The view that 'The Merchant of Venice' is a comedy with tragic possibilities

I consider The Merchant of Venice as a comedy with tragic possibilities mostly due to the melancholy ending which leaves the reader thinking whether what happened during the play could be considered morally good or not. Aristotle produced the first ideas about what a tragic and comic play were. Shakespeare altered this slightly but the Shakespearean model is still pretty much identical. I would define a comedy as everything a tragedy is not. In a tragedy all of the main action happens in one day and in that day there must be a revolution.

Most of the time, the main character, or the tragic hero, is of noble birth or of high status so that when they die, which they most likely will, they fall far. This makes us feel sympathetic to the character. This happens as we let ourselves go through a, “willing suspension of belief” during the play, which makes us basically get emotionally involved in the play even though we know that the play is not real.

A tragic play, because of this willing suspension of belief, excites the emotions of pity and fear.

Pity is a synonym of sympathy and fear is felt due to the fact that we wonder what it would be like for us to be in that position and we are fearful of it. Catharsis, an idea of Aristotle which the audience feel they are watching the play. It is like a cleansing process as it teaches you not to become a murderer and so forth.

Get quality help now

writer-Charlotte

Verified

Proficient in: Comedy

4.7 (348)

“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

It makes you into a better person. Whilst reading the merchant of Venice I felt Sympathy for Shylock and fear arose when Antonio was about to die. The play told me not to be criticising of others because of there beliefs.

The Merchant of Venice consequently has the characteristics of a tragedy. A comedy is therefore is a play in which the main character, the comic hero, prospers. The ‘evil’ character therefore gets what is coming to him and usually dies. This was seen as a waste of time by Aristotle and I agree as in the end everyone is happy and there is no revolution. Pity and fear are not felt, and in its place is happiness. This means that there is not as much point in the play as things work out. When things don’t work out we feel sympathy and we learn a lesson. This is the Catharsis which makes us a better person.

Even though you may have Catharsis experienced in a comedy due to the fact that it tells you not to be the like the ‘bad’ character, the catharsis from watching a tragic play is much greater. This is because we feel more intense emotions and it gets the audience thinking more about the issues in the play, whether they are social, cultural, legal, moral etc. The play has the basic layout of a comedy because you could say there is a comic villain, and a comic hero throughout the play but tragedy also comes into it as if you feel sympathy for Shylock he is the tragic hero.

The comic characters in this play are Launcelot Gobbo and Old Gobbo. The Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon can be seen as comic characters also for their extravagance and arrogance. The Prince of Morocco says he would “Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth” which is a very overconfident thing to say. In Act 2, Scene 2, Launcelot, referred to as the “clown” and Old Gobbo, his father, interact in a comic way. Due to the fact that Old Gobbo is blind and easy to fool Launcelot plays around with him and tricks him into thinking his son is dead even though he is talking about himself and is obviously not.

Then when he tries to convince his father he is not dead, being the dim old man he is he says to Launcelot that he is “sure you are not Launcelot my boy. ” This comic interaction continues but these characters are very minor, especially Old Gobbo as he does not appear at any other time unlike Launcelot who appears several times. However these are the most clearly comic characters as one is called a clown and one is very old and gullible. They may have been placed in the story to give the other characters some time to change, but mainly they are there to provide the audience with some comic relief.

Launcelot would have been used to show that Shylock is a dull and unkind man as he leaves Shylock without a servant and becomes the servant of Bassanio who is portrayed as much kinder and interesting person. These comic characters would be used in a comedy. With these characters the play becomes much more light hearted and comic for the audience, creating a happy feeling of the play. The Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon are also minor roles in the play. There are comic as they are seen as big-headed and very flamboyant as they say things like “did I deserve no more than a fool’s head. This is when Arragon is trying to seem incredibly intelligent above others as he mocks a man who would go for the golden casket and comically for the audience it was Morocco who would went for the Golden casket. Morocco is very proud and believes he is very worthy of Portia because of how noble and rich he is. Arragon is slightly wiser yet still quite proud and also tries to impress Portia, but with words, not his reputation. These characters are comic but still have a role to play. They have to be the characters who try the casket game and fail.

