"The Merchant of Venice ", William Shakespeare (1594) - relationships between characters

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In 'The Merchant of Venice', the characters are linked together on account of their love, their friendship and also because of money. The plots thus, have many dimensions and the play itself has many important themes, among which is the bonds. Indeed, this notion is very ambivalent and it is linked with many aspects of the story. A bond can be defined as something that forms a connection between people such as a feeling of friendship. The friendship between Antonio and Bassanio is indeed one of the main bonds of the play. These two characters are very different as Antonio is a melancholic man who contributes to the tragic mood of the play. Besides, at the very beginning of the play he is looking for the reason of his sadness and he cannot find it. The spectator, can thus imagine that he is in love with Antonio, which gives a good explanation of his behaviour.

Extraits

[...] Instead of their differences, they are linked by a bond of friendship which seems almost indispensable for both of them. Antonio is truly attached to Bassanio owing to the fact that he might consider him as the joyful man he would like to be while he does not manage to be something else but the melancholic character. As far as Bassanio is concerned, he considers Antonio as his one and truly friend for having helped and sustained him: you, Antonio, I owe the most in money and in love” (act sc 1). [...]

[...] "Le marchand de Venise", William Shakespeare (1594) - les relations entre les personnages In The Merchant of Venice, the characters are linked together on account of their love, their friendship and also because of money. The plots thus have many dimensions and the play itself has many important themes, among which the bonds. Indeed, this notion is very ambivalent and it is linked with many aspects of the story so that it is one of the main themes of the play. [...]

[...] Consequently, bonds in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice are a major pattern both on theatrical and psychological plans. On the one hand, these bonds have a prominent influence on the structure of the play, on its rhythm and atmosphere. They create suspense. On the other hand, bonds link the characters all to together so that they are plunged into the same adventure and Shakespeare show the spectator how they react to the situation he puts them in. He makes the outside, that is to say the play itself, and the inside, namely the characters' psychology, their feelings, work together. [...]

[...] What's more, thanks to the bond of love, this tragic mood does not impose itself in the play. Indeed, the bond of love between Portia and Bassanio makes the play a romantic comedy. In spite of her being a strong spirited woman, Portia has to fulfil her duty accomplishing the will of her father who invented a system of caskets to choose her husband. She thus has to control on her life and cannot choose the one she loves. However, Bassanio comes to Belmont and finds the rights casket so that he marries Portia. [...]

[...] Indeed, it is always present in each relationship between characters. The bond of love and the bond of friendship are created by money and depend on money. For example, we can imagine that if Antonio does not lend money to Bassanio, he will be interested in him anymore; as he is a melancholic man Bassanio might get tired of him. Therefore, we can assume that the situation would have been completely different without money. We will thus see that the bonds are a very clever theatrical device. [...]