Critical Analysis of Merchant of Venice

Merchant of Venice

Introduction

The play that has been chosen for the critique and analysis of the characters, story structure, climax and the discussion of themes for direction is the “Merchant of Venice”. The play is all time favorite in the world of theatre and has been played several times by different theatre artists however the movie on Merchant of Venice was directed in the year 2004.

Description of Antonio's Character

The three characters that have been chosen for the discussion are Antonio, Bassanio and Portia. The first character that is discussed and described about is that of Antonio who occupies central position in the play belonging to the age group of late twenties and early thirties. As the story “Merchant of Venice” was written by Shakespeare in the year 1596-97, the appearance of the Antonio has been described as the Merchant wearing the robes of Merchant (Kaplan, 2002).

The personality traits of Antonio, “Merchant of Venice” as underlined by Shakespeare in the story includes that he was an honest man and a sincere friend who pounded the piece of flesh as a collateral for the loan. The role of Antonio is very important in the story as the whole story revolves around him and his business ships that he vouched to Shylock for his dear friend Bassanio. In the movie, the role of Antonio has been played by Jeremy Irons. He acted uniquely in the movie and fulfilled the requirements of the role appropriately (Shapiro, 1996).

Description of Bassanio's Character

The second character that has been discussed in the paper is that of Bassanio. The role of Bassanio is very important in the “Merchant of Venice” as he has connection with all the characters in the story. The age of Bassanio is similar to that of Antonio the “Merchant of Venice” that is between late twenties and early thirties. In the story, the occupation of Bassanio has not been particularly outlined by the writer however he has been mentioned as the suitor of Portia. His appearance is also similar to that of the merchants of that time in Italy wearing black and white robes of sailors. The personality traits of Bassanio as outlined in the story are that of a lover of Portia and a sincere friend who gave away his lover's ring for paying back the borrowed money and saving Antonio's life (Mahon & Macleod, 2002).

The role of Bassanio is crucial one in the story as his act of borrowing money from Shylock give rise to other important events in the story. The important arc that can be observed with respect to the role of Bassanio is that of borrowing money from Shylock for the love of his life. However another important arc in the story with regard to his role is that of the moment when he heard about Antonio arrested on the request of Shylock for being default on the amount. In the movie, the role of Bassanio has been played by Joseph Fiennes that acted well ...