Note On The Merchant of Venice

It is true that in any drama of Shakespeare there are more than one theme. Drama is the representation of life and no life in the human world can build up on a single theme and hence various themes are dealt with any good drama. Since Shakespeare observes life minutely, all his drama either tragedy or comedy contains a variety of themes.In The Merchant of Venice there are themes of various types. It therefore deals with a number of themes like love , friendship , revenge, justice, mercy, romance, radical relation and the like. In this comedy friendship is one of the themes upon which Shakespeare has laid great importance.

Friendship is the relation between man or man and woman. When friendship deepens it becomes love. But generally the intimate friendship between two young men may be categorised as love. IN the society , this intimate relationship is addressed or known as love .

In connection with mercy and generosity, The Merchant of Venice also explores love and friendship between its characters. The central romantic relationship of the play is that between Bassanio and Portia. Their marriage is paralleled by several others: the elopement of Shylock's daughter, Jessica, with the Christian, Lorenzo; and the marriage of Portia's servant, Nerissa, to Bassanio's companion, Gratiano. In addition, numerous critics have suggested that the strongest friendship in the play—between Antonio and Bassanio—also approaches romantic love. In addition, the play shows how strong the amicable ties are that connect all the various Venetian characters.

Given the generosity that they motivate between characters, love and friendship might seem to offer alternatives to the ugly emotions of prejudice, greed, and revenge on display in The Merchant of Venice. However, beginning with Bassanio's borrowing money from his friend Antonio in order to woo Portia, the play also demonstrates that the apparent purity of love and friendship can be tainted by selfish economic concerns. In addition, love and friendship are also at the mercy of the law, as seen in Portia's being subject to the terms of her father's riddle of the caskets.