This leaves the reader or audience with the knowledge of which casket is the right one and makes it more exciting when Bassanio chooses the right casket. A comedy would include these characters as they bring a comic feel to the play due to their comically high opinions of themselves. To me there is only one clearly comic scene in the play as there are others which are partially comic but have serious issues displayed as well. For instance, the scenes with Morocco and Arragon fit this description as they are comic because of the way in which the Princes are very exaggerated, ostentatious and adoring of themselves.

Morocco says that his reputation “hath feared the valiant. ” However they also talk about important issues like racial issues when Morocco says to Portia not to immediately dislike him because of his “complexion. ” They both talk in a very passionate and heartfelt way showing that they are there not purely for comic reasons. The clearly comic scene in the play is Act 2 Scene 2 as this is the scene with Launcelot Gobbo and Old Gobbo. As I said before Launcelot jokes with his father and tricks him as he is very easy to fool.

Launcelot fools Old Gobbo into thinking that he is not Launcelot and that the Launcelot he speaks of has “gone to heaven. ” Launcelot then tries to convince his father that he is really his son but Old Gobbo is not convinced until Launcelot mentions “Margaret” which is his mother’s name. This interaction is all very light hearted and insignificant to the play but its function is to provide some comic relief for the audience and maybe give some time to the other actors to get changed and practice their lines and so forth.

Also this kind of scene would be used in a comedy as I said before to make the play more light hearted, happy, and enjoyable. Shylock is a Jew and is therefore a minority in Venice. He is criticised for this and prejudices are formed against him about him being a bad man for being a Jew. He is put down by always being referred to as “the Jew” which would be very angering. During the play we feel mixed emotions towards Shylock. With the knowledge of what has happened to the Jews during the centuries we feel sympathetic to a greater extent towards him. However does he deserve this sympathy?

Does he have the right to feel unhappy because he has been mistreated for being a Jew or is he really just a bad man who is deserving of these prejudices? When Antonio first meets Shylock we don’t know whether or not to feel sympathetic towards him as he passionately speaks about how he is mistreated but he also backs up the reason for this treatment as he gives us a reason to believe he is tricking Antonio due to his incredibly kind jester of lending money to him without any interest at all, just the right to his flesh if he fails to pay him back in time.

We are backed up about this view as Bassanio says that Shylock has a “villain’s mind. ” When it comes to the court case, Shylock has had his daughter and his money taken away from him by a Christian, and his servant taken away from him by another Christian. He feels as if everyone he knows has turned on him and out of emotion he is desperate to kill Antonio by taking his flesh. Is he right to do such an awful deed because of how badly he feels, or is it unthinkable of a man who has had everything taken from him by Christians to take a Christian’s life.

This has even signed a contract, and agreed to his own death if he does not pay it back, and then he doesn’t? We are not sure whether or not he is a comic villain or a tragic hero which makes the classification of the Merchant of Venice as a comedy or tragedy harder. This helps the view that the Merchant of Venice is a comedy with tragic possibilities. It is up to the reader whether or not Shylock is a comic villain or a tragic hero. Most would portray him as a comic villain and there is a lot of evidence to agree with that.

When considering Shylock as the comic villain, the comic hero must be Bassanio. People leave Shylock for Bassanio or other Christians including his servant, Launcelot, and his daughter, Jessica. Shylock must be an evil man if people despise him enough to leave him and call his house a “house of hell,” like Jessica did in Act 2 Scene 3. Ever since the start we have seen him as a cunning and devious person. We thought that somehow he must have an ulterior motive if he is lending Antonio a large sum of money without any interest, and taking a “pound of man’s flesh” if it is not paid back.

Even though his gesture this time is one interest free, Shylock is a very money greedy man. He makes money from other’s misfortunes as he is a money lender and he hates Antonio because he lends money interest free. His reason for this is a greedy one as he feels that he loses money if people lend money from Antonio and not from him. He values his money more than his daughter after she runs away with his Ducats. He cries “My Daughter, O my Ducats, My Daughter” which shows that he loves them both equally until he says he “I would have her at my feet with the Ducats and Jewels in her ears.

