Why does Antonio treat Shylock as he does in Act 1, Scenes 1 and 3 of The Merchant of Venice?
Antonio does not mention much about Jews or Shylock in scene 1, so one cannot ascertain his opinion here. However, his prejudice against Shylock is pertinently obvious in scene 3. He clearly does not like Shylock mostly, it appears, for the fact that he deems him materialistic and greedy for money. When Shylock refers to Biblical scripture to justify the fact that he charges interest on money which he lends out, Antonio is quick to criticize and admonish him for daring to use scripture in this context. When Shylock relates the biblical story of Jacob profiting by taking possession of the offspring from Laban's sheep, Antonio tells him:
This was a venture, sir, that Jacob served for;
A thing not in his power to bring to pass,
But sway'd and fashion'd by the hand of heaven.
Was this inserted to make interest good?
Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams?
The implication is, therefore, clear. Antonio believes that one should not deliberately seek to profit from others. It is, however, acceptable if such a boon is provided through an act of nature (i.e. divine intervention). Shylock, on the other hand, seeks to deliberately profit by charging interest. Greater criticism lies in the fact that he deems Shylock to be deceitful, misleading and manipulative for he states:
Mark you this, Bassanio,
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
Further evidence of Antonio's antagonism lies in the fact that he does not apologize for the despicable manner in which he had treated Shylock on a variety of occasions. When the Jew tells him about his derisive treatment, Antonio declares:
I am as like to call thee so again,
To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too.
The question of whether Antonio's hostility is justified depends entirely on the context of one's approach. Christians and Jews have shared a hostility throughout history - since Christians believed that Jesus had been betrayed by the Jews when they refused to accept him as the Messiah and denounced him. Christ was crucified as a consequence. Furthermore, Christ was severely critical of usury and warned against its use during his lifetime. Christians, as followers, obviously adopted his teachings.
In this context then, one could argue that Antonio's disapproval is justified. From a Christian perspective which teaches that one should 'love thy neighbor as thyself,' though, it is difficult to understand Antonio's loathing. Furthermore, the fact that Antonio is prepared to, as he states, 'break a custom' smacks of hypocrisy.
Shylock, although I neither lend nor borrow
By taking nor by giving of excess,
Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend,
I'll break a custom. Is he yet possess'd
How much ye would?
In the final analysis, one has to conclude that the characterizations are the result of a brilliant author's rich imagination and serve a particular purpose - to create a story and create drama to enthrall and entertain a captive audience.
Why is Antonio certain he won't forfeit the bond in Act 1, Scene 3 of The Merchant of Venice?
In The Merchant of Venice, Antonio is a merchant who would never consider lending money to anyone and charging interest. He disapproves of the practices of money lenders and most specifically, Shylock. However, Antonio wants to help Bassanio secure a chance of having a future with Portia and cannot refuse him when he comes to Antonio after having squandered his own wealth - "disabled mine estate."(I.i.123) Antonio's own assets are tied up as his ships are "abroad." So Antonio has allowed Bassanio to seek out a loan - "try what my credit can in Venice do"(I.i.180) and hence, he now agrees to borrow from Shylock.
Antonio is very confident of his position as he will be able to realise his wealth very soon when his ships come in; in fact, his ships are expected at least a month before the "bond" will become due so he is more than happy to agree to Shylock's terms. Not only that but, Antonio is expecting a lot more than the value of the bond when his ships do arrive.
What were the details and reason for the bond between Antonio and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice?
In act 3, Bassanio negotiates with Shylock to borrow three thousand ducats for three months using Antonio's credit. Shylock is aware that Antonio's wealth is rather uncertain, because his ships are out at sea, but recognizes that Antonio is a sufficient man who will more than likely repay him. Shylock then requests to speak with Antonio, who enters the scene.
Once Antonio enters the scene, Shylock expresses his hatred and contempt for Antonio in an aside, and the audience discovers that Shylock and Antonio are bitter enemies. Before Shylock discusses the terms of the loan with Antonio, he reminds Antonio of the many instances he offended, embarrassed, and assaulted him in public and finds it rather ironic that Antonio would ask him for such a favor. Antonio responds to Shylock's hostile remarks by saying,
If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy friends, for when did friendship take
A breed for barren metal of his friend?
But lend it rather to thine enemy,
Who, if he break, thou mayst with better face
Exact the penalty. (1.3.138–144)
Shylock replies by granting Antonio a "kind" offer and proceeds to outline the terms of the loan. The terms of the loan state that Antonio must forfeit one pound of flesh, to be cut off of any part of his body, if he does not repay the full amount of the bond by the specific date. Antonio boldly agrees to the conditions of the loan, because he is confident that he will make nine times the amount of the contract before the three months is up. Antonio's hatred towards Shylock and confidence in his business ventures motivates him to sign the risky bond. Antonio views the contract as a direct challenge from his enemy and is determined to humiliate Shylock by repaying the full amount.
