A recurring theme in Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is his use of money as a centre around which all of Venice revolves. This is apparent in all parts of the play- even when Shakespeare is discussing the seemingly perfect romance between Bassanio and Portia. To introduce this, when Bassanio first talks of Portia he says that ‘in Belmont there is a lady richly left’- the way the first thing that he says to describe her is comment on how much money she has. This makes the audience question his true motives- as many of the upper class at that time would have married purely for the monetary gain. In doing this Shakespeare places an intrinsic value on currency- it is regarded as being higher than even love in importance. In continuation with the theme of money against love, Bassanio tells Antonio that Portia’s ‘sunny locks hang on her temple like a golden fleece’. In this simile, Bassanio paints himself as the heroic adventurer Jason and Portia as the prize, again stating her as a commodity or prize instead of her worth as a person or her personality. He says this as though her hair being ‘sunny’- something associated with happiness and light- is not enough to be of any interest- instead, the fact that they are like gold- something with major connotations of wealth and value- is where the real compliment lies.
In the case of Shylock money is an essential part of his character. As a Jewish man, who would normally hold jobs such as moneylenders and bankers, he is stereotyped as someone whose entire culture leads him to value money above everything else- including family. Despite being, in the most, very inaccurate and offensive to a more modern day audience, Shylock showcases this in his scene with Jessica in which he tells her to ‘lock up my doors’. The fact that he tells her to lock up HIS doors sounds like a conflict of interest as foremost he makes it