The next cruel deception I am going to focus on is the elopement of Jessia and Lorenzo; a deception in this instant against Shylock. Lorenzo doesn't care about the consequences to Shylock as Shylock is a Jew and Lorenzo doesn't respect him because of this. He describes Shylock as "A faithless Jew". Jessia doesn't respect her father either and dislikes being a Jew. Jessica tells the audience how she is "ashamed to be my father's child" and makes the audience feel sorry for her by describing her unhappy home life "our house is hell…". Jessica is to be disguised as a torchbearer. She also steals some of her father's valuable possessions and money knowing this will cause him great pain on top of her running away. We hear about Shylock's reaction to the elopement in Act 2 Scene 8 when Salario and Salarino are making fun of him. "My daughter! Oh my duckets! Fled with a Christian, Oh my Christian duckets stolen by my daughter". Lorenzo and his friends deceived Shylock out of spite, as they disliked Shylock as a Jew, but also because they know that Shylock would not approve of the marriage and Jessica becoming a Christian.
The elopement deception is a major issue because, as a result of it, the intense anguish felt by Shylock leads him to seek revenge through Antonio and the "pound of flesh".
Another deception, this one not involving Shylock, is the deception by Lancelot of his father, Gobbo. "I will try confusions with him". Lancelot pretends not to be Gobbo's son. This is a cruel trick as Gobbo is nearly blind. It is a pointless, thoughtless deception. The scene in which this deception occurs is specifically designed to keep the audience in suspense as they are waiting to see if Morocco chooses the correct casket or not - something Shakespeare enjoyed doing. It is also a scene for the lower class people to enjoy who just paid a penny to stand and watch the play. You wouldn't need to be too intelligent to understand the deception and they would have found it very humorous, despite its cruelty. It is interesting that despite the relative unimportance of this scene it still contains deception as its main theme.
Portia deceives all of the men that come to choose a casket. To their faces she appears to like them but when they have gone she mocks them and says how she disliked them. She especially deceives the Prince of Morocco. To his face, Portia says she has no problems with his colour and even admires his looks "Yourself, renowned prince then stood as fair as any comer…" but once he chooses the wrong casket and leaves she says "Let all of his complexion chose me so". This is a racist comment; she wants all people of his race to choose the wrong casket. In the original group of suitors mentioned at the start of the play was, amongst others, a German whom Portia stereotyped. "When he is worst he is little better than a beast". In Shakespeare's time the suitors would have been recognized as national stereotypes. Although not clearly specified in the play, we are under the impression that Portia again is pleasant to the suitors' faces but mocks them behind their backs - a cruel and deliberate deception. Finally Portia deceives the Prince of Arragon too. In his presence she describes him as a "noble prince" but again this is only a deception as in his absence she comments on all the men who have visited as being "deliberate fools".
Bassanio, as one of the leading characters in the play, carries out two selfish deceptions in his own interest. Firstly, Bassanio deceives Portia into thinking he is rich. This is quite an important deception as it is linked directly to the main deception of the loan from Shylock. Bassanio needs money so he can borrow a ship and sail to Portia to ask if she will marry him. He also needs money to buy expensive gifts, again to deceive Portia. Bassanio brings "Gifts of rich value" and, although he is in debt, arrives as Portia's suitor as if a rich man. Secondly, Bassanio also deceives Portia because he doesn't love her but only wants to marry her for her money. Bassanio describes to his close friend Antonio his reason for marrying Portia: "to get clear of all the debts I owe". He describes Portia to Antonio: "Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued… Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth". Worth here implies being rich. It is not important to Bassanio that he knows little about Portia. The one thing that he does know is that she is wealthy and therefore marriage to her would solve his money problems. "In Belmont is a lady richly left". Bassanio is to borrow money on Antonio's credit and this brings about problems later in the play because Antonio cannot pay off the debt.
