to come totermsGreen-eyed- Jealous – WS was the first to modifyjealous with “Green-eyed” and the term has remainedhyphenated to this day.Laughable- humorous or funny; ridiculous or sillyRival- having or making the same claim; competing.Undervalue- to rate as inferior; to rate below the realworth.