~ The Merchant of
~ Women in Shakespearean perception ~
The Merchant of Venice was first printed in 1600 in quarto, of which nineteen copies survive. This was followed by a 1619 printing, and later an inclusion in the First Folio in 1623. The play has been described as a great commentary on the nature of racial and religious interactions. The title itself is misleading, and is often misconstrued as a reference to Shylock, the Jew yet in reality it describes the merchant Antonio. In Shakespearean plays, the female roles are consistently more complex than the male ones, and though the protagonists are often male, the action is frequently directed by a woman. Though the female characters are often alleged to have a definite aspect of craftiness to their personalities, the trickery that sometimes accompanies this craftiness is used for causes that, it can be a 12312n135m rgued, are honorable both today and during the era when the plays were written.
In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare used Portia and Jessica as his stereotypical characters through which he successfully conveyed greatness and challenged the view of the 17th century society. By doing so, Shakespeare has accomplished them with what they lacked. Quotation serves to accentuate Shakespeare's drama since the word accomplished implies that it is Shakespeare who created the two characters to appear as men's equals and that otherwise this equality would not be possible within the society of the contemporary time. Intelligent, wealthy, and beautiful, Portia embodies the virtues that are typical of Shakespeare's heroines-it is no surprise that she emerges as the antidote to Shylock's malice. At the beginning of the play, however, we do not see Portia's potential for initiative and resourcefulness, as she is a near prisoner, feeling herself absolutely bound to follow her father's dying wishes. This opening appearance, however, proves to be a revealing introduction to Portia, who emerges as that rarest of combinations-a free spirit who abides rigidly by rules.
Shakespeare furthers this concept by enabling us to recognize Portia's wealth and status as he allows her to appear as very intellectual and bilingual. Portia speaks three languages, that of: French; Latin and Italian clearly emphasizing her intelligence as well as ability. Shakespeare by allowing Portia to use rhetoric of law in Act 1 Scene 2 further prevail her greatness. Portia's mention of devise laws and decrees convey her awareness of legal language and equally the legal sphere of life. However, it seems that at the beginning Shakespeare has given Portia potential but it remained impotent as she did not have the opportunity to use it. We therefore believe further that Shakespeare portrayed Portia's character to comprise of superficial nature; it emerges that Portia is controlled by her father and does thereby hold no control over her life. Her words to Nerissa:
I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse who I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter curb'd by the will of a dead father
clearly evoke her obedience but even more importantly demonstrate her lack of control over her own life. Shakespeare's use of the word curb'd imply means of restraints that in this context could provide the notion that Portia is restrained to her own will and thereby completely bound by her father's will.
With regards to Jessica's character, Shakespeare endeavored to generate a slightly different sympathy. Jessica is known to be Shylock's daughter, her character is assumed to be that of low self-esteem and without potential greatness. Thus, Jessica is regarded as inferior to other Christians due to her Jewish origins and religion. This is partly manifest through Shakespeare's language and partly through plot's development. Jews in this play are regarded as dehumanized beings as becomes apparent from Antonio's speech that called Shylock a `dog'. Jessica, being biologically bound to her father, is also regarded as inferior to Christians, maybe providing the reason why she eloped with a Christian man in the end. Nevertheless, her low self-esteem is drawn by her acceptance to be Lorenzo's torch-bearer.
Shakespeare provided a negative imagery by Lorenzo's speech. Torch-bearer insinuates the image of a slave and an owned individual which we assume Jessica becomes after her marriage ceremony. As opposed to Portia's respectful and obedient manner Jessica is conveyed as a rebellious and disobedient character. Due to the fact that Jessica eloped from her father, quoting that
Alack, what heinous sin is it in me to be ashamed to be my father's child but though I am a daughter to his blood I am not to his manners,
it
provokes a direct contrast to Portia's great, intelligent and respectful
character. Even though the quotation provides us with a subtle hint that maybe
Jessica is aware of what is moral and right she still willingly escapes with
Lorenzo leaving her father impotent and consequently showing disrespect and
emotionless. This could also serve as a paradigm of Jessica's selfish and cold
character that parallels with that of her father's.
Further contrast is
drawn through the ways in which they marry. Both Portia's and Jessica's further
identities are constructed by the man they marry. Shakespeare, although
allowing Portia's character to almost be won, generated a more positive
response from the audience as opposed to that from Jessica's marriage. Even
though Portia's character was subjected to the luck of suitor's choosing the
right casket, her distinguishable, great and superior character still remained
apparent whereas Jessica's marriage conveyed her low self-esteem and
selfishness as she has, most simply, sold herself to Lorenzo.
Shakespeare, thorough
the process of marriage has encouraged us to discover Portia's manipulative
ability whereas with Jessica we begin to understand further her inferior
character that eloped with a Christian and consequently raised the price of pork.
