Antonio, a Venetian businessman, borrowed money from Shylock, an enemy Jewish usurer, to help Bassanio marry Portia. Promise to cut off a catty of your own flesh to pay off your debts if you can't pay back the money. Unexpectedly, his merchant ship was in distress at sea and could not repay the loan on time, so Shylock took it to court.

Repeatedly insulted and discriminated by the other side, his daughter Jessica eloped with Lorenzo, so Shylock came to the court in Venice with a grudge. He flatly refused to reconcile, and when the plot reached a gripping climax, he resolutely cut off a pound of meat from Antonio according to the terms of the IOU.

On the other hand, in the elegant Belmont Manor, Portia, a beautiful and rich girl, lamented that her lifelong event must rely on three color boxes of gold, silver and lead set by her father before her death, and the suitor who chose the right color box was her husband. Portia was distressed by his father's deprivation of marital autonomy. Fortunately, Bassanio, who loves her deeply, chose the lead box, and everything will be fine.

The above two main plots meet in the scene of' court proceedings', and Portia, dressed as a doctor of law, shouts' Wait a minute!' And pointed out to Shylock that the IOU only said that he could take a pound of flesh from Antonio, but did not say that he could take a drop of blood from Antonio. Shylock can't just cut Antonio's flesh without making him bleed. Clever Portia saved her husband's friend's life with her wisdom.

After winning the lawsuit, Portia asked her husband for a wedding ring as a reward for winning the case, and when she returned home, she framed her husband, causing a comedy quarrel. Finally, in Bassanio's epiphany, the play ended successfully.

brief introduction

The plot of the play is unfolded through three lines: first, Portia chooses relatives; One is the love and elopement between Jessica and Lorenzo; There is also a contract dispute about "cutting a catty of meat".

The theme of the script is to praise kindness, friendship and love, and at the same time, it reflects the contradiction between the commercial bourgeoisie and usurers in the early capitalist period, and shows the author's humanistic thinking on money, law and religion in bourgeois society. An important literary achievement of the play is to create a typical image of Shylock, a mercenary and ruthless usurer.

Some excerpts were selected into the Chinese textbooks of People's Education Publishing House (the second volume of the ninth grade 13 class) and Shanghai Education Publishing House (the first volume of the eighth grade).

Extended data:

Textual research of plot

According to capel's textual research, the script of The Merchant of Venice was inspired by the Italian story collection of Sir Giovanni Fiorentino's work II Pecorone ("Big Sheep" or translated as "Idiot", 1378).

The story of asking for a pound of meat is taken from The Speaker published by Alexander sylvain 1596.

Portia's method of choosing a husband was taken from Gestalt Romanom, a collection of novels written in English in13rd century, and the plot of Jessica's elopement was taken from The Story of Masscio di Salerno written in 1470.

In 1589, the British playwright christopher marlowe had written The Jew of Malta.

Historical background

It is a medieval legend that Jews eat Christian meat at Passover. Christians generally believe that Jews hurt Jesus Christ. When Europeans mention Jews, they think of usury, and Jews can lend to Christians. Deuteronomy in the Old Testament records: "Lending to foreigners can be profitable, but lending to your brother is not profitable."

However, Christians are prohibited from usury. 1 179, the third largest parliament in Rutland stipulated that usurers would be excommunicated. Jews are generally excluded from society because of usury. During the reign of King Edward I of England of England, he ordered the Jews to be expelled from England. 1492, Jews were expelled from Spain.

1509, when the Cambre League War broke out, Jews fled to Venice and lived in an old-fashioned iron foundry. These Jews are asked to wear yellow clothes or yellow hats. 154 1 year, the Venetian authorities arranged for Jews to live in another settlement, the later famous Red Table, which was seven stories high.

Later, Jews were allowed to become citizens of Venice and engage in trade activities. In early Europe, almost all bankers were Jews and lived in Lombardy, northern Italy. British banks evolved from Italian banks.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Merchant of Venice