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The Review of the Merchant of Venice A brief introduction:The merchant of Venice, written by Shakespeare, is a famous play emerging in the late 16th century. Shylock, a notorious miser signs an agreement with Antonio that he will lend lots of money to Antonio and if Antonio cannot return in time, Antonio will give him a pound of flesh. However, Antonio cannot return it in time. Therefore, Shylock insists that he wants Antonio’s flesh. On the court, Bassanio and his wife who disguises as a lawyer try their best to help Antonioout of the accusation. They propose that Shylock can get Antonio’s flesh unless there is no blood when cutting it. If there is a drop of blood, Shylock may be sentenced to death. Of course, this proposal frightens Shylock and he gives in. This story ends as a comedy. About the genre:The problem of genre seems to have existed from the very moment that the play was produced. Maybe you come to a conclusion that it is a comedy because all is solved at the end of this story and the plot is developed humorously. In 1709, Nicholas Rowe,the first of the eighteenth century editors of Shakespeare, challenged the designation of The Merchant of Venice as a comic play. “Though we have seen the play received and acted as a comedy,”said Rowe, “and the part of the Jews performed by an excellent comedian, yet I cannot but think it was designed tragically by the author. There appears in it such a deadly spirit of revenge, such a savage fierceness and fellness, and such a bloody designation of cruelty and mischief which cannot agree either with the stile or characters of comedy.”As forme, I prefer to regard it as a comedy. Analysis of the characters: Antonio, the merchant of the title, is a rich and highly respected citizen in Venice, possessed of many friends. Indisputably, he is a generous and loyal to his friends. He regards friends much more important than anything, even money. He can sacrifices anything for his friends, which is worth respecting. However, he is also a hotheaded and stupid man. He has known that Shylock is a greedy and sinister man and they have had some misunderstandings. But he still borrows money from Shylock,which proves that he is somewhat imprudent.Shylock, the opponent of Antonio, is a greedy, blinkered, cruel and lamentable man. From generation to generation, he has become a very famous character as a miser, who is hateful but also lamentable. He regards money as the most important thing in his life and he can do everything for getting it. However, when Antonio’s friends can return the money for, Shylock insists on the flesh instead of the money. This does not show that he does not care aboutmoney. Contrarily, he shows us readers his cruelty and indifference. His daughter’s elopement and theft of his money and jewels increase Shylock’s resentment against the Christian world, so that, although he might have had second thoughts about executing his revenge, he is no longer troubled by them after his daughter’s elopement. Having found himself victimized by Antonio, Shylock wants as good as he gets. Usually comic, he is at times grotesque, and sometimes even touching. He is a villain of perseverance and restless energy, whois, nevertheless, foiled by good Christians in the end. In my opinion, he is not cruel in nature, but is shaped into this character by the society at that time. He is a Jew and against Christian, which makes him excluded by others.Bassanio, friend to Antonio and later husband to Portia, is also a noble, generous and honorable young man. He captivates the hearts of two of the highest-minded characters in the play, Antonio and Portia. We learn as soon as we meet him that he has not only already spent his fortune, but is also indebt, principally to Antonio. He is seeking a way to mend his ways, pay his debts, and retrieve his fortune by marrying Portia, whom he loves. His profligacy is to be regarded kindly, for it is a sign of high spirits and noble birth. The young Renaissance gentleman was expected to philander in his youth so that he could learn the evil ways of the world and come to reject them. His choice of Portia as his wife is to be admired, for she is also of noble birth, mind, and beauty. Through her, he will be able to mend his way, live a blessed life and win eternalsalvation. He is a passionate lover and he can do anything to get his love. Portia, is one of Shakespeare’s great heroines, who is beautiful, intelligent, moral and just. It is in the trial scene, however, that we see the full extent of her wit, her intellect, and her charity. Her adventurousness, sureness of purpose, and intelligence save her husband’s friend. But she is not interested only in saving Antonio; she would like, if possible, also to save Shylock from himself, and to this end she appeals eloquently first to his moral sensibility and than to hisavarice. For Portia, money cannot be weighed in the balance with a human soul, and when she finally must resort to legal argument in order to rescue Antonio, she still stands for mercy. It is to the ethical preaching of Portia that Shylock owes his life in the end. While she can rise to heights of dignity and eloquence, she remains, after all, a playful and tender wife. Although she dominated the trial scene, we need have no fear that she will overpower her husband at home, for underneath her teasing is a womanly gentleness, an “unschooled”innocence, thatpromises Bassanio all felicity in his marriage.Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, has her father’s blood but not his manners. She is a gentle girl who finds life in her father’s home unbearably tedious and irksome. Unlike her father, Jessica does not hesitate to spend money in order to enjoy life. She converts to Christianity under the instruction of Lorenzo and has an eye for the beauty and the harmony which comprises the Christian world view. She is more modest than Portia, who is not embarrassed to wear men’s clothing,and she has the perception to notice that Portia is an extraordinary woman, whom she will probably try to emulate.。