Secondly, the Merchant of Venice consists of two different stories. The bond story and the casket story. The bond story is a dramatic story about hatred and prejudice and features intense hatred between Christians and Jews. In this case Shylock who is a Jew, hates Antonio who is a Christian and he has his reasons,
‘I hate him for he is a Christian; but more, for that in low simplicity he lends out money gratis, and brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice.’ (Act 1 Scene 3 Line 37-40.)
In contrast the casket story is romantic and is very like a fairy story.
There is a prince (Bassanio) and princess (Portia) and they end up marrying each other. Also, Shylocks daughter, Jessica, runs away from him to marry a Christian man named Lorenzo which also shows us that the casket story is like a fairy story.
Thirdly, the society of Venice is entirely different from the society of Belmont. This may be because Venice is the centre of trading which means that the society is use to earning their money by starting a business in trading. It also is very busy and full of young merchants like Antonio. In contrast, the society in Belmont is very wealthy. However, unlike the society of Venice, the wealth is inherited. We can see this in Portia and the money she inherited from her father. Furthermore, the society of Belmont is relaxed and the people are probably peaceful. On the other hand, the society in Venice is more cautious and less relaxed especially because of the fact that the Jews and Christians hate each other yet business wise they are both interdependent. We can understand this when Antonio has to borrow money from Shylock.
Fourthly, because the societies of Venice and Belmont are so diverse, the main characters from Venice and Belmont are also divergent. Take for example, Portia and Bassanio. Portia lives a life of luxury yet she is prepared to give all her money to Bassanio. ‘Myself, and what is mine, to you and yours is now converted.’ (Act 3 Scene 2 Line 166-167). On the other hand Bassanio is quite greedy as he spent all his money and then borrowed money from his good friend Antonio. Also, it could be that Bassanio married Portia for her money. However, this cannot be proved.
We can also compare Portia to Shylock. For example Portia as we know is generous with her money. This is because she told Bassanio to pay Shylock so that he wouldn’t take a pound of flesh from Antonio which would literally kill him. She also saved Antonio’s life by dressing up as a lawyer. On the other hand Shylock is very possessive with his money. This is because when he was leaving Jessica in charge of his house he was worried about his money as the following quote shows.
‘Hear you me, Jessica, lock up my doors, and when you hear the drum and the vile squealing of the wry-neck’d fife, clamber not you up to the casements then nor thrust your head into the public street to gaze on Christian fools with varnish’d faces; but stop my house’s ears – I mean my casements – let not the sound of shallow foppery enter my sober house.’ (Act 2 Scene 5 Line 27+)
In addition to this we can also compare the two characters Antonio and Shylock. Unlike Bassanio who is profligate, Antonio is a person who works hard to gain his money and is respected by the people he knows including Shylock, ‘Antonio is a good man.’ On the other hand, Shylock hates Antonio for several reasons. He hates him because he is a Christian, calls him names but above all he hates Antonio because he lowers interest rates as the following quote shows.
‘I hate him for he is Christian but more, for that in low simplicity he lends out money gratis, and brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice.’ (Act 1 Scene 3 Line 37-40.)
Although, Antonio and Shylock hate each other, business wise they are quite similar. This is because they are both successful merchants and earn there money and also are respected because of their skills
A characteristic that stands out about Antonio is that he is alone throughout the play unlike the rest of the characters. His friend Bassanio finds love and so do the rest of the main characters except for Antonio and Shylock. However, Shylock did have a daughter Jessica, which means that Shylock must have loved someone. Therefore, Antonio is the only character left that is isolated.
In conclusion, Venice and Belmont are two very different worlds with different societies and people. Overall, if you compare the characters of Belmont with the characters of Venice you will find that they are not very similar probably because they were brought up in different societies. Furthermore, the two central characters Antonio are both left unsatisfied. This is because in the end Antonio didn’t find anyone to love and marry and Shylock didn’t get his revenge on Antonio. The main reason why Antonio can’t find love is probably because he is too busy in his trading and business. On the other hand Shylock can’t be part of Venetian society because he is a Jew so they are both similar from this perspective.
