In Act 1, Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice Bassanio finds himself in trouble: He is in debt up to his ears and he needs to escape his creditors. His plan is to ask the person whom he owes the most to lend him even more money for a new "get rich quick" scheme. As he explains to Antonio:
But my chief care
Is to come fairly off from the great debts
Wherein my time, something too prodigal,
Hath left me gaged. To you, Antonio,
I owe the most in money and in love,
And from your love I have a warranty
To unburden all my plots and purposes
How to get clear of all the debts I owe. . .
I owe you much, and, like a willful youth,
That which I owe is lost. But if you please
To shoot another arrow the self way
Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt,
As I will watch the aim, or to find both
Or bring your latter hazard back again,
And thankfully rest debtor for the first. (1.1.134-41;153-9)
Notice how Bassanio characters his relationship to Antonio. They have a bond of "money" and "love" and their interaction is both affectionate and financial. This interconnection of money and love further emerges when Bassanio revels his scheme to erase his debts: to marry Portia and her fortune.
Is Bassanio "in love" with Portia or is he just "using" her to pay his debts? Is he really a friend of Antonio or just his "gravy train"? Or is it more complicated? What is this play saying about the values of money and love? Are the two opposing values? Is one more important than the other? Does, as the saying goes, "love conquer all"?
Love and money: in The Merchant of Venice, these two commodities are incredibly interchangeable; indeed the characters who would seem to be the most concerned about love – Bassanio, Poria, Jessica, and Shylock, to name a few – are the ones who act most clearly off of financial impulses. Bassanio at a quick glance appears to be the ultimate lover, journeying out to his sweetheart’s island to overcome a challenge in order to winner. However, from even his first conversation with Antonio, his motives emerge as far more murky. When preparing to explain his scheme to Antonio, he notes that, “my chief care/is to come fairly off from the great debts” (I.1.134-5). Is the major purpose of his actions to win the affection of Portia? No, it is to make money. Indeed, it takes nearly forty more lines before he discusses Portia, “a lady richly left,/and she is fair, and, fairer that word,/of wondrous virtues” (168-70). Portia is very wealthy, he argues… oh, and she is pretty and virtuous too. Where exactly do Bassanio’s priorities lie in this effort? Love? He uses the word multiple times to describe his relationship with Antonio, but never in regard to Portia. While he may sweet-talk her in person, Bassanio’s self-declared love for Portia appears, in conversation with his friends, to be more of a desire for her money.
ReplyDeletePortia herself, however, also twists traditional ideals of love. A wealthy heiress, she sits alone in her mansion, watching as suitors come and go to win her hand. In many tales, a key component of the plot would be her difficult decision (until the arrival of the hero) of which man she loves, but not here. In Merchant, Portia has absolutely zero say in who she marries. As she laments, “I/may neither choose who I would nor refuse who I/dislike” (I.2.22-4). From her commentary on her suitors, though, the odds of Portia ever falling for any of them seems remarkably low. Indeed, this woman known for her virtue and tact lays out a rather scathing review of each and every one of her guests. The German Count? “I fear he will prove the/weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so/full of unmannerly sadness in his youth” (48-50). The French lord? “I know it is a sin to be a mocker,/but he!.../… he is every man in no man” (56-7, 60). The Moorish prince, after his defeat? “Let all of complexion choose me so” (II.8.87). Disrespectful, hypocritical, judgmental; Portia hardly acts like the noble woman she is made out to be. Are her longings for Bassanio those of love? Or simply a woman discontent with anyone else?
Comment Continued!
DeleteEven the Jessica and Lorenzo subplot, perhaps the play’s most naturally romantic, is tinged with an air of financial convenience. When the pair exchange letters before their elopement, Lorenzo notes that she discusses, “how I shall take her from her father’s house,/What gold and jewels she is furnished with” (II.4.34-5). Maybe our society has changed a great deal over the centuries, but romantic notes about economics have almost definitely never been mainstream expressions of affection. And when Lorenzo finally arrives to escape with her, one of Jessica’s first actions is to pass him a filled chest of her father’s money, soon gathering even more money before their departure. Is this a touching gesture? Yes. Is it necessary, to a degree, for their elopement? Fine. But to rob a massive sum of money from her father hardly seems like the ideal way for Jessica to act romantic. Even more troubling than her actions, though, is her father’s reaction. Shylock, upon realizing Jessica’s flight, seems to have little issue with her disappearance. What upsets him is the stolen money. According to Solanio, he exclaims,
“My daughter, O my ducats, O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats!