How was Shylock punished and how did Antonio demonstrate his generosity to him in The Merchant of Venice?
1. At the beginning of Act 4, Shylock believes that Venice's adherence to the letter of the law will help his case. He insists on Antonio's sentence being carried out exactly as the bond states. He will not accept substitute monetary payment, etc., because he wants Antonio's humiliation and life. However, Portia uses Shylock's stubbornness to her advantage. She reads over the bond and points out that it states that Antonio's payment is to be a pound of flesh. Since it is impossible to remove a pound of someone's flesh without also removing blood, Portia insists on the letter of the law and warns Shylock that he can proceed with his retrieval of payment but that he must not take anything other than a pound of flesh. If he does, then he will violate the law.
In addition to Shylock not getting his payment because of the law, he could have been put to death because he sought another's life, but his punishment is to convert to Christianity, put half of his fortune in a trust for Lorenzo and Jessica, and bequeath his entire fortune to his son-in-law upon his death.
2. Your second question does not have such an objective answer. When Shylock faces the death penalty and the loss of everything he owns at the end of Act 4, Antonio steps in and recommends the punishment above. By doing so, Shylock gets to keep some of his possessions, including his house, until his death. However, one could argue that this is a form of manipulation on Antonio's part. If he gets Shylock to convert to Christianity, then he doesn't have to worry about Shylock charging other people interest because Christians cannot practice usury. This benefits Antonio because it might make more people dependent upon him, and he gets to realize the business downfall and religious humiliation of his enemy. Moreover, Antonio suggests that half of Shylock's fortune be put in a trust under his (Antonio's) care to be eventually bestowed upon Lorenzo. Antonio knows that Shylock disdains Lorenzo as a Christian and as the man who stole his daughter and his jewels; so this is still a painful punishment for Shylock. One could argue that at least Antonio spares Shylock's life and makes it possible for him to live in his house until his death, but what kind of life would that be for such a man as Shylock?
In The Merchant of Venice, what is Shylock's motive for the bond with Antonio?
I assume that your question is asking why Shylock loans Antonio the money and why he makes this deal where the collateral will be a pound of Antonio's flesh. If so, the motive is Shylock's hatred for Antonio. Shylock is hoping that the ships will not come in and he will be able to hurt (and probably kill) Antonio.
As to why Shylock hates Antonio, that is less clear. Shylock himself says various things. He says that he hates Antonio because he is Christian. He says he hates Antonio for lending money without charging for it. He says he hates Antonio for no clear reason. All of these may be true. However, it seems likely that he hates Antonio because Antonio has treated him badly. This is the most likely reason for Shylock to hate Antonio. It is this hatred that causes him to set up the bond between Antonio and himself.
Why does Shylock show no mercy in The Merchant of Venice?
The answer would vary from reader to reader, apropos to historical period and religious and cultural sensibility (for example, the audience in Shakespeare's time would probably interpret Shylock's obstinacy to another cause than today's audience) but, on the most simple level, it is because Shylock is a member of an oppressed group. Even though he is a rich moneylender, he lives in a society controlled completely by Christians. And while Venice in the sixteenth century was somewhat more tolerant than other societies were toward Jews (and certainly more tolerant than 1930s Germany, for example, over three hundred years later in what was supposed to be a more enlightened time), the Venice of Shylock and Antonio tolerated rather than embraced members of Jewish faith and heritage. The truth is that Shylock is vengeful because all the people around him despise him. He is used for his moneylending (Jews were tolerated in Christian Europe because they, as non-Christians, were able to lend money at interest -- called "usury" by the Bible -- but for Christians like Antonio it was considered a sin to lend at interest like Shylock did -- see Act I) but he was spit upon and insulted by Christians. Even Antonio says that he is proud to insult a Jew; it was considered a good thing for a Christian to do. Shylock says:
[Shylock:] Signior Antonio, many a time and oft,(105)
In the Rialto you have rated me
About my moneys, and my usances:
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe:
You call me,—misbeliever, cut-throat dog,(110)
And spet upon my Jewish gaberdine, (I.iii)
and Antonio does not deny it. Antonio, and many others, see nothing wrong with persecuting a Jew. Effectively, the Christian society in which Shylock lives dehumanizes him. This finally gets to Shylock, and makes him act in the vindictive way he does. He makes no excuses for his cruelty (just as Antonio makes no excuses for his own cruelty):
[Shylock:] You'll ask me, why I rather choose to have
A weight of carrion flesh, than to receive
Three thousand ducats: I'll not answer that:
But, say, it is my humour. is it answer'd?
