The Merchant of Venice Chapter 1 Recap & Chapter 2 Intro

The Characters  Antonio – the merchant of Venice; early 30s  Bassanio – Antonio's best friend, in love with Portia; early 30s  Gratiano, Solanio, Salarino, Salerio – friends of Antonio and Bassanio  Lorenzo – friend of Antonio and Bassanio, in love with Jessica  Portia – a heiress forced into marriage by her late father; late 20s  Nerissa – Portia's maid and friend; late 20s  Shylock – a rich Jew, moneylender, father of Jessica; in his 60s  Tubal – Shylock's friend  Jessica – daughter of Shylock, in love with Lorenzo  Lancelot Gobbo – a clown, in the service of Shylock  Old Gobbo – father of Lancelot  Leonardo – servant to Bassanio  Prince of Morocco, Prince of Aragon – suitors to Portia

Who Have We Met So Far? Act 1, scene 1:  Antonio  Salerio  Solanio  Bassanio  Grantiono

Who Have We Met So Far? Act 1, scene 2:  Portia  Nerissa

Who Have We Met So Far? Act 1, scene 3:  Shylock  Bassanio  Antonio

Act 1, scene 1 Setting: Venice The Plot:  Antonio is sad but does not know why.  Solario and Selanio try to cheer him up.  Bassanio comes and asks for money so that he can go to Belmont to court the rich heiress, Portia.  Antonio’s money is tied up in his ships.  He sends Bassanio to find someone to give him the loan in Antonio’s name because Bassanio’s credit is very bad.

Act 1, scene 2 Setting : Belmont The Plot:  We meet Portia and Nerissa in Belmont. Very far from Venice.  Portia’s dad, through his will, is making her get married.  Who is worthy of being her husband is decided by having each potential suitor choose a casket. The one who chooses the right casket gets to marry Portia and gets her money.  Portia isn’t thrilled about the situation, but follows her father’s wishes  Portia does not like any of the suitors so far and she talks negatively about each of them to Nerissa.  Portia and Nerissa remember Bassanio and think he would be a worthy husband.  Portia is informed that these suitors are leaving because they don’t want to risk choosing the wrong casket.  Prince of Morocco is coming to court Portia.

Act 1, scene 3 Setting: Venice The Plot:  Bassanio has found Shylock, a Jewish usurer, to give him a loan in Antonio’s name.  Antonio and Shylock do not get along: Antonio has kicked him, spat on him, and called him a dog.  Shylock creates a bond that says Antonio can borrow 3000 ducats without paying interest.  However, if the debt is not paid in 3 months, Shylock can take a pound of flesh from Antonio.  Antonio agrees to the bond because his ships will be back in 2 months, a month before the bond is due.

Key Terms  Usury : the practice of lending money and charging a lot of interest for it.  Interest: A charge for the use of credit or borrowed money. Such a charge is expressed as a percentage per time unit of the sum borrowed or used.

What does this mean to Merchant? Catholic people were not allowed to practice usury. Jewish people were allowed to practice usury as long as the borrower wasn’t also Jewish. At the time of the play, Jewish usurers had a lot of control over the money lending business. This is how Shylock makes his money. This is also why, along with religious differences, Antonio does not like Shylock.

Act 2 Introduction  The Prince of Morocco arrives and attempts to win over Portia  Launcelot, a clown, wants to leave his master, Shylock to serve Bassanio.  Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, says goodbye to Launcelot. She also wants to leave Shylock’s home.  Jessica has a plan to leave with Lorenzo.

New Characters!  Prince of Morocco – suitor to Portia  Lancelot Gobbo – a clown, in the service of Shylock  Old Gobbo – father of Lancelot Gobbo  Jessica – daughter of Shylock, in love with Lorenzo  Lorenzo – friend of Antonio and Bassanio, in love with Jessica