The merchant of Venice

¶ … Merchant of Venice

In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the playwright uses certain symbolic items to illustrate points about human characteristics. Shakespeare's plays are usually full of symbols which feature in to the major themes of the piece. In The Merchant of Venice, much of the plot consists of the desire for wealth and riches and the things that people are willing to do to acquire more. To mirror this them, the most important symbols of the play are those that have to deal with wealthy and riches, such as Portia's ring, Shylock's gold, and the pound of flesh that is to be taken in lieu of money. The Oxford English Dictionary defines casket as both a coffin and a small case or chest, used for jewels and other valuables. The caskets in The Merchant of Venice are jeweled boxes with treasure, although since they represent the failure of two or Portia's suitors, they also represent a kind of death. The casket scene in which Portia's suitors are asked to choose one of three boxes in order to determine if they are worthy of her hand are also indicative of the power of money in this play, but also serves to show that many things are actually much more valuable than money.

All the men of The Merchant of Venice, are concerned with wealth and material gain. The story begins when money is lent to a young man who wishes to travel to pursue the woman he loves. Having no money himself and no credit, he relies on the value of his friend to borrow money from the usurer Shylock. Their friendship is then equaled to money. Antonio uses his credit to give money to his friend, thereby leading to the later conflict and climax of the play. All interactions center on monetary exchange and the possibility of material gain. Even the romances of the story are forced to deal with the question of value and the equation of woman with the money she can bring into the union. In the casket scene, Portia's now-deceased father has set up a system to determine which man will marry his daughter. There are three tombs that the suitors may choose from; one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead. Two men of wealth and station come for Portia's hand and each, invariably, chooses the wrong casket. Each man chooses the casket that he finds most visually pleasing, equating the value of the woman with the value of the material that makes up the box.

In making the quest to win Portia, each suitor must forfeit something. If he chooses incorrectly, the man is forbidden to ever marry. His monetary fortune becomes tied to his matrimonial fortune. Besides the appearance of the caskets themselves, the suitors are given clues about the boxes. The gold casket reads: "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire. The silver reads: "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves. The third casket, made of lead, reads: "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all." In making the choice to come for Portia, each man has to forfeit something. The two failed suitors that the audience meets are incapable of separating these two types of fortune. Happiness in marriage can only be gotten with happiness with regard to monetary gain.

In the golden casket, Portia's father has included a skull and a note that reads: "All that glitters is not gold, / Often you have heard that told. / Many a man his life hath sold / But my outside to behold" (II.7). He has been misled by the belief that the shiniest and most extravagant material will give him what he desires. The note continues to read that gold has been used to bury the wealthy and surrounds their tombs, but few realize that the dead cannot enjoy the extravagance.

The second suitor chooses the silver casket and finds a note which reads: "Some there be that shadow's kiss; / Such have but a shadow's bliss. / There be fools alive, iwis / Silvered o'er and so was this" (II.9). He too was convinced that the prize of Portia's hand would be found in a material that is considered valuable. The note continues to say that the man who chose the silver box will always be thinking of wealth and gain and that is why he is unworthy of Portia; he would only see her as a means to more wealth.

The final casket is chosen by the hero Bassanio. This casket was made of lead. On the exterior it seems very plain and the material that it is made of is not worth very much money. This shows how little Bassanio cares for wealth in that he chose the most inauspicious of the three potential caskets. Inside the casket is a portrait of Portia and a note reading: "You that chose not by the view, / Chance as fair and choose as true! / Since this fortune falls to you, / Be content and seek no new" (III.2). Bassanio has chosen correctly and, in so doing, has gained Portia's hand in marriage as well as the fortune that comes along with this. The note asks the suitor to be contented with what he has earned and not to go seeking additional fortunes. It is evident that the father's intent in these machinations was to find a husband for his daughter who was not concerned with the attainment of wealth to the point that he would neglect her in order to gain.