Antonio (Tom Haine), a Venetian merchant, complains to his friends of a melancholy that he cannot explain. His friend Bassanio (George Blum) is desperately in need of money to court Portia (Renée Gándola), a wealthy heiress who lives in the city of Belmont. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan in order to travel in style to Portia’s estate. Antonio agrees, but is unable to make the loan 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 city’s moneylenders and name Antonio as the loan’s guarantor. In Belmont, Portia expresses sadness over the terms of her father’s will, which stipulates that she must marry the man who correctly chooses one of three caskets. None of Portia’s current suitors are to her liking, and she and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa (Rachel Lowelthal) fondly remember a visit paid some time before by Bassanio.

 In Belmont, Portia welcomes the Prince of Morocco (Durwood R. Murray), who has come in an attempt to choose the right casket to marry 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 furious to find that his daughter has run away, but rejoices when his friend Tubal (Marcus Allen Correia) tells him that Antonio’s ships are rumored to have been wrecked and that he will soon be able to claim his debt. In Belmont, the Prince of Aragon (Eric Hedberg) also visits Portia. He, too, studies the caskets carefully, but he picks the silver one, which is also incorrect. Bassanio arrives at Portia’s estate, and they declare their love for one another. Despite Portia’s request that he wait before choosing, Bassanio immediately picks the correct casket, which is made of lead. He and Portia rejoice, and Graziano confesses that he has fallen in love with Nerissa. The couples decide on a double wedding. Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a token of love, and makes him swear that under no circumstances will he part with it. They are joined, unexpectedly, by Lorenzo and Jessica. The celebration, however, is cut short by the news from Solanio (Marty Greenberg) that Antonio has indeed lost his ships, and that he has forfeited his bond to Shylock. Bassanio, Graziano, and Solanio immediately travel to Venice to try and save Antonio’s life. After they leave, Portia tells Nerissa that they will go to Venice disguised as men.

 Shylock ignores the many pleas to spare Antonio’s life, and a trial is called to decide the matter. The Duke of Venice (Richard Herring), who presides over the trial, announces that he has sent for a legal expert, who turns out to be Portia disguised as a young man of law. Portia asks Shylock to show mercy, but he remains inflexible and insists the pound of flesh is rightfully his. Bassanio offers Shylock thrice the money due him, but Shylock insists on collecting the bond as it is written. Portia examines the contract and, finding it legally binding, declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchant’s flesh. Shylock ecstatically praises her wisdom, but as he is on the verge of collecting his due, Portia reminds him that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed, as the contract does not entitle him to any blood. Trapped by this logic, Shylock hastily agrees to take Bassanio’s money instead, 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 half of his property to the state and the other half to Antonio. The duke spares Shylock’s life and takes a fine instead of Shylock’s property. Antonio also forgoes his half of Shylock’s wealth on two conditions: first, Shylock must convert to Christianity, and second, he must will the entirety of his estate to Lorenzo and Jessica upon his death. Shylock agrees and takes his leave.

Martin White, Renée Gandola, George Blum, Tom Haine, Ray Simard, Richard Herring
(Shylock, Portia, Bassanio, Antonio, Graziano, The Duke)

“We should face up to the anti-Semitism of The Merchant of Venice precisely because of an imperative need to identify and combat anti-Semitism and all other forms of racial prejudice in our contemporary world.” (Graham Holderness, 1993)

In 1290, Edward I forced the expulsion of all Jews from England and few returned until 1655 when the decree was lifted by Cromwell. Officially all Elizabethans were required to attend the Church of England. The wrath of the state, aimed 300 years earlier at Jews, was then aimed primarily at Catholics who were forced to join the Church of England. During Shakespeare’s life, practicing Catholics were arrested, executed, and their lands were forfeited to the state. Shakespeare could not write about that contemporary persecution; rather he chose to combine two Italian short stories: in one, a Jewish creditor demanded a pound of flesh from a Christian who defaults on a debt and, in another, suitors chose from three caskets to get a bride. He created a play in which universal themes emerge: love and hate, generosity and greed, forgiveness and revenge. Shylock says that he hates Antonio because “he lends out money gratis, and brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice.” (I,iii,45-46) That Antonio is Christian is of less importance to Shylock. Religious strife, while pervasive in the play, is secondary to the monetary issue of usury.

The question of usury, the idea of earning interest on money, has long been a thorny issue for relationships between Christians and Jews because canon law forbade Christians from charging each other interest in 1179, but it said nothing about Jews charging interest to Christians. Jews, on the other hand, were permitted to charge interest from gentiles if no other means of survival was available. Thus, Jews became the money-lenders of Europe, and were much hated because of it. Jews also acquired the stereotype of greedy bankers among Christians because of Christian laws which prevented Jews from doing much else. Had Christianity deigned to treat the Jews as equals, that might never have occurred.

“While the others are joined throughout the drama in the sweet ties of love and friendship, Shylock remains isolated in an enveloping atmosphere that knows neither friendship nor love. What has made him so? Nothing connected with his being Jewish, nothing connected with his being persecuted or a member of a persecuted race. Shakespeare nowhere implies that what is forbidding, unloving, and unlovable in his character is a result of his being a Jew. The conflict of values…is between the greed and hate of Shylock and the generosity and love of other characters.” (Bernard Grebanier, 1962)