Portia's character has been portrayed manipulative in Act 3 Scene 2. Her almost
first words uttered to Bassanio were forbear a while. Shakespeare through
Portia's quote manifests that Portia thinks positively of Bassanio and thereby endeavors
to prolong the process enabling him to choose the right casket and so not hazard,
for choosing wrong. Portia's prolonged speeches and sentences as well
as her use of caesura further prevails her affection towards Bassanio. It could
be stated that Shakespeare's use of caesura with Portia's character generates humor
as Portia's speeches become very slow and short, almost sounding immature. Her
further announcement that I would detain you here some month of two
emphasize her desperate state. What becomes increasingly interesting and clever
of Portia's character is Shakespeare's use of music. Song played clearly
contained words that rhymed with led as for example head and bred
and could insinuate Portia's intelligence and perhaps pragmatism as well as her
manipulative power. Portia was also willing to use the style of free verse as
opposed to her frequent use of iambic pentameter or otherwise elevated
language. A clear example is found in Act 3 Scene 2 where she attempts to
convince Bassanio that her intelligence is not as great as it seems and that in
the case of true emotions, it should not be regarded as a restraint to their
marriage. Jessica on the other hand, has
converted herself from a Jew into a Christian through her marriage to Lorenzo.
Jessica's discontent with her house and her father was clearly evident in Act2
Scene3. Jessica exclaims that her house is hell and looks upon Lorenzo
to save her enabling her to become a Christina and thereby enhance herself and
her living conditions. Unlike Portia, Jessica disempowered her father by
stealing all his worth and distorting his hopes by escaping with a Christian.
Shakespeare has conveyed Jessica as a much more submissive character which
becomes evident greatly through her marriage scene. The fact that Jessica appears
with page's
suit she hath in readiness emphasize that she is disguised as a
servant. This also implies that she will not be given the opportunity to exert
significant amount of influence within the public sphere and that rather she
will represent a slave that only entered the public scene in addition to
someone else's necessities. Shakespeare also draws dramatic irony by
introducing Shylock to warn Jessica not to thrust you head into the public street to
gaze on Christian fools with varnish'd faces. Shakespeare's use of varnish'd
faces represent clown like, painted face image which is the very thing
Jessica becomes later on in the play as she enters the public to go to the masque,
a ball party.
Jessica's casket of jewelry serves as a physical metaphor of Jessica's state.
It represents her low self-esteem and her controlled character. Shakespeare
conveys further Jessica's inferiority by allowing Lorenzo to address her by gentle
Jessica. Shakespeare's use of gentle clearly shows a pun on
Gentile. This reinforces the fact that Jessica is a Jew and not a Christian, emphasizing
further her pagan character. Through the word pagan Shakespeare also demonstrates Jessica's character to
represent a devil instead of a pure human being and a Christian.
As Shakespeare enabled Jessica's marriage to occur under secrecy he also provided a subtle hint that women work secretly. This notion of women operating in secrecy is furthered through Portia and Nerissa's disguise as males in order to enter the public scene. Unlike Jessica's entrance, Shakespeare enabled Portia's character to dominate the public and develop a strong identity through the court room scene of Act 4. Shakespeare's repetition of court awards it and the law doth give it demonstrates Portia's control over Shylock and the plot development. Portia's reinforcement of just a pound and her orders for the scales to turn develop tension within the courtroom scene and equally reveal her merciless character. Shakespeare draws our attention to Portia's masculine integrity through her ability to govern the drama and dominate the scene. Shakespeare allows Portia's character to demonstrate further intelligence by introducing her to state that Clerk draw a deed of gift. Portia's words explicitly highlight her awareness of the way in which the law operates and thereby challenges the perception of women in 17th century society. Her manipulative character is yet again demonstrated and apparent in the courtroom scene. Portia persuades Bassanio to give her his marriage ring while stating that he does not know how well she has deserv'd that ring. Shakespeare's use of dramatic irony here aids to convince Bassanio to give the ring in respect of her success. In the light of apparent evidence it becomes clear that Portia, through her rhetoric resolved the plot and that if she did not mention to Shylock that if thou dost shed one drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods are (by the laws of Venice) confiscate unto the state of Venice, Shylock would have proceeded with attaining his bond. Portia's character, through the same quotation, has drawn our attention to the fact that Shylock is not merciful and thereby established a direct contrast between the Jews and the Christians. As a conclusion, it can be stated that Shakespeare has contradicted the perceived roles of women in the 17th century society through his portrayal of Portia and Jessica. Portia has been clearly evident as an instrumental character to the play's development as a result of her greatness, high self-esteem, abilities, intelligence and manipulative power. Jessica however, has been portrayed in light of a reactive, submissive character that possessed low self-esteem and remained reactive through the play.
In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare has drawn contrasts between Portia and Jessica that could maybe serve to outline the differences between Jewish and Christian religion. In my opinion Shakespeare has been influenced by the anti-Semitist views of the contemporary time and thereby illustrated the Jews to be merciless, selfish, villainous and emotionless whereas he conveyed the Christians as supreme and priceless. Shakespeare's use of paradoxical imagery at the beginning of the play with regards to Portia's character has proven to be a revealing introduction. Portia emerges as the rarest of combinations; a free spirit who abides rigidly by rules and she perhaps deserves our admiration in some respect, but like all great archetypes, she has her foibles and faults.
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