The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare undoubtedly transcends all barriers of time and space in the world’s literature. Almost every phase of feeling lay within the scope of Shakespeare. He has touched morals, codes of conducts, philosophy, and many other aspects of his time. As such, through investigating Shakespeare’s work, it is possible for readers to understand deeply about the author’s literature skills, his key messages delivered to audiences, tones and emotions. Moreover, readers should also be able to deduce more about modern English society and culture after a close reading. For instance, in the 16 the century, England women were not allowed in the professions such as doctors, lawyers and teachers. They could have only limited presence in job market. Wives and daughters were only allowed to be domestic servants. In the country side, women were even kept much busier as most men cannot run a farm without their helps. However, women were mostly not economically independent. Marriages of a woman was often arranged. As such, it is extremely difficult for a woman to collect more information about her future life partner. In this literary analysis, the Merchant of Venice, one of his greatest plays will be discussed in details. According to the chosen passage of ‘Merchant of Venice,’ Shakespeare portrays how girls from wealthy families had to use various tricks to find out the true intentions of men who want to become a spouse.
First, the Prince of Morocco believe that he is the best suitor to Portia, so he is strongly against the idea of choosing the casket randomly. The first quote is from
the Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene I, as follows:
“I would o'er-stare the sternest eyes that look,
Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth,
Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear;
Yea, mock the lion when 'a roars for prey,
To win the lady. But alas the while,
If Hercules and Lychas play at dice
Which is the better man, the greater throw
May turn by fortune from the weaker hand” (“The Merchant of Venice” 2.1, 121).
The words from this passage belong to the Prince of Morocco and were addressed to Portia. In this scene, the Prince of Morocco with his retinue comes to Portia`s to express his feeling of love to choose one of the three caskets. The mention of the Lychas and Hercules dice game in this passage is a metaphor for the game between two ancient Greek characters who tried to find out which one is stronger. This metaphor relates directly to the plot of The Merchant of Venice, whose heroes tried to win Portia's heart, thereby determining the winner. Hercules is a famous Greek hero and Lichas is his servant. If they are playing a game of dice, Lichas, the weaker one, may possibly turn out to be the winner. Lichas is less capable than Hercules. Here the Prince of Morocco is proud and wishes to be convinced of his worth. The Prince of Morocco expresses his fondness of Portia, whose future husband is chosen from those representatives who correctly select the necessary box of the three presented. In this scene, one can observe the dialogue between the indecisive Portia and the determined Prince of Morocco who wants to emerge victoriously. The emotional tone of the two characters is exceptionally different, as the persistent Prince and the unyielding Portia cast doubt on their possible future alliance. The prince of Morocco shows determination and self-sacrifice, while Portia maintains a clear mind and impartiality.
Further, from the game of dice metaphor, "If Hercules and Lychas play at dice, which is the better man, the greater throw.." (“The Merchant of Venice”2.1, 130), it can be shown that among the aspirants to the heart of Portia, there are only those who want wealth and victory, and do not love Portia. This metaphor embodies the spirit of rivalry that permeates The Merchant of Venice. From the selected passage, it can be seen by re-reading the lines of the play where the Prince mentions Heracles and Lichas and their game of dice, which directly indicates the gambling played by almost all the characters of The Merchant of Venice. Moreover, the Prince’s intentions were clearly announced by him practically from the first lines of this passage. He said that he could do everything and even commit a crime for the sake of love, as evidenced by the answer given above.
Besides, Prince of Arragon, on the other hand, chooses the silver casket. The inscription inside reads, “'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves”(The Merchant of Venice,Act 2, Scene 9). Here Shakespeare actually emphasizes that one must risk or give everything he has in order to attain his goal. Thus, when Arragon opens the casket, he finds a picture of a fool. It showcases how his intentions or desires are not as clear and clever as initially thought. The Prince of Arragon is a prince of Spain and a suitor to Portia. At the superficial level, it can be observed that Arragon disdains all that is common. As compared with the Prince of Morocco, Arragon is not just blindly confident about himself. He also does not have the same “skin color” problem. The Prince of Morocco is quite sensitive about his ethnicity. It is also the major reason why he wears everything in white color. However, apparently, both Arragon and the Prince of Morocco are not the ideal type of Portia. In the contest for Portia’s hand, Shakespeare actually wants to deliver Christian teachings and values to target audiences. For instance, a desire is an unreliable thing that should be resisted. In addition, Shakespeare also believes that human beings do not deserve God’s grace. As such, human beings have to be humble and cautious about their own desire. Sometimes appearances are deceiving. If people only make their judgement based on the appearances, they may receive very wrong signals and messages. Portia, who firmly has faith in Christianity values, is playing the trick of “the Three Caskets” in order to figure out the true intentions of potential spouses.
After reading the selected passage, one can assume that at the time described in The Merchant of Venice, girls from wealthy families could not choose their love on their own. Therefore, they had to use various tricks to find out the true intentions of men who want to become a spouse. From the “The Three Caskets” example, readers can infer that Portia is judging the moral values and characters of potential spouses through their choices of caskets. Like the aforementioned, Portia is actually finding the right person who share the same Christian common ground and values with her. It does mirror the unique culture of the late sixteenth and early seventh centuries. In the general introduction to the Norton Shakespeare, Stephen Green blatt writes, “He was not for an age, but for all time.” ( Stephen Greenblatt, et al, 2008, p1). The worship of Shakespeare does reflect about the common bond of mankind, the principle of hope, the symbol of the imagination’s power to transcend time-bound beliefs. Stephen Greenblatt, the first writer of the Norton Shakespeare, further writes, “if then you do not like him, surely you are in some manifest danger not to understand him”. It seems to be weird and easily misunderstood at first glance that a woman from a wealthier family background has to choose her spouse through different tricks. But one must understand that the culture at that time does have limitations or peculiar circumstances. Basically, Shakespeare prefers the Christian values of all the other beliefs. A man may be wealthy or powerful but he must learn about resisting desires before winning the heart of Portia.
Reference
From eBook: The Norton Shakespeare
Shakespeare, William, et al. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 1. WW Norton & Company Incorporated, 2008.
Shakespeare, William, et al. The Merchant of Venice. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 1. WW Norton & Company Incorporated, 2008.