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The Merchant of Venice

by William Shakespeare

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The use of humor throughout The Merchant of Venice

Summary:

Humor in The Merchant of Venice is used to contrast serious themes, provide comic relief, and develop characters. Shakespeare employs witty banter, puns, and comedic situations, especially through characters like Launcelot Gobbo and Portia, to lighten the mood and engage the audience while addressing topics such as prejudice, justice, and mercy.

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How is humor created in Act 1, Scene 2 of The Merchant of Venice?

Act I, scene ii of The Merchant of Venice, introduces the audience to Portia. The audience will come to appreciate Portia's keen intellect and dry sense of humor. She is weighed down by the problems which face her and the need to find a husband according to her father's will. Nerissa, Portia's servant, discusses all of Portia's suitors and Portia stereotypes and finds fault with each one of them. Humor is created in Portia's descriptions and her acute sarcasm. By the end of the scene, the irony is not lost on the audience as Portia expresses her interest in Bassanio - who has no money and is intent on hiding his money problems by loaning from Antonio.

In describing her suitors, Portia suggests that the Neapolitan prince "does nothing but talk of his horse" (37) to the point that Portia suggests his mother may have "played false with a smith;" in other words, placing his parenthood in question. This would have amused Shakespearean audiences enormously as they would have imagined the outcome of such an indiscretion. In describing the "County Palatine" who "does nothing but frown," Portia even uses rhyme (palatine / rhyme) to suggest how ridiculous a union with him would be.  

An English audience would have appreciated how Portia discredits each of the European and Scottish suitors, and as the English like to make fun of the shortcomings of others, the members of the audience would have enjoyed her attack on a typical English "baron," especially because they would have come across just such a hapless person themselves. The audience would have also appreciated Portia's daring. A modern audience can appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor.  

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In The Merchant of Venice, why is Act 2, Scene 6 considered funny for an Elizabethan audience?

Elizabethan audiences would laugh at the constant references to Jessica as a boy. She has decided to elope with Lorenzo, and to hide her identity, she will be disguised as a boy.

The humour does not only lie in the fact that the characters make repeated references to Jessica being a boy, which in itself is funny, but also because of the restrictions applicable to actors during Elizabethan times. Women were not allowed on stage and thus female roles had to be played by young men or boys who would be appropriately dressed and made up to look like girls or women.

The audience would therefore roar with laughter each time there is talk of Jessica being a boy, for she would in fact, be a boy! In this instance she would be a boy playing a girl dressed up as a boy.

The double irony and the wordplay (pun) would not be lost to the audience and would generate great mirth. 

With this in mind, you can imagine being a member of the audience and hearing the following  repartee:

Jessica says: "I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me,
For I am much ashamed of my exchange:"

And: "Cupid himself would blush
To see me thus transformed to a boy."

"What, must I hold a candle to my shames?
They in themselves, good-sooth, are too light.
Why, 'tis an office of discovery, love;
And I should be obscured."

Lorenzo replies: "So are you, sweet,
Even in the lovely garnish of a boy."

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What element of humor is present in the exchange of rings in The Merchant of Venice?

In act 3, scene 2, Portia gives Bassanio a ring to solidify their marriage and tells him that if he ever gives it away, then their love is doomed. Nerissa also gives Gratiano a ring, and he promises never to lose it. Later on in the play, both Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as men and Portia ends up saving Antonio's life under the guise of a young lawyer named Balthazar. In act 4, scene 1, Portia, who is disguised as Balthazar, takes Bassanio's ring as payment for saving Antonio's life. Reluctantly, Bassanio unknowingly gives Portia the ring he swore never to give away, and Gratiano also gives his ring away to Nerissa at the beginning of act 4, scene 2.

In act 5, scene 1, Portia and Nerissa mess with Bassanio and Gratiano by questioning them about their rings. Shakespeare creates humor through the use of dramatic irony. Bassanio and Gratiano are unaware that Portia and Nerissa possess the rings as the two women play with their emotions. Bassanio and Gratiano are both heartbroken as Portia and Nerissa pretend to be upset and deny them access to their beds for giving the rings away. Portia then bets her life that Bassanio gave his ring to a woman, which he unknowingly did. Portia and Nerissa then reveal their participation in Antonio's trial, and their husbands are astonished to discover they actually gave their rings to their wives, who were disguised as men.

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