The Merchant of Venice
BY ADMIN PUBLISHED December 3, 2020, UPDATED January 13, 2023
The Merchant of Venice is a book full of tragedy, drama, love, comedy and a lot more. It sheds new light on a classic story of revenge, justice, and mercy. The plot is very good. It also talks about prejudice which was prevalent at that time though it made me a little sad. But there are a whole lot of other light and funny moments too. I wish the book had been a little shorter. To make a point, Shakespeare keeps repeating the same thing using numerous examples which gets rather monotonous. I also wish he gave a proper closure to the novel as I felt left wanting for more clarity on how things ended. I loved reading about the characters, their respective situations and how they stuck together throughout even though they were not always right. Also the amount of fun they had when all of them were together during the masquerade was very enjoyable to read. The Merchant of Venice is an exciting book which keeps you guessing at almost every point. I have already read the book twice and if you do choose to pick it up, I’m sure you will re-read it too. The book offers beautiful quotes and speeches which have important life lessons like the “Mercy Speech” by Portia which teaches us the importance of forgiveness. Even though it has been approximately 422 years since the book was officially published, one can still connect with it.
To a modern reader, it isn’t much comical but instead a tragedy and something that shows all the things that are wrong with the world and that something needs to be done. That change should be brought sooner rather than later, before it’s too late to do anything. Racism is wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated at all. However, in the book it shows how those that face prejudice just let it happen and don’t even try to stop or overcome it. At the start of the book it reads as if Shakespeare is also one of those racists by making Shylock look like the bad guy. He appears somewhat like the modern banker willing to give money to anybody whether it’s against their policy or not and wanting it back at the exact time agreed or there are huge consequences. Shylock takes the chance to get the people that have constantly abused him back, but instead they are able to turn it against him because of the society they live in. While we acknowledge this is wrong as an onlooker, we forget to be grateful that our society is just a little better than presented. How much better it is, is somewhat questionable. However, society is more balanced and accepting in general. While it is meant to be all about morals and explaining that trying to get at somebody is not a good thing to do because everybody ends up with tarnished reputations and opinions. When looking at it from an economic stance, however, it seems to be much more just a breeding ground for uncaring capitalists leading to the somewhat sad modern world.
I couldn’t have asked for more. This book is perfection. Buy it. Read it. You will love it.
Book review by Swar Vohra
XI-SC
