Shakespeare successfully combines elements of comedy, irony, sadness, horror and justice in

The Merchant of Venice

The play centres on two main characters, Antonio, an extremely wealthy merchant and Shylock, a very wealthy Jew. In Venice, a person's word was their bond. A promise made by word of mouth was the same as having an agreement in writing; they had to keep their word or pay the consequences.

Shylock is a usurer, a person who lends sums of money to others, charging vast amounts of interest. However, Antonio also lends amounts of money, but minus the interest. This is one of the main reasons why Shylock hates Antonio, as Antonio is supposedly causing Shylock's profits to drop. Shylock also hates Antonio for the differences in their lifestyles and religions.

Shylock has agreed to lend a sum of money to Antonio. As part of the agreement, Shylock insists that if his money is not returned within a designated period of time, with the added interest, he would be entitled to cut exactly one pound of flesh from Antonio's body.

It is this bond between Shylock and Antonio that results in the court scene in Act 4 Scene 1, the dramatic climax of the play. Although it is not the final scene, it is the finale of "The Merchant of Venice", where all the perplexing sub-plots and main storyline are pulled together to create an explosive ending.

One of the reasons Act 4 Scene 1 is so dramatically effective is due to the tension created between Shylock and Antonio. At the very beginning of the scene, a slight sense of injustice is induced due to the fact that Antonio is seated and Shylock is standing before the Duke. In a Venetian court of justice, the accused is standing with the accuser seated, not the reverse. This gives the impression that Shylock is the one on trail when in fact it is Antonio, who is resigned to his seemingly inevitable fate "To suffer with a quietness of spirit" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 12).

Strong emotive language is used to emphasize this point "Poor merchant's flesh" (Act4, Scene 1, Line 23) to remind the jury that Antonio has suffered enough, but as well as the stress caused from the trail, Antonio's greatest source of wealth, his argosies, sank earlier on in the plot, causing him a great deal of anxiety and losing hi substantial amount of money. These reasons make the audiences sympathies lie with Antonio, even though Shylock is the defendant.

Throughout the play, Shylock is perceived as inhuman and malevolent. However the powerful and amative speech "Hath a Jew not eyes… if ...

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Throughout the play, Shylock is perceived as inhuman and malevolent. However the powerful and amative speech "Hath a Jew not eyes… if you prick us do we not bleed"(act 3, Scene 1, Lines 50-51) stresses the common core of humanity that lies beneath the exterior of Shylock's complex character. A note of hypocrisy occurs here; a mere seventeen lines after the plea, he is ranting and raving over the theft of his money by his only daughter, Jessica. Shylock doesn’t like his daughter because she has betrayed him twice by running off wit Gentile. With very strong language, Shylock wishes that Jessica "Were dead at my foot" (act 3, Scene 1, Line 50). This wish for his daughter's death revokes much of the sympathy created by the former plea for the recognition of his humanity. Shakespeare yet again paints a picture of a malignant, murderous Jew who, in this instance is willing to kill his only daughter for the sake of a few ducats. This greed for money is recognized by this repetition of his demands for his bond to be followed and the constant reminder of how much he has lent Antonio – three thousand ducats. This gives the reader a powerful impression of whom and what the character of Shylock is as a person. With these thoughts in the audience's heads, it is easy to see why Shylock is doomed from the start of the trail even before it has begun. "The Merchant of Venice" is a comedy, so the audience knows that the play is set to include a harmonious ending. Common sense allows the audience to guess that Shylock will lose the trail. Dramatic tension is induced when Portia, disguised as a young man, cross-examines Shylock in court. Lulling him into a false sense of security, she allows him to believe she is on his side. Shylock is absolutely determined to have his bond and to have his pound of "carrion" flesh.

Before Portia presents her argument, Bassanio asks Shylock "Why does thou whet thy knife so earnestly?" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 121) And Shylock replies "To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 122). Shylock is actually sharpening his knife in preparation to murder Antonio. His serious tone brings forth images of grotesqueness, yet the crowds in the court are expecting to see blood, and this horrific suggestion by Shylock is possibly met wit approval by the crowd. Images of blood and horror are continued when Gratiano portrays images of wolves "Governed a wolf…bloody, starved and ravenous" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 134-8). This causes dramatic thoughts and images to be conjured in the minds of the audience, images of a bloodthirsty monster that will stop at nothing short of a murder.

When Portia enters the courtroom, she asks "Which is the Jew and which is the merchant?" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 170), perhaps she is trying to create a sense of justice by not wanting to show any favourites, but on an Elizabethan stage set, she would immediately recognize the Jew from this distinctive dress.

Portia's opening speech begins with "The quality of mercy is not strained" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 180), and she is trying to explain that mercy cannot be forced; a person can't be compelled to show mercy if they are not merciful. This statement is obviously aimed at Shylock as he has jus proclaimed "On what compulsion must I?" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 179), the reason for saying this is to show that he has no mercy whatsoever. This is an extremely powerful speech, full of references to Christianity and God. Portia, in effect, personifies mercy as being like the qualities of a king. In Elizabethan times, it was believed that God chose all kings.

Portia creates the impression she is agreeing with Shylock and his merciless bond "You must prepare your bosom for his knife" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 241). Shylock is ecstatic that Portia is on his side, he obviously admires her judgment, calling her, "o excellent young man!" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 242).

The audience's appetite for blood is whetted and it seems almost certain they are going to see it until Portia makes an important discovery. By now, the audience will be on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what is going to happen. In the bond, not one drop of Christian blood may be spilt. Of course this would be an impossible task to perform and it is here that the dramatic turning point of the play occurs. Constant references to the weight of the flesh provokes images of scales and measuring units and this picture of scales ties in with the reoccurring theme of justice and how it is unfairly balanced between the two religions.

The relationship between Bassanio and Antonio comes to the forefront in this section. Antonio can literally be seen as the lover of Bassanio, willing to die for him and to forgive him for it, this creates the conflict between Portia and Antonio, a conflict she is willing to test by demanding that Bassanio gave her his ring. The fact that Antonio does part with his ring for Antonio's sake, as does Gratiano, implies that Bassanio chooses Antonio over Portia. This is of course unacceptable, as is seen in the next act where Portia severally chastises Bassanio for loving a man more than he loves her.

Portia not only frees Antonio at this point but also convicts Shylock of attempted murder. Shylock cannot go through with the bond and is forced to give up his fortune and to convert from Jewry to Christianity. The theme of justice is also continued but perhaps now it is injustice. Shylock is being forced to convert his religion. For Shylock, this is the worst possible thing he could be made to do and it is the end of his world as he is proud to be a Jew. Earlier on in the court scene, Shylock exposed the hypocrisy of the Christian religion by questioning the business of Christians having slaves. In effect, the hypocrisy has been allowed to reappear in the fact that the Duke and Antonio are forcing Shylock to "presently become a Christian" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 383). Shylock is now a totally beaten and resigned man, and is broke as Jessica stole his ducats and Antonio does not have to pay him back, far cry from his confident and vengeful image and with his exit from the courtroom. Harmony begins to disappear into the play as the scene draws to a close.

Shakespeare successfully combines elements of comedy, irony, sadness, horror and justice in "The Merchant of Venice" to produce a play full of dry humour and thought provoking storylines. Many aspects of the plot such as the discrimination of Jews are regretfully still in place in today's society. Throughout the play there was also the reoccurring image of the scapegoat. Both men fit this description, with Shylock clearly the social outcast, driven out of society and Antonio represents the goat about to be sacrificed.

Manmeet Singh Marwaha