The Merchant of Venice Study Notes

Act One

Scenes 1 and 2

• Characters Introduced: Antonio, Bassanio, Portia, Nerissa
• Plot Points:
  • Antonio, a wealthy merchant, is sad but can't explain why.
  • Bassanio asks Antonio for money to court Portia, a noblewoman.
  • Portia's late father set up a casket test for her suitors.
  • Themes introduced: money vs. love, and father-child relationships.

Key Quotes:

• Antonio: "Forsooth, I know not why I am so sad."
• Bassanio to Antonio: "To you, Antonio, I owe the most in money and in love."
• Portia: "So is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father."

Scene 3

• Characters Introduced: Shylock (antagonist)
• Plot Points:
  • Bassanio and Shylock discuss a loan for 3,000 ducats.
  • Shylock reveals hatred for Antonio.
  • The "pound of flesh" bond is introduced.
  • Theme: appearance vs. reality.

Key Quotes:

• Shylock's need for revenge: "If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him."
• Bassanio about Shylock: "I like not fair terms and a villain's mind."

Act Two

Scenes 1-5

• Plot Points:
  • Prince of Morocco attempts the casket test.
  • Jessica, Shylock's daughter, plans to elope with Lorenzo.
  • Comic relief through Lancelot and Old Gobbo.
  • Theme: appearance vs. reality.

Key Quotes:

• Morocco's future: "If you choose wrong, never to speak to lady afterward in way of marriage."
• Jessica: "Though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not to his manners."

Scenes 6-9

• Plot Points:
  • Jessica elopes with Lorenzo, disguised as a boy.
  • Casket test results for Morocco and Arragon.
  • Shylock's anger over Jessica's elopement.
  • Themes of money and parental love/duty.

Key Quotes:

• Jessica on love: "Love is blind and lovers cannot see."
• Shylock on money and love: "Oh my daughter! O my ducats!"

Act Three

Scenes 1-5

• Plot Points:
  • Rumors of Antonio's shipwreck confirmed.
  • Shylock refuses mercy for Antonio.
  • Bassanio wins Portia's hand through the casket test.
  • Portia and Nerissa leave for Venice in disguise.

Key Quotes:

• Shylock: "Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?"
• Portia to Bassanio: "Myself, and what is mine, to you and yours."

Act Four

Scenes 1 and 2

• Plot Points:
  • Dramatic trial scene where Shylock demands his bond.
  • Portia (as lawyer) argues for mercy, then outsmarts Shylock.
  • Shylock forced to convert and leave estate to Jessica and Lorenzo.
  • Ring subplot initiated.

Key Quotes:

• Portia: "The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven."
• Bassanio on Antonio: "Life itself, my wife, and all the world, are not with me esteemed above thy life."

Act Five

Scene 1

• Plot Points:
  • Resolution of the ring subplot.
  • News of Antonio's ships and Shylock's estate.
  • Themes of love, money, appearance vs. reality revisited.

Key Quotes:

• Jessica's elopement: "In such a night did Jessica steal from a wealthy Jew and with an unthrift love did run from Venice."
• Portia to Gratiano: "You give your wife too unkind a cause of grief; and 'twere to me, I should be mad at it."

This summary provides an overview of key plot points, themes, and quotes for each scene, enabling a comprehensive understanding and analysis of "The Merchant of Venice."