This tells us that he would have his own daughter dead if he could have his money back. He is not a merciful man as when asked to show mercy he doesn’t and he uses Justice as a loophole for the right to kill Antonio legally. Shylock’s evil, devious, greedy, sinister and merciless characteristics cause the reader to believe that he is a comic villain. Being a comic villain would make the play more a comedy than a tragedy and there would then need to be a comic hero, Bassanio. Maybe the reason why everyone hates Shylock is not because he is an awful man, but because he is a Jew.

I believe that it is a spiral of hatred as Shylock feels he must be mean to others as he has been a victim of anti-Semitic behaviour, and more anti-Semitic become the Christians when Shylock is mean to them. Being fair to Shylock, in those days, being a money lender was all Jews could do at the time. This is because Jews were not allowed to do more respectful jobs and money lending is all that they could do to earn money. Shylock also is ganged up upon by most of the characters in the play and has everything of value taken from him.

These include his Daughter, who leaves him for a Christian, and his money, which he has rightfully earned as he doesn’t force people to lend from him. Also Launcelot has left Shylock to be the servant of Bassanio instead and Shylock is left with no one as his wife is deceased. You could call the Christians the evil ones as they are prejudice against Shylock and steal all things of value from him. If people have taken all of value from you, do you not deserve to feel hatred for them?

Shylock does feel hatred towards the people who are against him and uses Antonio as a way to exact his revenge. No matter how sinister it is, he is made to feel like this by the people who in the courtroom case beg for his mercy. Could we see him therefore as a tragic hero? If he was a tragic hero then there would need to be a tragic villain, but who would this be? It would be a tragedy if there was a tragic hero and villain but as there is not, the Merchant of Venice can only have tragic possibilities. The end of the play is very melancholy.

The resolution that should happen in the play for a comedy is that Shylock, the evil man in the play gets his just deserts when he is deserted by his daughter and loses the court case and with it all his remaining money. Also Jessica is now happy with Lorenzo, Portia is happy with Bassanio, Gratiano is happy with Nerissa, Launcelot is happy serving his new master and Antonio lives and becomes amazingly rich. Then again is this really the case? Shylock is a beaten, devastated man who even though he wanted to kill Antonio had a motive that the Jewish people would be happy for this revenge to take place.

He ends up losing all his money, his daughter, his pride, his house and any friends he might have had because of this and there is still prejudice against him. Being a ‘Christian’ person the others must feel some form of guilt towards Shylock for him being such a broken man. Jessica must feel sad for stealing Shylock’s money and deserting him and her faith and siding with the Christians against him. Lorenzo doesn’t understand why she might feel like this and that couple end up unhappy. Portia knows that Bassanio has given his ring away for Antonio, and that Antonio loves Bassanio.

Consequently that relationship is quite awkward and unhappy. Nerrisa is also unhappy with Gratiano as he has given the ring away, and Antonio, even though he is rich again, is lonely, still loves Bassanio and is jealous of Portia. Thus nobody in the end is really happy. The Jews are still put down by the Christians and the other characters are unhappy with each other and unhappy about what they have done to Shylock. What should have been a comedy has turned out to be a comedy with tragic possibilities. So in conclusion is the merchant of Venice a tragedy or a comedy?

I would agree with the view that the merchant of Venice is a comedy with tragic possibilities. It depends on whether or not you think of Shylock as a comic villain or a tragic hero. I would see Shylock as a comic villain in the play as he hates the Christians and in the end tries to kill one. Then again there is more to this as Shylock’s hateful emotions towards the Christians has been a result of immense prejudice against him. The Christians stole his servant, his daughter, and with her his money and pride.

After the court case, and his harsh punishment we cannot help but feel sympathetic towards Shylock. Even the characters that had hated him throughout the play now feel guilt and sympathy. Most of which comes from Jessica, who has deserted her father, stolen his money and sided against him. Therefore we could see Shylock as a tragic hero in some respects. The main feel of the play however is a comic one even if there are blatant elements of a tragedy involved in the play. For that reason I will conclude by saying that The Merchant of Venice in my eyes is indeed a comedy with tragic possibilities.