The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is another one of Shakespeare's comedies. And like the others its not a comedy as we would see it. It is a comedy because of the ending and because of the marriages that take place. Other than that I didn't know much about The Merchant of Venice. It was written in 1594 a little after an outpouring of anti-semetic outrage that was triggered by the case of Roderigo Lopez, a Jew who attempted to murder Queen Elizabeth. This play raised many controversies such as it is anti-Semetic, does it criticize anti-Semetism or does it just represent anti-Semetrism without endorsing it or condeming it. Another controversy was the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio. Where they just great friends or was there a little more happening behind closed doors?
Being the good friend that Antonio is, he tells Bassanio he will lend Bassanio the money he needs to go and win the heart of the heiress Portia. But with Antonio's money tied up right now in his ships he does not have the cash on hand so he tells Bassanio to go and see who will lend him credit. They find Shylock, a Jew, who will lend them the 3,000 ducats with the promise from Antonio if it is not paid back to him that he will take a pound of flesh from his body. Bassanio leaves to win the affections of Portia and leaves Antonio to worry about his ships. As time goes by, Shylock comes to find that one of Antonio's ships had been wrecked and that there would be no way for him to pay him back so he takes it to the court to receive justice. Meanwhile Bassanio had become Portia's husband and receives a letter from Antonio that he will be killed because he was unable to pay the bond to Shylock and he has decided to take the pound of flesh from his heart. With the help of Portia, who gladly gives 6,000 ducats to Bassanio to take to Antonio to save her husband's best friend. While Bassanio is with Antonio, Portia dresses up as a young judge that saves Antonio from death.
I really liked The Merchant of Venice. It was a fairly easy play to follow and had a happy ending for the most part. Bassanio gets the girl, Antonio lives on, Good triumphs over Evil. I found the ending a bit sad too. Shylock in the end loses everything, his daughter ran off and married a Christian, his lifesavings and assets now belong to the city of Venice, and the court took his religion away from him, making him convert to Christianity or die.