Blindness in The Merchant of Venice

One major theme that can be seen in The Merchant of Venice is blindness. This shows up in several forms through the duration of the play. It is displayed physically, mentally, and spiritually. The various forms of blindness create tension between characters. The blindness corrupts their actions, causing them to hurt others for their own personal gain.

This theme starts with Old Gobbo, Launcelot's father, who is physically almost blind. He does not even recognize his own son. He approaches Launcelot and asks, 'Master young man, you, I pray you, which is the way to Master Jew's?'; (Pg. 19). Sadly, he did not realize that he was talking to his own son. He does not recognize Launcelot’s features. He is also mentally blind because he cannot discern his son’s voice. Launcelot decides to play a prank on his father, in a way making fun of his blindness, but eventually confesses.

Portia’s suitors present another example of blindness in the play. Portia is forced to have an arranged marriage with the suitor who chooses the correct casket left by her deceased father. Her first suitor is the Prince of Morocco. He sees the beauty and assumed value of the gold casket, along with its engraving, 'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire'; () and chooses this casket. Inside, he finds a skull with a scroll inside of its empty eye. This empty eye signifies the blindness and lack of wisdom of the person who chose the casket. The second suitor, the Prince of Arragon, chooses the silver casket with the engraving 'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves'; (). Inside the silver casket there is a picture of a “blinking idiot” and a note saying that he was a fool for choosing silver. Blinded by appearances, the princes...

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...she was being forced into marriage because her father was blind about her emotional feelings. She wanted to marry out of love and not for the sake of money or power. Things worked out in the end because Bassanio chose the lead casket, the correct choice. He was not blinded by the beauty and assumed value of the other two caskets.

Shylock is emotionally blind because his life revolved around money, not his relationships. He was more concerned about losing his money than his own daughter. When Jessica ran away, he was not concerned with her whereabouts, but about the 'two thousand ducats in [the chest], and other precious, precious jewels'; () that Jessica stole when she eloped. He did not notice that Jessica was unhappy. He did not notice that she was feeling neglected. He was blind to the fact that she was unfulfilled by the Jewish faith. This is why she ran.