Merchant of Venice - Critical Question Answers
1. Discuss Shylock’s dramatic function in The Merchant of Venice. What do critics mean when they suggest that Shylock is “too large” for
the play? Does he fulfil or exceed his role?
In order to ensure
that we understand Shylock as a threat to the happiness of Venice’s citizens
and lovers, Shakespeare uses a number of dramatic devices to amplify Shylock’s
villainy. In doing so, however, he creates a character so compelling that many
feel Shylock comes to dominate the play, thereby making him “too large.”
Certainly, Shylock is a masterful creation. At his cruellest, he is terrifying,
even more so because all of his schemes exist within the framework of the law.
Seen in this light, Shylock becomes a kind of bogeyman, turning Venetian
society’s own institutions on themselves. On the other hand, Shylock is also
pitiable, even sympathetic, at times. He has been harshly handled by Venetian
society and has seen his daughter elope with one of the same men who despise
him. His passionate monologue in Act III, scene i reveals that he feels the
same emotions as his opponents, and we cannot help but see him as a man. In
fact, Shylock’s character is so well-rounded and intricate that many see him as
the only interesting figure in a play that is not, in theory, supposed to centre
about him. Shylock’s scenes are gripping and fascinating, and many critics
believe the play deflates every time he makes an exit.
2. In the end, how comic is The Merchant of Venice? Does the final act
succeed in restoring comedy to the play?
The Merchant of Venice contains all of the elements required of a Shakespearean comedy, but is
often so overshadowed by the character of Shylock and his quest for a pound of
flesh that it is hard not to find in the play a generous share of the tragic as
well. Lovers pine and are reunited, a foolish servant makes endless series of
puns, and genteel women masquerade as men—all of which are defining marks of
Shakespearean comedy. In sharp contrast to these elements, however, Shakespeare
also presents Shylock, a degraded old man who has lost his daughter and is
consumed with a bloody greed. The light language of the play’s comedic moments
disappears for whole scenes at a time, and Antonio’s fate is more suspenseful
than funny. The final act redeems the play’s claims to be a comedy, piling on
the necessary humour and serendipity, but the rest of the play is overcast by
the fact that Antonio may soon pay Bassanio’s debt with his life.
3. Discuss the relationship between Jessica and Shylock. Are we meant to
sympathize with the moneylender’s daughter? Does Shakespeare seem ambivalent in
his portrayal of Jessica?
In looking at the
relationship between Jessica and Shylock, we are again forced to walk a fine
line between sympathizing with and despising Shylock. For all intents and
purposes, the play should label Shylock’s mistreatment by his own daughter as
richly deserved. After all, he is spiteful, petty, and mean, and in his more
cartoonish or evil moments, it is hard to imagine why Jessica should stay. At
other times, however, Jessica’s escape seems like another cruel circumstance
inflicted on Shylock, and her behaviour offstage borders on heartless. Shylock
is never more sympathetic than when he bemoans the fact that Jessica has taken
a ring given to him in his bachelor days by his wife and has traded it for a
monkey, the most banal of objects. Nor is Jessica ever able to produce
satisfactory evidence that life in her father’s house is miserable. Her seeming
indifference to Antonio’s fate—she and Lorenzo are more interested in the price
of bacon—makes us wonder whether Jessica is actually more selfish and
self-absorbed than the father she condemns. While Shylock is no saint, his
resolve to collect his debt only seems to strengthen beyond reason after he
discovers that Jessica has fled his house.
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