The Merchant of Venice

How do you view Bassanio’s courtship of Portia? Clearly, it financially benefits him to marry her. Moreover, doing so will help his best friend Antonio. Do you think Bassanio has true affection for Portia? What about Portia for Bassanio? Is the relationship entirely transactional or perhaps somewhere in-between?

What is the broader thematic relevance of the three caskets? And how do deceptive appearances play into the behavior of the Christian noblemen? Are their appeals to Christian mercy truly Christian or merely self-serving?

What do you believe are Shylock’s motivations for insisting on extracting a pound of Antonio’s flesh and rejecting payment three times the loan’s principal? What political and personal reasons does Shylock have for his stubbornness in this respect?

How do rings operate as a symbol? What is the importance of the rings Portia and Nerissa give to Bassanio and Gratiano? What about the ring given to Shylock by his late wife Leah? What does each man’s attitude toward his ring say about his character?

How does Shylock expose the hypocrisy of the mainstream Christian, protocapitalist society in 16th-century Venice? Given some of the other grim realities of this society, is it even that absurd for Shylock to turn human flesh into a commodity?

Do you find the scholarly arguments that Bassanio and Antonio are involved in a romantic relationship convincing? Why or why not? Regardless of the exact nature of their relationship, how does their closeness color Bassanio’s relationship with Portia?

Do you believe that what Antonio offers to Shylock near the end of the play amounts to true mercy? Does it live up to the ideal Portia eloquently describes in her “quality of mercy” speech?

What role does setting play in The Merchant of Venice? How does the action that takes place in Belmont differ from the action in Venice?