Merchant of Venice Modern Interpretation - Act 4 Scene 1

*SPOILERS*

Sorry for being off for a whole week, I had exams. But now that I have come back here is something special to inaugurate it. A theory I came up for Merchant of Venice (MOV) myself. For those of you who don't know what it is, its a play written by Shakespeare about the Antisemitism in the Elizabethan era. The plot goes like this, a rich merchant called Antonio has a friend Bassanio who need money to got to Belmont to woo Princess Portia for marriage. He borrows money from a Jewish moneylender known as Shylock. And the forfeiture to pay the bond after 3 months would be a pound of Antonio's flesh.

This particular scene, Act 4 Scene 1 is a trial scene where Antonio and Shylock are trialed with Shylock winning as law was on his side. He almost cut the pound of flesh from Antonio when Portia disguised as a lawyer finds a loophole in the contract. Shylock may cut the flesh but he may not spill a single drop of Christian blood. Thus, Shylock ultimately loses all his belongings to the state. This scene is the climax of the whole play.


Now comes the interesting part: Shakespeare had written this play in 1596, but this scene has relations to a popular concept introduced in 1969. The relationship is absolutely chilling and spot-on. In 1969 a psychiatrist called Kubler Ross wrote in her book "On Death and Dying" that there are 5 stages of grief that a person experiences before death-

1. Denial- Shutting out reality and living in one's imagination
2. Anger- Misplaced rage or envy and extreme emotions
3. Bargaining- Negotiating for extended life or more time
4. Depression- Understanding certainty of death, living becomes pointless
5. Acceptance- Preparing oneself for the inevitable

Or DABDA for short.
One faces all these stages in this particular order before death. The following logic is true even for MOV in the trial scene since Antonio comes close to death. His friends and him face all these stages although the order is not followed, and a single character does not face all the stages together. Instead, Antonio goes through Depression and Acceptance; Bassanio faces Bargaining, Denial and Depression; Portia goes through Bargaining along with the Duke while another close friend of Antonio, Gratiano faces Anger .

Following is a list of dialogues that show the inner feelings of each character, the first few letters of each stage is used to mark which phrase represents what stage:-

Antonio-

1.  I do oppose my patience to his fury, and am armed to suffer with a quietness of spirit <DEP>
2. I pray you, think you question with the Jew? y

   ou may as well go stand upon the beach
   And bid the main flood bate his usual height <ACC>
3. But with all brief and plain conveniency let me have judgment and the Jew his will <ACC>
4. I am a tainted wether of the flock, m

   eetest for death. The weakest kind of fruit d

   rops earliest to the ground, and so let me

   <ACC>
5. For herein Fortune shows herself more kind t

   han is her custom. It is still her use t

   o let the wretched man outlive his wealth, t

   o view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow a

   n age of poverty—from which lingering penance o

   f such misery doth she cut me off

   <ACC>, <DEP>

Bassonio:-

1.  For thy three thousand ducats here is six <BAR>
2. Good cheer, Antonio! What, man, courage yet! T

   he Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones and all, e

   re thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood

   <DEN>, <DEP>
3. Yea, twice the sum. If that will not suffice, 

   I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er, o

   n forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart

   <BAR>
4. To do a great right, do a little wrong, a

   nd curb this cruel devil of his will

   <BAR>, <ANG>

Gratiano:-

1. no metal can -n

   o, not the hangman’s axe—bear half the keenness o

   f thy sharp envy

   <ANG>
2. O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog. 

   Thy currish spirit governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter, even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, and whilst thou layest in thy unhallowed dam Infused itself in thee, for thy desires are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous <ANG>

Portia:-

1. Is he not able to discharge the money? <BAR>
2. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, t

   o stop his wounds lest he do bleed to death 

   <BAR>

   

Thus, we can see numerous proofs as to the unique relation between Shakespeare's play and Kubler Ross' work. I thought this tidbit might be interesting and helpful for those studying MOV. And as always :-

THANKS FOR READING, HAVE A NICE DAY!