Merchant Of Venice Essay
In this essay, I will be studying Act 1 Scene 1 and also Act 1 Scene 3 of Merchant Of Venice. From these scenes, I will be looking closely at the presentation of two main characters in the play, Antonio and Shylock. Also, I will be looking in detail at the way the two characters interact with each other and the relationship between them.
In Act 1 Scene 1, Antonio is portrayed as a really friendly character. At the start of the scene he is unhappy, we can see this from where he says to a friend “I know not why I am sad” which is just saying that he is feeling quite sad but there isn’t a particular reason behind it. He feels quite silly because of his sadness, I can see this from where he mention “and such a want-wit (idiot) sadness makes of me”. This shows us that Antonio is usually a very upbeat and solemn person because he feels embarrassed of his depression. We can see that Antonio is a keen businessman from where he says “my merchandise makes me not sad” answering a question from one of his friends, telling them that it isn’t his business which is troubling him. When Solanio asks Antonio if he is in love, he bluntly replies with “fie fie” meaning nonsense. This response suggests to me that Antonio is too busy with his business to be distracted by love. That shows me another large aspect of his personality which is that he is greatly devoted. He is also a very polite man, I can see this from where he says “your worth is very dear in my regard” which means you are good friends of mine. We can clearly see that Antonio is a very generous man as he agrees to take out a loan so that he can lend his friend Basannio three thousand ducats where it says “inquire, and so will I, where money is and I no question make.” which means that if Basannio fins a money lender then Antonio will make a bond on his behalf with no second thoughts.
