Status Updates From The Merchant of Venice

He is a bit like the prodigal son, going to the father for money, only he does it more than once. Antonio has a huge fortune and he is willing to give freely what he has. His issue is cash flow: it’s all tied up elsewhere. He says how his purse is unlocked to Bassanio (hat tip to the casket story). Bassiano uses the word hazard foreshadowing the lead casket. He hopes that by marrying a rich lady he can pay his debt.

The S and S friends foreshadow the wrecks. The water imagery goes really well with Venice and with chaos because of the disordered lives of many characters. Lorenzo is also under the influence of Mercury. He is eloquent in his poetry but he is a thief and helps Jessice to steal gold ducats from her father Shylock. Bassanio has a debt he cannot pay (like all of us) and he wants to extend himself further to win Portia.

Could he be the silver casket? At first Antonio talks about chaos and his mind tossing. He denies that it is money (Mercury) and love (Venus)--the play’s title! Perhaps it is the emptiness of his soul. In the original bond story by Florentino, “Antonio” runs out of money trying to help “Bassanio.” Shakespeare pulls the shipwreck from the original casket story and puts it into the bond story.

Antonio starts out melancholy (lead, Saturn) on the inside even though on the outside he is gold (a wealthy merchant). I wonder if this means he is disordered and if he is the golden casket. It certainly foreshadows the threat of death in his life. There’s always combining and recombining in Shakespeare: 3 becomes 6 becomes 4 becomes 2. Gratianos may be a lovable rogue. He comes across as a fool but also quicksilver.

The name is interesting. Marlowe named his play The Jew of Malta. Shakespeare names his The Merchant of Venice. Merchant (Mercury and commerce with an opportunity for alchemy: quicksilver and MERCY) and Venice (named for Venus love--mercy is an expression of love). Marlowe makes it obvious the play is about the Jew. Shakespeare leaves us wondering. Is Antonio the Merchant or Shylock?

I’ve read Goddard and I do find his view interesting. What if the fairy tale lenses give us the gold and Goddard’s thinking give us the lead? What if the structure is either gold with lead on the inside or vice versa? I wonder. He could be saying to the glittery people in his audience that they are dead on the inside if the part with Shylock does not settle them. Is he the stone cold Old Law or something else?

Elder abuse play?