Appearance vs. Reality in Merchant Of Venice

The theme of Appearance Vs. Reality is used throughout the play to mislead and confuse so things may not always be what they seem. Shakespeare uses deception to enhance the unfolding drama and involve his audience more fully in the play – the audience are party to deceptions which the characters themselves are unaware of.

Prejudice was common and the word “Jew” applied to hardhearted unscrupulous moneylenders. An Elizabethan audience would have been happy to see a Jew, Spaniard or a Moor deceived and Shakespeare clearly tried to give his audience what it wanted. In contrast, many, particularly ladies, would have admired the strong and witty Portia and even though she appears arrogant and racist this would have been accepted in Elizabethan England. Any deception carried out by Portia would therefore be admired and applauded by Shakespeare’s audience and it is not surprising therefore she carries out that many deceptions.

A major theme running though the play is that of Christians disliking Jews and Jews returning the feelings. Towards the start of the play Shakespeare introduces deception when Antonio (a Christian) wants a bond from Shylock (a Jew). Shylock agrees to the bond under the condition that Shylock gets a pound of Antonio’s flesh for each pound he cannot return. This bond seems to come out of friendship from Shylock and he describes, “I would be friends with you, and have your love…” The audience, however, knows at this point that Shylock is deceiving Antonio; although Shylock pretends to like Antonio “Antonio is a good man” and wants to be friends he has already expressed to the audience his hatred for Antonio. Shylock also describes the bond as “this merry bond”. A merry bond is a bond which is not serious, a joke, and if the terms of the bond were broken you would not expect to see Shylock wanting to take up the strict terms of it.

Again, this is another deception, as later in the play Shylock wants full revenge by taking his pounds of flesh from Antonio. These are two deceptions played on Antonio by Shylock. An Elizabethan audience might expect nothing less of a Jew. By hiding his hatred for Antonio and making light of the pound of flesh, Shylock succeeds in his deception.

The next deception is the elopement of Jessica and Lorenzo; a deception in this instant against Shylock. Lorenzo doesn’t care about the consequences to Shylock a...

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...eceit when they elope. Deception and intrigue were very common in Shakespeare’s times. He writes about deception as it is what he saw around him and also because it holds his audience’s attention especially when the audience know a character in the play is deceiving another but the other character is not aware of this. Therefore, through deception Shakespeare brings his audience into the play itself and maintains their interest. They would have greatly appreciated being involved in the deceits and lies and would have been familiar, from life around them, with the concept of deception and enjoyed it.

The line “All that glistens is not gold” has survived over 400 years and is used today to warn that outward appearances may mask what is on the inside and this is the message of Shakespeare’s play. Whether Shakespeare was using deception to put across such a message or just to entertain his audience or both, the use of deception gives the play an intriguing plot, with heroes and villains and a theme which his Elizabethan audience could easily relate to.

Work Cited

Kaplan, M. Lindsay, ed. William Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice. Bedford/ St. Martin’s: New York, 2002.