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As You Like It
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Henry IV
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Merchant of Venice
Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Richard III
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
Sonnets
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A course essay -- on Merchant.
Merchant -- at About Shakespeare.
Merchant of Venice -- at this site that was formerly only about the Sonnets.
This Month's Merchant Feature >>
Note on Antonio...
Nevertheless, as neat as all this may be, there are problems with the play's male heroes and the relationship between them. Initially, we note a certain pride in Antonio's diversification strategy, and as for his friend Bassanio, his first reference is not to Portia's spiritual or physical beauty, but to her great wealth. Within the trial scene, we find a somewhat more puzzling dimension to the friendship of Antonio and Bassanio. Believing that he is about to die, Antonio says to Bassanio:
Commend me to your honorable wife, Tell her the process of Antonio's end. Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death; And when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a friend, (IV, i., ll.273-278).