The Merchant of Venice - Characters - CCEA

• The characters in The Merchant of Venice are divided into Christian and Jewish characters. There is a focus on the antisemitic attitudes and behaviours of some of the Christian characters.
• The main characters in The Merchant of Venice are: Shylock, Antonio, Bassanio and Portia.
• The secondary characters are: Nerissa, Gratiano, Jessica, Salerio and Solanio.

When writing about character in the exam, it is important to back your views up with evidence from the text.

The way in which a character speaks and behaves will provide clues.

Shylock is a Jewish moneylender living in Venice at a time when Jews were restricted by law in what jobs they could do and were often persecuted in wider society. He is wealthy and successful from lending money with interest charged, which was considered immoral by many and thought to be against the rules of Christianity. His wife is dead and he has a daughter, Jessica.

He lends money to Antonio on the condition that he can cut off a piece of Antonio’s flesh if he fails to pay him back on time. Shylock’s hatred of Antonio means he is determined to have the piece of flesh above any monetary reward, and even puts Antonio on trial to get what he is entitled to.

By the end of the play, Shylock is ordered to give away half his fortune and convert to Christianity.

Question

Antonio is the title character of the play – a wealthy and successful merchant who is generally liked and respected in Venice.

He makes an unusual deal with Shylock, allowing Shylock to cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh if he is unable to repay the money he borrowed. He is put on trial for failure to pay Shylock’s debt but is dramatically saved at the last moment.

He is a complex character whose kindness towards his Christian friends is in sharp contrast to his antisemitic hatred of Shylock. It isn’t made clear in the play, but many people interpret his strong devotion to his friend Bassanio as romantic love and suggest he is melancholy at the start of the play because he knows Bassanio may soon marry someone else.

Although Antonio is the title character of the play, he is not an active participant in the events of the story. He is passive – much depends on the outcome of the bargain he makes with Shylock, but the main parts of the plot centre around the romance between Bassanio and Portia and the tragic downfall of Shylock.

Portia is an heiress (a lady made rich by inheriting a lot of money) who lives in Belmont. Like all women, she is restricted by the patriarchal society of Venice and cannot speak freely or choose a husband of her own. Despite this, she shows she is as intelligent and capable as any of the male characters.

She loves Bassanio and eventually marries him. It is Portia who saves Antonio at his trial by successfully disguising herself as a male lawyer and arguing his case.

Bassanio is the romantic lead of The Merchant of Venice. He is from a noble family but has wasted most of his own money in his youth; he borrows enough money to allow him to visit Portia in Belmont in the hope he can marry her. He solves the riddle of the caskets successfully, meaning he can marry Portia, and he rushes to help Antonio when he learns that he is on trial.

Bassanio is another complex character in the play. His good qualities of loyalty and intelligence are balanced with his selfishness and lack of responsibility.

However, by the end of the play, Bassanio has expressed deep regret for the trouble he has caused Antonio and appears to be a loving and kind husband to Portia. This shows he is capable of change and has grown as a character.

Nerissa is Portia’s waiting woman. Portia confides in Nerissa about her feelings and mocks unacceptable suitors with her. Nerissa disguises herself as the lawyer’s clerk in the courtroom scene to help Portia.

A friend to Antonio and Bassanio. He becomes romantically involved with Nerissa. He is an energetic and witty character with a rude sense of humour and contributes to some of the comedic elements of the play.

Jessica is the daughter of Shylock, who disowns him and runs away with Lorenzo, a young Christian man. Jessica’s conversion to Christianity is humiliating to Shylock. Shylock is also worried about the money that Jessica steals from him when she runs away.

Two of Antonio’s friends who often discuss events that have happened offstage – such as the loss of Antonio’s ships or Shylock’s reaction to the disappearance of Jessica. Shylock delivers his speech about the mistreatment of Jewish people to Salerio and Solanio.

In some versions of the text, Salerio is known as Salarino, though his character remains the same.

Staging during Shakespeare's time – audiences would talk about going to “hear a play” rather than “watch a play”.

Staging and costume were usually quite simple. Salerio and Solanio’s explanations and descriptions of off-stage action would therefore not be unusual.

Lorenzo – a Christian friend of Antonio, with whom Jessica elopes. They seem to end the play happily married, but the mythical and historically famous lovers to whom they compare themselves all had relationships that ended in tragedy – perhaps a hint of bad things to come.

Launcelot Gobbo – a servant who leaves Shylock’s household to work for Bassanio instead. He is a ‘clown’ figure, or fool – a stereotype of a witty working-class character found in many Shakespeare plays.

Tubal – Shylock’s only friend in the play, a fellow Jew whom he trusts greatly and refers to as being from ‘his tribe’.

The Duke of Venice – the ruler of the city, who presides over Antonio’s trial. His city depends on trade and has to maintain its reputation for honest dealing; he tries to persuade Shylock to show mercy but cannot use his power to excuse Antonio of the debt in case this affects the image of Venice as a place that upholds its legal contracts.

Dr Bellario – Portia’s cousin, a respected lawyer in Padua. He never appears on stage but is important in providing her with the letter of introduction to allow her to pretend to be a lawyer herself.

The Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Aragon – two of the many suitors of Portia. Both are rich and important men, but both fail, nevertheless, to pick the correct casket to win her hand. They both condemn themselves to a life without marriage or heirs, since the terms of Portia’s father’s mean anyone who fails is not allowed to seek another marriage.