Category: Ball Group Two

Comedies are known for always ending well even when the buildup may seem hopeless. The Merchant of Venice does just that. The relationships end well and against all odds, Antonio's boats return unscathed, restoring Antonio's fortune. Shylock, however, does not receive the happiest of endings, and depending on how you analyze the script, he may not appear to be the villain he gets labeled from the start. In the courtroom scene, Antonio proposes and the court accepts to:

So please my lord the duke and all the court,

To quit the fine for one half of his goods

I am content, so he will let me have

The other half in use to render it

Upon his death unto the gentleman

That lately stole his daughter.

Two things provided more: that for this favor

He presently become a Christian;

The other, that he do record a gift

Here in the court, of all he dies possessed,

Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

A man simply seeking acceptance loses his daughter, all he owns, and even his own religion, of which he was so proud, and forced to convert to those he hated most. With not an ounce of dignity, Shylock is in shambles, having no "happy ending" whatsoever.

Stasis Proposition

– Antonio is experiencing an apparently unexplainable depression, while his closest friend Bassanio has been harboring a secret love. Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia is bound by her father's will not to marry a suitor of her own choosing. All the suitors that have come, however, to attempt her dead father's trial have been quite undesirable.

Stasis Implication

– The stasis I have proposed has a great deal to do with the twin concepts of love and marriage. This suggests that these will be some of the primary motivating factors for the characters mentioned in the stasis (Shylock, especially, is excluded from this €˜love and marriage' motivation). It has been theorized that Antonio's motivation is an intense love for Bassanio, Bassanio (obviously) is motivated by his love for Portia, Lorenzo acts out of an infatuation with Jessica, and finally there is Gratiano and Nerissa.

Intrusion?

– The intrusion, in my opinion, would be one of two things: Bassanio's confession of his love for Portia (to Antonio) or his request for a loan from Antonio. Both of these disrupt the stasis in a way, but I think Bassanio's request for a loan is more significant since it directly leads to the introduction of Shylock into the storyline, and also allows Bassanio to pursue Portia, thus allowing for the two worlds of Belmont and Venice to be intertwined through their characters.

Intrusion Implication

– My proposed intrusion (the loan request) subtly introduces the theme of money and class in Venetian (and Belmontian) society: Bassanio cannot woo Portia unless he can dress and travel like a prince. Also, as stated, it introduces Shylock and the role of the Jew as a moneylender in the society of the play. And again, this intrusion indirectly leads to two very separate worlds that would not otherwise unite coming together in the play's storyline. Somewhat more significantly, however, this request introduces the concept of obligation, which is a huge factor throughout the play: Portia is obligated to follow her father's will, Bassanio feels obligated to pay back Antonio somehow, Antonio is obligated to repay Shylock, and Bassanio is obligated to keep Portia's ring safe.

I just wanted to randomly list up things theatrical in the play.

• Portia’s question of the three boxes.
• Bassanio and Portia’s marriage.
• The whole court scene.
•  Bassanio, Portia and the ring

• The location is Venice. There are many merchants in Venice who make money by trading goods.
• Shylock and Antonio have a conflict in interest regarding business.
• Antonio is sad.
• Antonio’s ships are all on journey and he does not have money.
• Portia’s father died recently, and she is looking for a husband.

–These seem to be the unchangable stability, but maybe these are too specific? Then, there must be an action that disrupts this stability, which I think is Bassanio asking Antonio for money. What do other people think?