Shakespeare – Module 5 – The Merchant of Venice- Risk and Gambling 13 of 20 – CLF Online Learning (2024)

In this session we will look at the theme of risk or hazarding (as it was known in Shakespeare’s time) all on e has through the experience of gambling.

First, a little bit of interesting information about the word ‘risk’.

The word “risk,” French in origin, does not come up in the play, nor any other play by Shakespeare. In fact, the earliest instance TheOxford English Dictionaryrecords of the word’s use in English appears five years after the playwright’s death, in an English translation of a French text,The Wise Vieillard, or old man.

You may be familiar witht the phrase: to hazard a guess, which, now we know means to take a risk on a guess.

Task 1: complete the quick quiz

Task 2: read the text below about hazarding in the first act

In the first act ofThe Merchant of Venice,Shakespeare raises important questions about both predetermination and taking chances (i.e. gambling). Both themes work together in that playing the lottery takes the agency from the player—gambling cannot be controlled by those who play it. Therefore, when Antonio takes risks with both his fortune and his life, he gives up any agency he might have had beforehand.

In the first lines of the play, Solanio questions if Antonio is uneasy because of his investments overseas: “Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth,/ The better part of my affections would/ Be with my hopes abroad” (1.1.15-17). Here Solanio implies that Antonio’s investments are a big deal, and perhaps Antonio shouldbe more worried about the outcome. Antonio is quickly to brush Solanio’s suggestion off, and says that his investments are sound and not all in one place or on one ship, so he believes he’ll be fine. The very essence of taking an investment is taking a chance in order to gain in the end. However, by investing much of his fortune in ships that are going around the globe, Antonio relies only on chance to determine his financial situation.

It seems that Antonio might not have made the best investments in the past—his friend, Bassanio, admits that he owes much money to Antonio. The interaction between the two friends depicts that Antonio might not have the best judgment. If he lends money to his friends on a whim, and they never pay him back, what does this say for the chances he takes? Are they sound? Even after knowing that Bassanio is not reliable for paying back loans, Antonio still agrees to back him for his loan with Shylock.

Antonio is so sure that his business venture will prosper, he makes a deal with Shylock that if he and Bassanio cannot pay the money back in three months, Lysander can take “an equal pound/ Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken/ In what part of your body that pleaseth me” (1.3.142). In this, Antonio cannot resist the challenge—he agrees despite Bassanio’s refutation of this deal. In this, a couple of questions sprout. First, why would Antonio agree to this deal even when he’s not positive that he can pay back Bassanio’s debt? Why would Antonio agree when the money isn’t even for a vital reason? Let’s say Bassanio needed the money to keep his house, or something, it would make more sense. However, Bassanio just wants to impress Portia, which is notnecessaryto pursue.

Portia also raises questions about predetermination and leaving things by chance. For instance, Portia says that she “may neither choose who I would I would nor refuse who I dislike” (1.2.20-21). She claims not to want to make a choice about who she marries. Therefore, her father set up the system where the suitor must play the lottery in order to marry Portia. This situation too is strange in the sense that it calls into question why we leave important decisions up to chance, when we can be our own agents instead.

I find that Shakespeare is asking us to consider whywe choose not to make our own choices. Is it that we don’t want to be responsible for the consequences? (This question is directed more toward Portia.) Or rather, do we take big chances because we’re yearning for a big reward and disregarding its possible consequences? (This is more directed toward Antonio.)

Task 3: complete the quick quiz

Now we are going to have a look at the risks (or hazards) presented by the 3 caskets. You will be able to look back at blog 21 to learn more about these too.

Risk is a major theme of the play. Portia’s suitors, including Bassanio, have to guess which casket they should choose to win her hand, and they risk losing not only the opportunity to marry her, but also the right to woo any other woman.

In 2.7 and 2.9, Portia leads the princes of Morocco and Aragon to choose from among three caskets, each winning her hand only if he selects the casket possessing her picture. Each casket bears a different inscription and is made of a different metal. The gold casket has the words, “‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire’” (2.7.5); the silver, “‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves’” (2.7.23); and finally, the lead, “‘Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath’” (2.7.16).

It is interesting to watch the princes puzzle out these different sayings, comparing each to himself and Portia and trying to see which one fit best. But what ismoreinteresting is how dismissive they are of the lead casket at the beginning. The Prince of Morocco declares, “Must give, for what? For lead? Hazard for lead? / This casket threatens. Men that hazard all / Do it in hope of fair advantages” (2.7.16-19). His words make me think about Antonio ‘hazarding’ his own flesh in order to secure a loan for Bassanio. This theme of risk, both monetary and otherwise, will come up again throughout the play. Later on in 2.9, the Prince of Aragon tells Portia, “You shall look fairer ere I give or hazard” (2.9.21), basically saying unless you were prettier I wouldn’t risk this casket. No wonder she does not like him!

The caskets of finer metals offer the suitor something. The Prince of Morocco, fixed on “gaining” and dazzled by gold, seeks the prize of wealth as he calculates his earnings in winning Portia. He will “‘gain what many men desire’” (2.7.5) The Prince of Aragon, reducing love to just deserts rather than appreciating it as a heavenly gift, also uses economic terms to determine his choice and declares “I will assume desert” as if he has paid the right price for his purchase. “‘get a much as he deserves’” (2.7.23), but in the end, all that the suitors get is poetry telling them they lost their gambles. Although each man believed he was going to win, each in fact lost because he was not willing to “‘hazard all he hath’” (2.7.16) for the sake of Portia. If anything, Portia should realize that her father loved her very much or he would not have presented her potential husbands with such a challenge.

Bassanio, on the other hand, does not value love as a financial debt or profitable transaction but as a blessing of good fortune that transcends the laws of the marketplace. By hazarding “all” with no calculations based on self-interest Bassanio—choosing the plain leaden casket—prizes Portia beyond gold and silver. Winning Portia’s love without consideration of gaining or deserving, Bassanio acknowledges that love demands “venturing.” Giving without expecting to gain, he receives the priceless gift of Portia’s love worth more than all the gold and silver in the world.

Task 4: complete the quick quiz

Task 5: on your own write a 300 word speech in which you argue either for taking a risk or not. Use examples from the play to support your viewpoint.

Well done, you have now completed an exploration of the theme of risk in the play