What Is Merchant Of Venice About?

The Merchant of Venice is a romantic comedy about a young man named Bassanio and the ordeal faced by his friend Antonio, the merchant due to his love interest in Portia. Antonio had borrowed a sum from a Jew lender named Shylock who was renown for his shrewdness and cruelty, a usurer who had stipulated a contract demanding a pound of flesh from Antonio if he had failed to honor the bond mutually agreed upon by them. However, Antonio succeeds in winning Portia's hand for marriage and an onset of misfortune causes Antonio to default on the contract. Shylock who already had contempt for Christians demanded a pound of flesh and would accept no alternate offers even when Bassanio agreed to pay double the amount Antonio had defaulted on. However, all ends well when Portia disguised as a young male lawyer named Balthasar cornered Shylock with the argument that he is entitled to the pound of flesh but without shedding a single drop of blood. All ends well as Shylock concedes his claim and agrees to accept to forfeit the contract with the repayment of the original sum.