상자와 인물의 안과 밖: 『베니스의 상인』연구

Appearance and Reality in the Caskets and Characters in The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice illustrates the theme of the contrast between the appearance and the reality, between what is without and what is within, and between the letter and the spirit. The caskets which appear good contrast with bad contents; words which appear friendly contrast with hostile intentions. Bassanio, who chooses the lead casket, seems to be wise and is able to perceive the discrepancy between appearance and reality. He seems to recognize the spirit beneath the deceptive surface. Portia seems to be a wise and merciful person who practices the Christian love and mercy, and who can manipulate the situation. However, Bassanio is not so virtuous as he appears to be. He seems to reject what "many men desire" inscribed in the golden casket, but, in fact, he chooses what many men desire, a rich and beautiful woman, assisted by Portia's cunning hints. He is cunning enough to hide his real intentions in the name of love. Portia is also not so virtuous and merciful. Portia, who presented racial prejudices on Morocco and Arragon, reveals a prejudice against the Jew. She interprets waywardly the legal paper between Antonio and Shylock and makes an arbitrary decision for the sake of the Christian; she ignores the spirit beneath the literal meaning of the legal paper. She asks mercy from Shylock, but she is merciful only to the Christian. In appearance, the play seems to be a satire against Shylock, the cruel Jew, but, in reality, it is a subtle satire on the seeming virtuous Christians. The play shows us the contradiction between the Christian goodly outside and their inner cruelty. The Christians are merciful only to their Christian brothers, but they are not merciful to the Jew. They make Shylock their scapegoat. There are no big differences between the Jew and the Christians. The Christians' merciful appearances and their realities do not match in their dealing with the Jew, Shylock. They are hypocritical. It is ironic that Shylock is less hypocritical than the Christians, and the contradiction between his appearance and reality is less obvious.