
The Merchant of Venice
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Narrated by:
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Antony Sher
Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, agrees to lend Antonio, a Venetian merchant, three thousand ducats so that his friend Bassanio can afford to court his love, Portia. However, Shylock has one condition: Should the loan go unpaid, he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio's own flesh.
Meanwhile in Belmont, according to the terms of her father's will, Portia's many suitors must choose correctly from three caskets. Bassanio arrives at Portia's estate and they declare their love for one another before he picks the correct casket. Antonio falls into bad fortune and finds he cannot repay Shylock: A dramatic trial ensues to decide his fate.
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I want desperately to somehow tie this review into the current administration, but I'm not there yet. Close. There is something there. Something that steams, swells and billows. Something from the dark corners of the Oval office that screams "I'll have my bond; speak not against my bond: I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond..." No. Perhaps Shylock isn't Trump or Bannon. Perhaps Shylock is those angry voters who are willing to watch it all burn because they are tired of being screwed by the left or the right. They know their anger will eventually cost them everything, but there is a moment when we all want a pound of flesh.
Favorite Lines:
“I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano!” (Act 1, Scene 1)
“It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean.” (Act 1, Scene 2)
“If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" (Act 3, Scene 1).”
“So many the outward shows be least themselves. The world is still deceived with ornament.” (Act 3, Scene 2)
“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.” (Act 5, Scene 1)
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
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Classic Story Wonderfully Told
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That said, this is a tough play. Portia is probably the most appealing character in the bunch, but even she has a dark side: she is, after all, the main engine of Shylock's downfall. Anthony Sher gives a somber and dignified performance as Shylock: not necessarily a man more sinned against than sinning, but a man plenty sinned against.
Shakespeare, here as always, remains an unblinking observer of all sides of the moral equation. The Christians spit on Shylock, call him dog, do their best to make his business fail -- one of the only businesses that, by law, he was allowed to engage in. (It's an intriguing biographical footnote that Shakespeare's own father was brought up at one point on charges of usury.)
Shylock is no passive victim: he fights back with the one tool left him, the commitment of Venice to the rule of law. On the other hand, the awful judgement meted out to him at the end of the trial scene -- an economic straitjacket and a forced conversion -- is allowed to stand: I've seen the play done where Shylock is played as a stereotypical Jewish villain who gets a well-earned comeuppance. The attempts of many recent productions to build sympathy for Shylock are supported but are not required by the text itself. However nuanced the production -- and this one is finely nuanced -- this ambiguity about its sympathies makes it a very hard play to digest.
In other words, thought-provoking, unsettling, and worth every minute.
Great production, difficult play
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Wonderful way to read Shakespere!!!
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Bravo!
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Satisfied
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