The final deception that I have classified as cruel is the deception of the rings by Portia and Nerissa. This is a particularly cruel deception as Portia and Nerissa are deceiving people they are supposed to love. They are not deceiving their enemies as in some of the past deceptions, but their husbands. After successfully saving Antonio from Shylock, Portia (still disguised) requests Bassanio's ring that she has given him as a token of loyalty, "And for your love I'll take this ring from you". When Bassanio claims he cannot part with the ring, Portia mocks him, "That excuse serves many men to save their gifts." After Portia has successfully taken the ring from Bassanio, Nerissa decides to try the same deception and gain her husband's ring. "I'll see if I can get my husband's ring". After this deception is successful, the women then try to take the deceit one step further. Portia denies her husband his marital rights until he produces the ring, "I will ne'er come in your bed until I see the ring". When she learns that Bassanio gave the lawyer the ring she says, "I'll not deny him anything I have, No, not my body nor my husband's bed".
Nerissa agrees with all of this and they then claim to have slept with the owners of the rings, "In lieu of this, last night did lie with me". Eventually the women admit to the deceptions but there is still a feeling that such deceit should not have been carried out as far as it was - this was not harmless fun but cruel trickery. Of course, Shakespeare's audience would be aware of the truth all the way through.
In the first of the kind, helpful deceptions, Portia and Nerissa dress up as a Doctor and Clerk to try and save Antonio from Shylock's bond. Thus they deceive the court in an attempt to save Antonio. Portia asks that Shylock be merciful, "The quality of mercy is not strained". When, Shylock refuses, Portia increases both her deception and the tension by firstly giving judgement in Shylock's favour, "The court awards it and the law doth give it". But, at the last minute saves Antonio by revealing a flaw in the bond". Tarry a little, this bond doth give these here no jot of blood". Antonio is saved at the last minute but it seems that Portia knew this all along and therefore she is deceiving Antonio just as much as Shylock and whipping up emotions in both characters. Therefore, this kind deception, has a twist in its tail - Portia drags out the court scene and does not put Antonio out of his misery for some time.
The caskets are an important theme in the Merchant of Venice and even they hold deceit for characters in the play. The caskets were left by Portia's father before he died to supposedly ensure that Portia found the perfect match and a husband her father would approve of. In this sense, the caskets may be described as a kind deception, although it may have been kinder to Portia to allow her to choose her own husband. Portia is very wealthy and the caskets set out to try and deceive those who might just be marrying her for her money or appearance. The gold casket claims, "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire". In this case, it is not so much the words that deceive but the colour of the casket. If you just go by outward appearances and choose the best out of gold, silver and bronze then gold would be the one chosen, thus showing the person who chose the gold box judged only on outward appearances. The famous words within the gold box read "All that glistens is not gold", justifying why the person will not win Portia's hand. The Prince of Morocco should have chosen Portia because he loved her, for her personality and not because others desired her or for her appearance. The silver box similarly claims "Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves". Inside is a portrait of an idiot; showing what Arragon deserved for choosing the silver box. "Did I deserve no more than a fool's head?" is his cry when he found out he was not to win Portia's hand. The final, base lead box stands in contrast to the richness and splendour of the other two and is chosen by Bassanio, who fears the other two caskets' fine appearances might be misleading. He considers false appearances in law, religion, war and beauty and decides the lead box is his best hope, "How many cowards…wear upon their chins the beards of Hercules".
"So may the outward shows be least themselves", is said by Bassanio as he is deciding which casket to chose and suggests that evil may be concealed beneath a mask of good.
In conclusion, deception is an important theme throughout the play because each character becomes linked to another through the roll of deception and thus the plot is able to unfold. For example, the deception of the caskets links Portia, as Bassanio's wife, to Antonio his friend and thus the court deception. Shylock seeks revenge through Antonio because of his daughter and Lorenzo's deceit when they elope. Deception and intrigue were very common in Shakespeare's times. He writes about deception as it is what he saw around him and also because it holds his audience's attention especially when the audience know a character in the play is deceiving another but the other character is not aware of this. Therefore, through deception Shakespeare brings his audience into the play itself and maintains their interest. They would have greatly appreciated being involved in the deceits and lies and would have been familiar, from life around them, with the concept of deception and enjoyed it.
The line "All that glistens is not gold" has survived over 400 years and is used today to warn that outward appearances may mask what is on the inside and this is the message of Shakespeare's play. Whether Shakespeare was using deception to put across such a message or just to entertain his audience or both, the use of deception gives the play an intriguing plot, with heroes and villains and a theme which his Elizabethan audience could easily relate to.