Analyse Merchant of Venice IV,1 PDF

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Analyse de texte sur l'acte 4 scène 1 du Marchant de Venise...

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The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare relies on comic devices to introduce and play on religious conflicts at stake in society at the time. This play is a comedy indeed, even if some passages have tragical features. The extract under study is one of those, since it is the trial scene of the play, where the audience is to learn about the outcome of the bond plot. The scene takes place in Venice, at court, and the two main characters are Shylock the Jew, and Portia. Yet, this denouement scene is also comical to a certain extent, since Portia is disguised and thus creates a mise en abyme as she is dressed up as a man, and pretends to be a judge; but Shylock is also represented according to a stereotypical view of Jews. Shylock and Antonio’s bond is the bone of contention in the extract, and all the characters are on stage, since they all side with Antonio. The scene therefore represents several symbolical conflicts which are recurrent throughout the play, such as the opposition between Christians and Jews, the law against morality, or good versus evil. Besides, the scene is quite typical of Shakespeare’s plays, for the passage from which I am going to read an extract is written in iambic pentameter with unrhyming blank verse. [reading]. Therefore, we may wonder to what extent does this extract represent the climax of the play for most of the characters, and why does it foreshadow the prominence of Christian values in favor of Antonio at the end. First of all, the stakes of the trial are to be understood, namely Shylock’s wish for forfeiture, and also the way his animosity is dramatized. Then, the relevance of Portia’s committed advocacy of Christians in opposition to the “tongue of man” is to be studied.

I) Shylock’s wish for Antonio’s forfeiture 1) Antonio’s tragical confession of the bond, and the Christians’ giving up in front of Shylock -> as he confesses the bond, Antonio asserts Shylock’s domination over him. -> l178-179 : Antonio and Portia. The shared lines show that the number of meters uttered by Antonio is decreasing (2 meters, then 1), whereas Portia becomes more and more present. It is as if he let Portia – Balthazar be his lawyer, and at least we may understand that she speaks in his name. -> the word “must” shared by Portia and Shylock has different meanings. It either refers to morality and the sense of obligation, or the legality of the bond and forfeiture. There is a strong inadequacy between the two, since Shylock discards mercy as he says that he “craves” the law. It echoes the pound of flesh and transforms him into a Jewish cannibal. -> l 215 + 219: Portia gives in, and she reveals the inadequacy between the Christian moral and the law. The two different elements (the law and morality) frame her line, cf “it cannot be” “it must not be”. -> introduction of the revenge-tragedy, the bond plot, and the religious conflicts: all revolve around Shylock, who is the central character of the extract.

2) The tragic elements of the scene which are counterbalanced by the stock characters and the various comedic devices used by Shakespeare.

-> the comical features are to be found both in the text and in the staging of the play. -> dramatic irony, and the relevant role of money. Cf l.205, when she actually offered Bassanio the money he intends to use to free Antonio. Mise en abyme effect, present with the disguise and the dramatic irony: creates comic tone for Portia. (Echoes with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptation, when Bassanio adds to the comic and the staging effects by throwing bank notes all around the court. Tragic but also comic effect. -> Shakespeare mocks the Jews by mocking Shylock: evocation of money. He depicts him through prejudices. Yet: Shylock is committed to obtaining his forfeiture. Eventually, there is a reversal of roles operated thanks to the recurrent evocation of money: since Shylock turns down the Christian money, he symbolically refuses to give in to the Jewish prejudices.

3) The two different conceptions of justice, the conflictuous relationship between Christians and Jews, complexified by prejudices. -> location of the scene = Venice (=reality, concrete, earthly). The characters are divided into two religious groups: this division may be represented on stage by showing Shylock and Antonio standing apart on stage, while all the other characters would side with Antonio, in order to support him and share his pain. -> Venice = earthly justice of men (= the court). This is opposed to Shylock’s justice of revenge. (It echoes his syllogism of “Christian education” and the line “Why, revenge!”. Shakespeare plays on appearance/reality but also legality/morality: Shylock’s argumentation sounds logic since he relies on a legal bound, but his way to make him pay his wrong is way too violent. Thus, the earthly justice is ineffective, because his revenge is made possible. Shylock corrupts justice thanks to his hatred, but also because he praises Portia-Balthazar. -> the reversal of roles becomes a reversal of values, since Shylock is the only one who does not crave money: Portia, Bassanio, and Antonio do (especially Portia, who, at the end, tries to bribe him). Therefore, he remains distant from the Christian values by askip the pound of flesh and not the money. This eventually triggers another layer of dramatic irony, since it foreshadows the end of the play, when he is forced to convert to Christianity. TR: As a reaction to Shylock’s strong demand for forfeiture, Portia-Balthazar tries, in vain, to talk him out of exacting the penalty. Yet, since no temptation managed to deter him, we understand that the “tongue of man” is useless. Still, Portia’s lines are telling as far as Christians, justice, and mockery of values at large are concerned.