What, if my house be troubled with a rat(45)
And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats
To have it ban'd? What, are you answer'd yet?
Some men there are love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad if they behold a cat;
And others, when the bagpipe sings i' the nose,(50)
Cannot contain their urine: for affection,
Master of passion, sways it to the mood
Of what it likes, or loathes. Now, for your answer.
As there is no firm reason to be render'd,
Why he, cannot abide a gaping pig;(55)
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a woollen bagpipe,—but of force
Must yield to such inevitable shame,
As to offend himself, being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,(60)
More than a lodged hate, and a certain loathing,
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd? (IV.i)
Shakespeare was wont to make his villains sometimes inscrutable in their motives (such as Iago in Othello, or Don John in Much Ado About Nothing), and in doing this he allows the audience to attribute motives to the characters themselves. This makes a play have staying power. The anti-Semitic audience of the Globe in London in the 1590s would have thought it normal for a Jew to be evil; the modern audience can see how Shylock was made into a monster by his oppressors.
What steps does Shylock take to bind Antonio to the bond's condition?
As Act I, Scene III, of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice begins, the character of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, is introduced to the audience. The tense relationship between Shylock, Bassanio, and Antonio is quickly established despite some cordiality during the formalities. Bassanio’s invitation to Shylock to join him and Antonio for dinner is quickly and rudely rebuffed: “I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.” The topic of Bassanio’s need of money and of Antonio’s agreement to borrow that money on his friend’s behalf has been broached, and the moneylender is indeed interested.
The issue, then, becomes one of collateral, and it is here that the crux of the matter will be established, providing for the play’s dramatic tension and for the eventual and humiliating rejection of Shylock’s demand for payment from Antonio. The step that Shylock takes to ensure that Antonio is bound to the condition of the bond—a pound of the latter’s flesh in the event he is unable to repay the loan (“If you repay me not on such a day, / In such a place, such sum or sums as are / Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit / Be nominated for an equal pound / Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken / In what part of your body pleaseth me”)—is the court system. Shylock places his faith in the strength of his argument and the wisdom of the juror. Little does he know that Portia will intervene in the legal proceedings to his detriment. The trial in Act IV of The Merchant of Venice provides both for Shylock's final denunciation and for his heartfelt plea for justice considering his and his people’s history of dehumanization at the hands of the Christians who dominate Venice.
What does the bond between Antonio and Shylock reveal about their characters?
Each of these characters comes to the bond with very different intentions. In the bond, we see in one sense the power of the market to bring people of different religions together despite the sectarian divisions inherent in their society. In the bond they agree upon, we see that each party is ready to risk something.
In Antonio's case, he is willing to risk his life. The terms upon which the bond is drawn up require Antonio to forfeit an amount of flesh whose weight equals in value the gold he failed to pay Shylock (1.3.145). If his ships do not make it safely to port, Antonio will be in danger of death from loss of blood. Antonio takes this risk at a potentially enormous cost for no material profit. What the generous merchant forgoes by way of material wealth, he makes up in the loving loyalty of fraternal friendship.
In contrast, Shylock makes the bond for motives of vengeful spite. Before making the bond, he catalogs a number of abuses meted out by Antonio (1.3.106). He brings these abuses up to shame Antonio as a hypocrite.
In summary, Antonio reveals himself to be a charitable, altruistic individual, while Shylock reveals himself to be unforgiving and argumentative.
In The Merchant of Venice, what conditions is Antonio bound to in his loan from Shylock?
After his close friend Bassanio comes to Antonio to borrow money so that he can be a suitor to win Portia, rather than let his best friend lose his dearest hopes, Antonio, whose finances are all invested in his three merchant ships, borrows 3,000 ducats from Shylock. The terms of this loan allow Shylock to extract a pound of flesh from Antonio if he does not repay the loan on time. While Antonio certainly gambles that his ships will return in sufficient time for him to repay Shylock with his profits, he does take risks because storms at sea could rather easily destroy the ships of the time that have gone on such long voyages.
While this impulsive act of Antonio's to give so freely to his friend--"My purse, my person.../Lie all unlocked to your occasions"(1.1)-- is certainly in contradiction to his personality as a shrewd merchant and lender, there are critics who speculate that Shakespeare creates Antonio to be Christ-like in his unselfishness; moreover, Elizabethan audiences would be anti-Semitic, and against Shylock's charging of interest. Christians like Antonio did not charge interest as exhorted in the Bible:
Deuteronomy 23:19-23: "You shall not lend upon interest to your brother.... To a foreigner, you may lend upon interest, but to your brother, you shall not lend upon interest.
So, when he demands his payment, Shylock displays his spite and immoral character, thus underscoring contemporary and Christian beliefs, even though he justifies his charging of interest with another passage from the Bible [Genesis: 30,31].
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