读《威尼斯商人》的喜与悲

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【摘 要】作为莎士比亚的四大喜剧之一，《威尼斯商人》宣扬了仁爱，友谊和爱情等喜剧因素，但同时也蕴含了各种不同的悲剧因素。

【关键词】悲剧；鲍西娅；夏洛克

【Abstract】As one of Shakespeare's four great comedies， The Merchant of Venice advocates kindheartedness， genuine friendship and true love. However， the so-called comedy also reveals tragic elements.

【Key words】tragedy； Portia； Shylock

As a mature comedy of Shakespeare’s works， The Merchant of Venice advocates kindheartedness， genuine friendship and true love， all of which are thoughts of enlightenment. Everybody has a happy ending except Shylock. The charming lady Portia could be regarded as the key of the comedy. However， after finishing reading it， some may also feel sad and find some tragic elements of it.

If The Merchant of Venice were a new play written today， it would probably be censored by the Race Relations Board. The topics it presents----racial hatred， color prejudice， class distinction and the position of women society----are all capable of provoking intense feeling on audience. Yes， these could be the tragic elements.

When people first read this play， Portia is the most attractive figure. Some readers admire Shakespeare， for creating such a new woman image―an ideal woman. He portrayed Portia with beauty， elegance， kindness， knowledge， wisdom and power. To her husband， Bassanio， she is gentle and soft. Yet she still has her own ideas. She’s both endowed with courage and wit. When at the court against Shylock， Portia wins a fantastic war. She defeats Shylock step by step， using the stick and carrot， trying peaceful means before resorting to force----persuasion， negotiation and then sentence. “I stand here for law，” Shylock says firmly， making all the men at wit’s end. However， Portia， a woman， lets Shylock down by law， protecting the dignity of law. She says， “He is entitled to his pound of flesh， but has made no provision for single drop of blood.” “Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh. Shed thou no blood； nor cut thou less， nor more. But just a pound of flesh.” While Shylock makes all the men at presence come up with no solutions， he has nothing to do with Portia. Portia disguises as a young lawyer----which proves that Shakespeare is bold in creation， liberal in mind and ideas. He represented women as the embodiment of wisdom and law. Think what if this happened in China at the same time？ So it is all because of the existence of Portia， this play comes to a happy ending for most people， and it is called a comedy.

Then why does Portia make such an effort？ It’s all because of love， because she loves her husband， Bassanio. For women， love means everything. Portia can do anything for Bassanio to protect love. But how about men， what love and women to them？ Portia even does not think to question a man’s right to the owner of all his wife’s possessions. In fact， she takes it for granted， which in most people’s opinion is something of discrimination against sex. Because no matter how men love women in oral， it seems wife belongs to her husband， women are just one of men’s possessions. From the play， Bassanio， who marries Portia mostly because of her wealth， suggests that if only Shylock could release Antonio， he could pass all his wealth， including Portia， his wife， to the devil Shylock. As well， Gratiano （Bassanio’s servant）， in order to save Antonio， does wish his wife go to heaven. Is that so-called loyalty and gallant friendship or something of hypocrisy？ Wife seems not so important to men. A paradox！ On one hand， Shakespeare thinks highly of women’s image. On the other hand， he makes light of women’s position. Maybe we should come to background， some Elizabethans thought----as the Greeks and Romans did----that the friendship between two men was more spiritual bond， and should be more highly esteemed than the love between a man and a woman. Then what’s the true friendship between men？ The figure of Bassanio has wasted all his money and a great deal of Antonio’s. He treats Antonio as a bank. Yet Antonio， as a friend， connives his behavior instead of bettering him. Bassanio’s theory is that----a lost arrow can often be found by shooting another arrow in the same direction， and watching carefully to see where it falls----so he spends more money in the hope of winning back what he has lost. Perhaps he hopes Antonio will treat him as if he were a child and ignore the irresponsibility of his demand for more money to spend. Anyway， to some extent， the social position of women and the so-called friendship （hypocrisy） are not in accordance with the enlightenment.

Besides sex discrimination， class distinction is clearly indicated in this play. “You” is neutral， formal and polite while “thou” is affectionate， condescending or contemptuous. Bassanio always speaks to Antonio as “you”， but to Gratiano as “thou”； Antonio mostly uses the formal word， but with Bassanio he allows himself the occasional “thou” of affection， and with Shylock the dismissive “thou” of contempt. Yes， Shylock is despised as a Jew. The words “…for in converting Jews to Christians， you raise the price of pork… ” can show Shylock is in the hot water of racial hatred.

Just like 991， we should ask why did it happen， now we should ask why Shylock wants to kill Antonio. That’s because Shylock is a Jew who in the miserable condition in a Christian world. He is treated like pigs and dogs. That’s why---he wants to get even for the ill treatment he has received. Actually， maybe Shylock is the most authentic figure while others might be too perfect. He is disgusted with Christians’ hypocrisy. He protects the dignity of Jews. As a father， he loves his daughter though by a wrong way. He says， “My daughter is my flesh and blood”. Shylock’s grief over the loss of daughter is equal to （perhaps even surpass） his anger at the theft of his money. At last， Shylock has been defeated of his bond， robbed of all his fortune and deserted by his daughter. He is even compelled to give up his birthright， his Jewish religion， and become one of the Christians who he hates so much. For him， this play is a tragedy.

When you reread this play， you may wonder why Shakespeare created Shylock as a Jew？ Why did he treat a Jew as a villain？ Did he discriminate against Jews？ Some who think so attribute Shakespeare’s discrimination to British traditional attitude towards Jews while some argue Shakespeare realized such unsolvable problems between the fact and the ideal， and he just wanted to draw people’s attention to these tragic elements. In fact， some holds that the play is better called a problem play than a comedy.

100 readers， there are 100 Hamlet. So there may be more than 100 different views on The Merchant of Venice. But it’s true that more and more people realize the tragic elements in this play.

【References】

[1] Shakespeare， W. The Merchant of Venice [M]. London： Cambridge University Press， 1962.

[2] Wu Wei-ren. History and Anthology of English Literature [M].Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 1988.

[3] Liu Yi-qing；Liu Jiong. A Brief History of English Literature from the Old English Period to the 1990s[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2008：47-48.