The Merchant of Venice

One of the many elements that make up a classic, novel or play can be read in any

generation, decade, century or in any part of the globe at any time and have relevance to the

reader. The themes of the work should be universal, so that the reader can take something and

create a parallel to an event or situation in his or her own life.

The Merchant of Venice has elements that make it a classic. The Merchant of Venice

has many contemporary themes in it. In this essay I will provide you with

examples of themes that still hold true today, many years after

Shakespeare wrote this masterpiece. The re-occurring themes of love, anti-

Semitism and inter-racial marriages are a few examples of contemporary themes that

are manifest in The Merchant of Venice that are still issues that we

discuss, worry, and care about today.

A key theme in the book is love. There are many loving

relationships in this play and not all are the type that involves the love

that a man has for a woman, or vice versa. Bassanio and Portia, Jessica and

Lorenzo and Gratiano and Nerissa are all types of love that involve a man

and a woman, which are of course relevant to today's society. When one

looks deeply into these relationships, they would see parallels to the ones

of today. For instance, the concept that all three marriages will probably

not last, is a parallel to the number of divorces that are occurring today.

More and more divorces are happening and the increase from other years is

shocking! One of the main reasons why this is happening is that more people

are getting married too fast and leaving no time to realize that there are

not meant for each other. This is the same in two - and possibly three - of

the relationships. Gratiano and Nerrissa got married after knowing each

other for only several hours and Bassiano and Portia got marri ed before

they go to know each other (, but you can't fault Portia for this, for

strict policies were ordered onto her). Jessica and Lorenzo's marriage

might split for other reasons. The second relationship that is explored in

The Merchant of Venice is the type of man to man. Homosexuality is a type

of love that happens in any period in time and is even more relevant today,

as homosexuality has blossomed even more in the 1990's, creating a large

issue. Antonio's "love" may not be the type that we are thinking about, but

if this happened today we might see it as homosexuality. Many say that

Shakespeare is a homosexual from evidence from his many plays. The third

type is between a man and his money. Shakespeare's portrayal of Shylock is

a cold-hearted man, who only has one true love, his money. He would

sacrifice anything for money (even his own daughter). Once again this theme

is good, because you will find people like this in every period of time.

The second theme is anti-Semitism. Although we are not sure of

Shakespeare being an anti-Semite we might think that he is, through his

depiction of Shylock as a cold-hearted Jew, that hates Christians and wants

to kill them. This view is well represented by the following excerpt from

literary criticism: "[Shakespeare] planned a Merchant of Venice to let the

Jew dog have it, . . . The text itself preserves enough evidence of the

author's fixed intent to exhibit his Shylock as an inhuman scoundrel, whose

diabolical cunning is bent on gratifying a satanic lust for Christian