Gender roles in Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare’s aim to challenge male-dominated society
The main plot of the play starts with Antonio (merchant) getting a loan from Shylock (Jewish moneylender) to help his friend Bassanio to court Portia. In exchange for money, Shylock demands a pound of Antonio’s flesh, in case if the debt is not paid back. Then, Bassanio travels to Belmont to compete with wealthy men from all around the world for marriage with Portia. Portia’s father requires that a successful suitor needs to choose the right chest between gold, silver, and lead; Bassanio succeeds and marries Portia. Furthermore, Portia’s servant Nerissa marries Gratiano and Jessica runs away with Lorenzo from her father Shylock. Towards the end of the play when Antonio fails to repay the loan, Shylock goes to court to demand the pound of flesh. Disguised as a lawyer and clerk, Portia and Nerissa travel to Venice to save Antonio. The play ends tragically for Shylock as he was forced to give up his fortune and even his faith.
Shakespeare is a highly respected English playwright who lived in the 16th century. As National Arts Centre English Theatre mentions, “He tells stories about kings and queens and princes, and makes us cry. He tells stories about tricks and mistaken identities and falling in and out of love, and makes us laugh” (Moore, 2008, p.1). The Merchant of Venice, particularly, does not fit into genres of tragedy or comedy exclusively as there are elements of both. Play fuses serious issues such as Shylock’s tragic destiny who had to give up his faith in addition to his fortune with romantic stories of Nerissa and Gratiano, and witty lines of some characters. Additionally, the play covers important topics of a father-daughter relationship, friendship, religion. Moreover, “Shakespeare has nowhere in any of his dramas made religion as such the principal motive” (Snider, 1872). So, some might even say that the main theme Shakespeare intended to portray is a relationship between Christians and Jews in the16th century. However, in this essay, I want to focus on gender roles and propose the idea that Shakespeare aimed to challenge a male-dominated society through this play.
To begin with, The Merchant of Venice was written in the period 1596–98 and England of that time had a very hierarchical society. “Early modern England was a society structured not only by concepts of hierarchy and rank but also by concepts of gender” (Pollock, 1989). Each person knew the role and specific attributes needed to be executed by men or women. For example, in the play, men are depicted as powerful and women as weak. Portia was controlled by her father who requested the way her husband should be chosen. Portia’s feelings regarding this situation can be understood through her speech to Nerissa, her servant:
“I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike,
so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.
Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none?” (1.2.20–24)
Furthermore, evidence of a male-dominated society can be derived from the aspect of crossdressing in the play. First, Jessica who mentions “But though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not to his manners” runs away from her father Shylock by wearing page boy’s suit (2.3.15). It is noticeable that the only way Jessica was able to escape was by disguising herself as a male. This shows how women were perceived as being weak and could not do much without the permission of the male figures. Moreover, in later acts, Portia and Nerissa save Antonio’s life by disguising as a male lawyer and clerk. If before, Portia was perceived as just a beautiful and rich woman, after turning into men she becomes smart and courageous. From the following lines it is evident that Portia is an intelligent woman who knows law terms (act, desirest):
Thyself shalt see the act. For as thou urgest justice, be assured
Thou shalt have justice more than thou desirest. (4.1.315)
Portia’s potential gets limited in the beginning parts of the play because of her gender but she gets an opportunity only when she turns into a male. The Merchant of Venice is a clear representation of Elizabethan England’s society and citizens of that England were the main audience (Raffel, 2006). Therefore, I believe that Shakespeare intended to challenge society by portraying how society is biased against females. It brings dissonance and makes you rethink that women in the play exhibited more than just ‘feminine’ traits but were able to showcase another side of them only through disguise into males.
References
Hinton, D. (2008). Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology. New York: Farrar, Straus and
Giroux.
Moore, J. (2008). Shakespeare: an overview of his life, times, and work. National Arts Centre.
Retrieved from http://artsalive.ca/pdf/eth/activities/shakespeare_overview.pdf
Raffel, B. (2006). The Merchant of Venice. New Have and London: Yale University Press.
Snider, D. (1872). The Merchant of Venice. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 6(2), 130-
142.
Pollock, L. (1989). ‘Teach her to live under obedience’: the making of women in the upper ranks
of early modern England. Contunuity and Change 4(2), 231–258.