II) Portia’s committed advocacy in favor of Christians, in opposition to the “tongue of man” and Shylock. 1) The moral solution of “mercy”, and the superiority of Christian values she promotes

-> She evokes mercy in a sort of prayer (l.182-85). Yet, her speech becomes elevated only in appearance: it quickly shifts to then refer to the earthly justice again. Cf l.190: she merely tries to contradict Shylock who wants the bond. She even goes as far as saying that the earthly justice is no moral solution, now that the legal one is discarded. Out of despair, she summons up morality to force Shylock, which triggers a sense of irony from Shakespeare against Christians, and which might add fuel to the critics’ hypotheses about the author being a cryptocatholic. -> The Christians try to exclude Shylock, as they call Shylock a “devil” (214). -> importance of the word “mitigate”: she tries to tame Shylock as to offer him an escape from his devilish perspective on the bond, but he declines. But she also has to mitigate herself, because she embodies justice, and the justice here is all fake and playing on appearance to distort reality: another layer of irony and mockery of human institution on Shakespeare’s behalf. Portia is torn between justice, mercy, and love, all standing either for her disguise, her Christian values, and her feelings. Thus, she glorifies mercy as the only means to live a righteous life, whereas she is not quite the example to follow. Therefore, she is a partial judge because of what is at stake: her love, her money, and the forfeit.

2) Portia’s darker side, and the mockery of Christian justice at large. -> Since her “logos” based on religion won’t work on Shylock (maybe it doesn’t because he is a Jew and he does not fall into the trap of her dogmas?) she tries to tempt Shylock with money. She is turned into the devil, as a dramatic irony effect, cf l.224, as the sonorities make her sound like a snake: she thus becomes the embodiment of the devil’s snake. -> The conflict between Jews and Christians also lies in usury: cf the themes of usury and prejudices are also present in the trial scene (questions of money, rates of interests, tensions in relation with previous wrongs). -> 2 plays are shown on stage: an earthly debate on legality, on the bond, and on revenge, which correspond to the revenge tragedy involving Shylock and Antonio, but there is also the artificial game of justice playing on illusions, appearances, and introducing a sense of mockery, which involves Shylock and Portia for the most part. Therefore, Shylock is the central character in the extract, since all the tensions hinge around him. -> This triggers the reflection on the title: since money is the recurrent theme linking all the characters and the plots together, we may read it as a criticism of capitalistic exploitation of other human beings, addressed to Christians mostly, but also to Jews, as he plays on prejudices very commonplace at the time. The question of the merchant’s identity is to be dealt with, but also the issue of what can or cannot be traded: life, three thousand ducats, a Christian’s life, a Jew’s beliefs? 3) Portia’s position as a weakened judge, but an empowered woman and character in herself.

The mise en abyme is present at two different levels. As a cross-dressed woman, she creates dramatic irony, but she also embodies a means of criticism towards manhood. All manly attributes apply to her, in addition to her supposed position of judge. As a woman, she gains in legitimacy by dressing-up as a man: she frees herself from the convent where she was meant to stay. The other characters on stage are all men (considering the Jessica has eloped with Lorenzo). Therefore, her disguise empowers her, and just as Shylock, she embodies the reversal of values in the extract. Her last intervention allows Shylock to exact the penalty, as she grants him (empowers him) with the fake legal legitimacy he needs. Yet, she evokes mercy in short, desperate sentences, which betray her neutrality as a judge. She is here for mercy, for love, and her own character represents the mockery of justice at large. Still, it has to be linked to the criticism against Christianity, though Portia’s character may be seen as the empowerment of women over men. Shylock’s last intervention is full of subtle irony, thanks to the lexical field of money / value : “paid” “worthy” “charge” “well-deserving”. Nevertheless, money is not enough, and he uses flattery to convince Portia as she is strained to give him his right. The “tongue of man” foreshadows the outcome of the trial, when Portia, the only female character, who is granted the most important role, even more important than the Duke, finds the solution for Antonio. Thus, justice (or more precisely Christian justice) is not to be found in the tongue of man, but the tongue of a woman. Transfer of power. Yet, the term justice cannot fit the revenge she allows Antonio to pursue, when forcing Shylock to lose everything he owns and to convert. Again, it triggers a sense of irony, which benefits to women, but paradoxically not to Christians at large, and contribute to make her powerful.

In this extract, the tensions have reached a climactic point, as the bond plot comes to an end. Antonio’s mutism is telling, as far as the domination roles are concerned, since all the values are reversed, in order to create a comedic effect and counterbalance the unbearable suspense. Portia’s scheme makes her the pillar of the scene, yet a very fragile one, since she is focused on love, mercy, and money, while she adds the mockery of genders on stage to the criticism of Christians and justice....