Justice, the law, my ducats, and my daughter,
A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,
Of double ducats, stol’n from me by my daughter,
And jewels – two stones, two rich and precious
Stones –
Stol’n by my daughter! Justice! Find the girl!
She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats”
(II.8.15-23)
Are these the cries of a doting, loving father? Absolutely not. They are the howls of a scornful businessman who has lost some of his most important possessions, namely his wealth. That his daughter herself is missing has little bearing on him. He even declares later, “I would my/daughter were dead at my foot and the jewels in her/ear” (III.1.87-9). In Merchant, no relationship, even those of blood, are completely free from economic influence. Love is inseparable from money, and there is no avoiding that truth.
So who is the character in the play who seems the most sincere in his/hers affection? Ironically, it is the “merchant” himself, the eternal businessman, Antonio. While his friends think constantly of money, hypothesizing that his sad mood comes from financial stress, Antonio seems to care little about his funds. When Bassanio asks him for more money, despite the fact that he has already squandered a sizable loan and pushes somewhat absurd logic as to how he will regain it, Antonio agrees to sponsor him with no hesitation. He declares, “My purse, my person, my extremest means/Lie all unlocked to your occasions” (I.1.145-6). This hardly sound like the thought process of a shrewd businessman, but more that of along the lines of an emotional friend. Antonio does indeed risk everything for Bassanio, agreeing to take a loan from Shylock, his bitter enemy. When the loan eventually falls through and Antonio is soon set to be executed, what is his reaction? “Pray God Bassanio come/To see me pay his debt, and then I care not” (III.3.38-9). Somehow, the most purely loving character in Merchant is the titular Merchant, a man esteemed by all for his business prowess. Shakespeare’s message is thus clear: money and love? There is no separating them.
Can love even exist in a world so full of money? I do believe that the two are opposites in many ways but in A Merchant of Venice Shakespeare seems to argue that one can initiate the other as Bassanio’s and Portia’s relationship shows (which I will analyze here).
ReplyDeleteLove is the expression of passion and “blood”, while money is the expression of thought and reason. When someone is in love, they are thrust into a haze of exciting new sensations and passion. When someone thinks of money, they are thinking of their sustenance, of what will buy their next meal. This seems to suggest that love and money are “two opposing values” as the prompt even ventures above, but it is Bassanio’s need of money that prompts him to pursue the lovely Portia. Only when his thoughts of money are quieted does Bassanio revel in the joys and passions of love.
When asking for the money, Bassiano talks almost entirely about his concerns for money. Much of the opening scene’s exchange between Bassiano and Antonio centers around his need of money. He even admits,
“but my chief care/
Is to come fairly off from the great debts/
Wherein my time, something too prodigal,/
Hath left me gaged”(1.i.134-137).
In expressing his love for Portia (who has met before the action of the play begins) in the entire scene, he only devotes a little more than 10 lines. During his description of her he, of course, does not fail to mention, “nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth” (1.i.174). Bassiano continues to divulge his scheme, “O my Antonio, had I but the means/ to hold a rival place with one of them/…I should questionless be fortunate! (1.i.180-3). Bassiano’s chief care here is that of money, not of Portia. Even when he reaches Belmont, he refuses to put off choosing a chest as Portia insists. He admits, “for as I am, I live upon the rack [live in torture]” (3.ii.24). This “rack” is certainly a mental barrier that inhibits his passions. In other words, Bassanio wants to subdue these thoughts of money by ripping off the Band-Aid and just choosing already.
After Bassanio has in fact chosen the correct lead chest, he proceeds to say,
“Only my blood speaks to you [Portia] in my veins,/
and there is such confusion in my powers/
as after some oration fairly spoke…/
where every something being blent together/
turns to a wild of nothing, save of joy/
expressed and not expressed” (3.ii.180-87).
At this moment, we see the love that Bassiano has been keeping at bay during the time when money was at the forefront of his mind. These lines suggest that the confusion and passions of love are finally blurring the lines of his thought. He cannot think clearly any longer. He only feels joy in this blur of love.
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