The Three Caskets
The contest for Portia’s hand, in
which suitors from various countries choose among a gold, a silver, and a lead
casket, resembles the cultural and legal system of Venice in some respects.
Like the Venice of the play, the casket contest presents the same opportunities
and the same rules to men of various nations, ethnicities, and religions. Also
like Venice, the hidden bias of the casket test is fundamentally Christian. To
win Portia, Bassanio must ignore the gold casket, which bears the inscription,
“Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire” (II.vii.5), and the silver
casket, which says, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves”
(II.vii.7). The correct casket is lead and warns that the person who chooses it
must give and risk everything he has. The contest combines a number of
Christian teachings, such as the idea that desire is an unreliable guide and
should be resisted, and the idea that human beings do not deserve God’s grace
but receive it in spite of themselves. Christianity teaches that appearances
are often deceiving, and that people should not trust the evidence provided by
the senses—hence the humble appearance of the lead casket. Faith and charity
are the central values of Christianity, and these values are evoked by the lead
casket’s injunction to give all and risk all, as one does in making a leap of
faith. Portia’s father has presented marriage as one in which the proper suitor
risks and gives everything for the spouse, in the hope of a divine recompense
he can never truly deserve. The contest certainly suits Bassanio, who knows he
does not deserve his good fortune but is willing to risk everything on a
gamble.
The Pound of Flesh
The pound of flesh that Shylock
seeks lends itself to multiple interpretations: it emerges most as a metaphor
for two of the play’s closest relationships, but also calls attention to
Shylock’s inflexible adherence to the law. The fact that Bassanio’s debt is to
be paid with Antonio’s flesh is significant, showing how their friendship is so
binding it has made them almost one. Shylock’s determination is strengthened by
Jessica’s departure, as if he were seeking recompense for the loss of his own
flesh and blood by collecting it from his enemy. Lastly, the pound of flesh is
a constant reminder of the rigidity of Shylock’s world, where numerical
calculations are used to evaluate even the most serious of situations. Shylock
never explicitly demands that Antonio die, but asks instead, in his numerical
mind, for a pound in exchange for his three thousand ducats. Where the other
characters measure their emotions with long metaphors and words, Shylock
measures everything in far more prosaic and numerical quantities.
Leah’s Ring
The ring given to Shylock in his
bachelor days by a woman named Leah, who is most likely Shylock’s wife and
Jessica’s mother, gets only a brief mention in the play, but is still an object
of great importance. When told that Jessica has stolen it and traded it for a
monkey, Shylock very poignantly laments its loss: “I would not have given it
for a wilderness of monkeys” (III.i.101–102). The lost ring allows us to see
Shylock in an uncharacteristically vulnerable position and to view him as a
human being capable of feeling something more than anger. Although Shylock and
Tubal discuss the ring for no more than five lines, the ring stands as an
important symbol of Shylock’s humanity, his ability to love, and his ability to
grieve.
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