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A QUICK GLANCE AT THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS What did Salerino say commenting on the parting of Bassanio and Antonio? What did Bassanio say later commenting on ...

Monday 29 August 2016

WHAT WAS THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE DUKE IN THE MERCHANT OF VENICE


We find the mention of the duke at the time he had come to the harbor to search the ship in which Bassanio had set sail for Belmont. He had been roused to action by Shylcok who clamoured for justice as a Christian by the name of Lorenzo had run away with his daughter along with his jewels and money. The Duke did not ignore the pleas of the Jew and sought to take action immediately. Here he shows his sense of duty to stand by a man who is otherwise despised by the majority of people on account of his hard dealings. In the same way he does not fail to persuade the Jew when he insists on cutting a pound of Antonio’s flesh on the basis of his forfeiture. Besides being humane in his own efforts, he seeks to enlist the support of other merchants and noble men for Antonio in his utter crisis.
 Even when the duke fails to make the Jew lenient, he makes another attempt to play on his emotions in the open court. He tells him that people have a very positive opinion about him despite the show of cruelty he has put on. He wants to arouse sympathy in him by telling him that people including him believe that though he is now bent on exacting his penalty, that is, a pound of Antonio’s flesh he will turn around in an amazing manner at the end when the time for the execution of the bond ripens by acting in manner of generosity. Out of his sympathy for the Merchant presently bowed down by his heavy losses he will not only give up his demand for the pound of his flesh but also forgive him a small portion of the principal amount of three thousand ducats.But the persuasive words of the duke influenced by his compassion for Antonio did not have any effect on Shylock.

When the vindictive Jew told him that he had sworn by their holy day of prayer and meditation that he would end up cutting a pound of Antonio’s flesh, the Duke reacted with his sense of shock. He asked him how he could expect to get mercy from others without doing acts of charity. This prompted the Jew to cut the Duke short with his hard hitting words that eventually defined his deep rooted aversion for Antonio the merchant. Later when the Jew had been pinned down with the charge of trying to murder a Christian and faced severe punishment, the duke was the first one to show him mercy even before he had asked for it. That the duke had an intrinsic sense of courtesy was evident from the way he had made a suggestion to Bassanio at the end of the trial to give her a token of thanks. 

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