Antonio | merchant whose love for his friend Bassanio prompts him to sign Shylock’s contract and almost lose his life. He is beloved of his friends and proves merciful to Shylock, albeit with conditions. |
Bassanio | Gentleman of Venice and kinsman and dear friend to Antonio. His love for the wealthy Portia leads him to borrow money from Shylock with Antonio as his guarantor |
Lorenzo | friend of Bassanio and Antonio. He is in love with Shylock’s daughter, Jessica |
Gratiano | friend of Bassanio who accompanies him |
Portia | Wealthy heiress from Belmont. Her beauty is matched only by her intelligence |
Nerissa | Portia’s maid, fiancĂ© of Gratiano |
Jessica | Shylock’s daughter |
Shylock | Jewish moneylender in Venice. Angered by his mistreatment at the Venice’s demanding a pound of Antonio’s flesh as penalty for Antonio’s defaulting on a loan |
Lancelot | servant to Shylock and later to Bassanio |
Old Gobbo | Lancelot’s father, also a servant in Venice |
Prince of Morocco | Picks the gold casket and tells Portia not to judge him because of his dark complexion |
Prince of Aragon | An arrogant Spanish nobleman who also attempts to win Portia’s hand by picking the casket. Chooses the silver casket because he thought he deserved her |
Salanio | venetian gentleman, and friend of Antonio, Bassanio, and Lorenzo |
Salario/Salarino | Ventian gentleman counterparts to each other |
usury | Act of charging interest on a loan |
comedy | Story has a happy ending, usually invoking marriages between unmarried characters are present |
soliloquy | character’s inner thoughts (truthful) spoken around in the audience, no other characters are present |
aside | charcter’s inner thoughts spoken aloud; other characters are present but cannot hear the spoken thoughts |
Lancelot Gobbo | clown and servant to Shylock |
Old Gobbo | blind father whose disrespectful child likes to play tricks on him |
Prince Of Morocco | A Moorish prince who seeks Portia’s hand in marriage. The prince of Morocco asks Portia to ignore his dark complexion and seeks to win her by picking one of the three caskets. |
Lancelot | originally the servant of Shylock. Later in the play he leaves Shylock and starts to work for Bassanio instead. |
Salerio | A Venetian gentleman and messenger. |
Jessica | will disguise herself as Lorenzo’s torchbearer |
Lancelot | takes a letter from Jessica to give to Lorenzo |
Merchant of Venice Acts 1-3 Review
July 15, 2019