The plot of a play
Antonio, a merchant in Venice, is a generous businessman, which is just the opposite of Shylock, another Jewish usury policy. Antonio's good friend Bassanio borrowed 3000 gold coins from Portia, a beautiful girl in Belmont, because she wanted to propose to him. But Antonio had no money, so she had to borrow 3000 gold coins from Shylock with his merchant ship that didn't return to Hong Kong as collateral.
Shylock hated Antonio, because he lent money at no interest, which affected the usury industry and insulted himself. So he used the opportunity of signing a loan contract to set a trap and wait for revenge.
Shylock resented Antonio's opposition to himself in the past, so he took this opportunity to ask him to replace the merchant ship with a pound of meat. After some conversation, Antonio agreed and signed a contract with him. Bassanio happily went to Belmont to ask for relatives and friends. In Belmont, his attendant Gratiano fell in love with Portia's maid Nerissa. When an accident happened, two couples got married in a hurry at the same time.
It turned out that Antonio wrote a letter in which he explained that his merchant ship was missing. He was about to get a pound of meat from Shylock, because this pound of meat might lead to his death, so he hoped to see Bassanio for the last time ... Bassanio and graciano heard the news and hurried back to Venice. Portia and Nerissa also secretly disguised themselves as lawyers and secretaries, and then went to save Antonio.
In court, Portia wisely promised Shylock that he could take any pound of Antonio's flesh, but if he shed a drop of blood (only one pound of flesh was written in the contract, but Shylock was not promised to shed a drop of blood), he would use his life and property to atone.
So Antonio was rescued, and the court announced that half of his property was confiscated for murdering a Venetian citizen, and the other half was given to Antonio, who gave the unexpected property to Shylock's son-in-law and his friend Lorenzo. Shylock saw that the plot failed and had to agree. He converted to Christianity according to the verdict.
In this way, Portia cleverly saved Antonio's life. Meanwhile, Portia and Nerissa make fun of their husbands. They asked for the ring as a reward for protecting Antonio and then went home.
When their husbands came back, they blamed them for ignoring the meaning of the wedding ring and insisted that they must have given it to another woman. After a series of embarrassing explanations, the truth finally came out. Everyone has a happy ending, except Shylock, who wants to hurt others rather than himself.
Characters in a play
1, Antonio: a big businessman in Venice, who runs overseas trade and owns huge sums of money. He made a life-and-death friendship with Bassanio, the son of a poor aristocrat, and even risked a pound of his own flesh for him. Antonio is melancholy and an extreme racist. Shylock's accusation of discriminating against Jews is not groundless.
Bassanio: A poor aristocrat who squandered all his property and later married Portia.
3. Portia: A wealthy heiress with both talents and looks.
4. Gratiano: A friend of Antonio and Bassanio, who later married Nerissa.
5. Nerissa: Portia's personal waitress.
6. Shylock: a Jew who got rich by usury.
Jessica: Shylock's daughter. Later, she robbed her father's property and eloped with Lorenzo.
8. Lorenzo: A friend of Antonio and Bassanio, and a lover of Jessica.
9. Jew, Sherlock's friend.
10, LancelotGobbo: Shylock's servant. clown
1 1, Oldegobe: the father of Ron Cilote.
12, Salleo: friends of Antonio and Bassanio.
13, Solani O (Solano): Antonio and Bassanio's friend.
14, the headmaster of Moloko: the pursuer of Portia.
15, Princess: the pursuer of Portia.
16, King of Venice: the ruler of Venice.
Historical background
It is a medieval legend that Jews eat Christian meat at Passover. Christians generally believe that Jews hurt Jesus Christ. When Europeans mention Jews, they think of usury, and Jews can lend to Christians. Deuteronomy in the Old Testament records: "Lending to foreigners can be profitable, but lending to your brother is not profitable."
However, Christians are prohibited from usury. 1 179, the third largest parliament in Rutland stipulated that usurers would be excommunicated. Jews are generally excluded from society because of usury. During the reign of King Edward I of England of England, he ordered the Jews to be expelled from England. 1492, Jews were expelled from Spain.
1509, when the Cambre League War broke out, Jews fled to Venice and lived in an old-fashioned iron foundry. These Jews are asked to wear yellow clothes or yellow hats.
154 1 year, the Venetian authorities arranged for Jews to live in another settlement, the later famous Red Table, which was seven stories high. Later, Jews were allowed to become citizens of Venice and engage in trade activities. In early Europe, almost all bankers were Jews and lived in Lombardy, northern Italy. British banks evolved from Italian banks.
Refer to the above? Baidu Encyclopedia-Merchant of Venice