Merchant of Venice Act 2

The Prince of Morroco arrives in Belmont to win Portia’s hand in marriage. He assures Portia that his complexion does not mean he is any different and that he is just like any other European man. To marry Portia the suitor must pick from three caskets and if the suitor picks the right one then it means he is the one who is destined to marry Portia. There is one string though, if the suitor picks wrong he must remaind unmarried for his whole life, a rule that the Prince of Morocco readily accepts.

                Launcelot Gobbo is a servant of Shylock and cannot decide if he should run away from his master. Part of him wants to leave while his conscience reminds him of his honest nature and urges him to stay. His reason for leaving is that his master is “a kind of devil.” His master is Jewish. Launcelot decides to run away but just as he is leaving his father, Old Gobbo, enters. Old Gobbo is blind and asks Launcelot how to get to Shylock’s house so he can find Launcelot. Launcelot reveals his identity to his father and confesses that he is leaving Shylock’s employment to go serve Bassanio. At that moment Bassanio enters and Launcelot with his father beg Bassanio to take Launcelot as his servent which is accepted.

                Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, bids Launcelot goodbye after telling him that his presence made her life with her father more bearable. She also gives Launcelot a letter to carry to Bassanio’s friend Lorenzo. She confesses to herself that she is only his daughter by blood, not by actions, and hopes to escape the relationship to Shylock by marrying Lorenzo and converting to Christianity.

                On a street in Venice, Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salarino, and Solanio discuss plans to unite Lorenzo with Jessica. Lorenzo assures them all that they will have enough time to gather the necessary supplies to unite them. While they talk Launcelot enters with the letter from Jessica which he gives to Lorenzo. After receiving the letter Launcelot is sent back to Shylock’s house to let Jessica know that Lorenzo will not fail her. Lorenzo then tells Gratiano that Jessica will escape from Shylock’s house disguised as Lorenzo’s torchbearer and gives Gratiano the letter so he can read it.

Shylock warns Launcelot that Bassanio will not be as lenient a master as Shylock has been, and that Launcelot will no longer overeat and oversleep. Shylock asks Jessica to keep the doors locked and not look out at the revelry taking place in the streets before his dinner, but Launcelot whispers to Jessica that she must disobey her father and look out the window for the Christian who “will be worth a Jewes eye”. Shylock tries to convince Jessica that Launcelot isn’t a good servant before he leaves. Jessica, after her father left, decides to run away from her father.

Gratiano and Salarino meet in front of Shylock’s house. They are especially anxious because Lorenzo is late, and they think that lovers tend to always be early. Lorenzo finally joins them and calls up to Jessica, who appears on the balcony dressed as a page and tosses him a casket of gold and jewels. Then Antonio enters to report that Bassanio is sailing for Belmont immediately. Gratiano is grateful to leave the festivities and join Bassanio at once.

Back in Belmont, Portia shows the prince of Morocco to the caskets, where he will guess which chest contains her portrait. The words, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire” are in the first casket, made of gold. The second casket, made of silver, reads, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves”. The third, a heavy leaden casket, says, “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath”. The prince chooses the gold casket, thinking that only the most precious metal could house the picture of such a beautiful woman. He opens the chest and sees a skull with a scroll in its eye socket. The Prince failed the test and left unwillingly. Portia is glad to see him go and hopes that “all of his complexions choose me so”.

Solanio reported Shylock’s rage toward the departure of his daughter and the lost of his ducats to Salarino. Solanio hopes that Antonio is able to pay his debt, but Salarino reminds him of rumors that the long-awaited ships have capsized in the English Channel. The two men warmly remember Bassanio’s departure from Antonio, wherein the merchant insisted that his young friend is not allowed thoughts of debt or danger to interfere with his courtship of Portia.

The Prince of Arragon is in Belmont to try his luck at winning Portia’s hand in marriage. He selects the silver one, thinking that he “shall get as much as he deserves”. Inside, he finds a portrait of a blinking idiot, and a poem that condemns him as a fool. Soon after he departs, a messenger arrives to tell Portia that a promising young Venetian, who seems like the perfect suitor, has come to Belmont to try his luck at the casket game. Hoping that it is Bassanio, Portia and Nerissa go out to greet the new suitor.

Merchant of Venice Act I

Somewhere in Venice, Antonio is a Venetian merchant who is sad. His friends, Salerio and Solanio suggest that his sadness comes from him worrying about shipping his cargo. Bassanio, Antonio’s friend, wants to borrow money from Antonio so he can marry Portia. Portia lives in Belmont and is the daughter of a wealth noble. Antonio has no money because his ship is stuck on the ocean and therfore cannot lend any to Bassanio.

Meanwhile, at Portia’s house, Portia’s father imposed the condition on Portia marriage that suitors must choose between three casks, of gold, silver, and lead, in order to win her hand, and swear off marrying if they lose. The Neapolitan prince, the County Palatine, Monsieur Le Bon, Falconbridge, the Scottish lord, and a young German failed the test.  The Prince of Morocco and Bassanio are the only ones left but Portia doesn’t like the Prince of Morocco because he has the "complexion of a devil".

Back in Venice, Bassanio went to a Jew moneylender named Shylock for a loan of 3000 ducats. Shylock was concerned about loaning money to Bassanio because of his hatred towards Antonio and Antonio’s anti-semitic behaviour towards Shylock. Nevertheless, Shylock agrees to loan the money to Bassanio without any interest. However, Shylock said that the loan must be repaid in three months or Shylock will exact a pound of flesh from Antonio. Antonio agrees, confident that his ships will return in time.