1. Julie Metzler
LIT 225-001
Words, words, words paper
William Shakespeare is truly a master of wordplay and wit. He changes nouns to verbs,
adjectives to nouns, makes innuendos and puns out of the simplest language, and manages
convey a meaning in eloquent and haunting terms. Because of all this, it is difficult to choose a
single word that shapes any one of his plays. However, despite this, one word stands out above
the rest in Shakespeare’s work, The Merchant of Venice. Of the thousands of words strung
together, “happy” and its forms shape The Merchant of Venice above all others. Though some
form of the word happy only appears nine times in the text, it still has the greatest impact on the
direction and conclusion of the Shakespeare’s comedy. Each character has their own relation to
happiness and the ways that they seek to find the ultimate bliss.
First and foremost, Antonio. The Merchant of Venice opens on a scene where Antonio is
discussing his melancholy mood of late. The word happy never comes up in the conversation
with Salerio and Salanio, but its antonym, sad, does multiple times. Throughout the whole scene,
Antonio is trying to figure out why he is so sad, and Salerio and Salanio are discussing ways to
cheer him up. Antonio is forever searching for a source of joy that will bring peace and joy to his
spirit. This scene shapes Antonio’s actions for the rest of the play, because as he states “My
ventures are not in one bottom trusted… therefore my merchandise makes me not sad” (I.i.42-
46), which means that his business ventures as a merchant are extremely successful, so it is not
his money that is making him sad. Antonio is on a constant search for happiness, and he seems to
find it through the possibility of becoming a martyr for his best friend, Bassanio. The only time
Antonio can be heard saying the word happy is after he has been saved from the court, and even
then, it is encased in the negative sense. Antonio is the “unhappy subject” (V.i.251) of disputes
between Bassanio and Portia, as well as Lorenzo and Nerissa. However, though Antonio never

2. Julie Metzler
LIT 225-001
Words, words, words paper
directly mentions happiness, he is clearly searching for a way to make peace with his lot in life
and find purpose for it. Besides offering himself as a sacrificial lamb for Bassanio’s sake,
Antonio also derives some joy from spitting on the Jewish lower class, most notably, Shylock.
Antonio professes that aiding Bassanio to be of utmost importance to him and says “to wind
about my love with circumstance; and, out of doubt, you do me now more wrong” (I.i.159-160),
telling Bassanio that he is offended that Bassanio would ever have to use circumstance to ask for
a favor. However, even when Antonio is presented with a chance to make a deal using his credit
to fund Bassanio’s trip to Verona, Antonio cannot resist egging Shylock on. Shylock is the
lynchpin in Bassanio’s plans to get to Portia, and even then, Antonio tells Shylock that not only
has he spit on him, but is “as like to call [Shylock] so again, to spit on [Shylock] again, to spurn
[Shylock] too” (I.iii.129-130). This demonstrates the pleasure, or at least slight gaiety, Antonio
receives from abusing Shylock. He is willing to throw away his chance to help Bassanio, his
professed joy, to spite Shylock: another character seeking a source of happiness in his life.
Throughout The Merchant of Venice, Shylock pursues a single goal: the fulfillment of his
bond with Antonio. This obsession and single-minded quest for a pound of Antonio’s flesh is the
foil of Antonio’s pleasure of tormenting Shylock because he can. Just as Antonio derives some
sense of twisted happiness out of bullying Shylock, Shylock finds the same ecstasy when the
tables are turned. Other events occur in Shylock’s life, such as Jessica leaving him and taking his
ducats, as well as Lancelot leaving his service to serve Bassanio, but the only one that Shylock
truly seems to care about in the long run is the fulfillment of his bond. Shylock is another
character who never directly mentions the word happy, and is described as having a house that is
“hell” and “tedious (II.ii.2-3), but is, in his own way, looking for a source of joy. Shylock is like
a man possessed when arguing that he deserves exactly what his bond calls for, no less. Some of

3. Julie Metzler
LIT 225-001
Words, words, words paper
that comes from the resentment built up from decades of intolerance and persecution, no doubt,
but other Jews who have endured the same treatment implore Shylock to stop in his pursuit of
the pound of flesh that he is owed. Clearly somewhere Shylock is getting something else out of
the satisfaction out of this situation. That is not so stay that Shylock is a sadist, but he has found
a purpose in life, something everyone is searching for-and according to Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs, is something a person needs to be truly self-actualized and happy-and is holding on to this
purpose with everything he has. Not only does Shylock enjoy the power that he holds over a
Christian in a society ruled by Christians, but he also relishes this chance to make an example of
Antonio; to show the Christians how it feels to be persecuted by the laws of a state. “The villainy
you teach I will execute; and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction” (III.i.62-64). At the
trial of Antonio, Shylock remarks that “it is my humor” (IV.i.44) to take Antonio’s flesh instead
of the six thousand ducats because the money will not bring him happiness. Rather, he would
take a pound of useless flesh because of a “lodged hate, and a certain loathing I bear Antonio,
that I follow thus” (IV.i.61-62). Shylock thinks that getting revenge on Antonio for years of
wrongs will make him happy, and help him find a purpose teaching the Christians a lesson about
kicking a “serpent” who can “sting thee twice” (IV.i.70).
Unlike Antonio and Shylock, Bassanio’s search for happiness is completely self-centered.
While Antonio is sacrificing his life to get Bassanio a wife and become a happy martyr, and
Shylock is wielding the literal and figurative knives that will kill Antonio and teach the
“Christian intercessors” (III.iii.17) a lesson and give some sense of purpose to all those years of
oppression, Bassanio is just going about his life to get what is best for him. Though Bassanio
says he has fallen in love with Portia, the first thing he ever says about her is that she is “richly
left” (I.i.166), something extremely convenient for someone in his position, having squandered

4. Julie Metzler
LIT 225-001
Words, words, words paper
his estate much earlier in life. Also, though he tells Antonio that they are friends and that he
loves him, Bassanio seems to be all talk. When negotiating the terms of the bond with Shylock,
Bassanio chimes in that Antonio cannot “seal such a bond for me; I’ll rather dwell in my
necessity” (I.iii.155-156) only after the point of no return. Bassanio knows that by this point,
Antonio has been goaded into signing the bond by Shylock’s taunting that would do Iago proud,
and need not fear dwelling in necessity. He also shows up at Antonio’s trial with six thousand
ducats of his newly-married wife’s money and wails about his new wife, money and life, and
how he would “sacrifice them all here to this devil to deliver [Antonio]” (IV.i.293-294),
something he knows full well will never be allowed, or accepted by Shylock. These instances
show how he focuses on getting his own happiness through other’s actions and not owning up to
his own. Not only is Bassanio all talk, but he also is extremely material. The reason that he is in
love, if you could call it that, with Portia is because of her wealth. It is a bonus that she is young
and beautiful, but as stated before, the first thing Bassanio mentions about Portia is her enormous
fortune. Another thing that sets Bassanio’s quest for happiness apart from Antonio and Shylock’s
is that he is not shy about saying how happy he is. Of the nine times happy is said in the text,
Bassanio says it twice, as well as saying joy two out of nine times. That may not seem like many,
but for Shakespeare to have a character say the same word in different acts, is a big deal.
Bassanio’s search for happiness is much plainer to the naked eye, and is easier to understand,
especially because greed is always a prevalent topic in the world.
The many other characters in The Merchant of Venice also seek to find happiness, in their
own unique ways. They however, follow Bassanio’s path to happiness more than Antonio’s and
Shylock’s. Portia is Bassanio’s foil in her search for bliss, except she is searching for someone to
spend the rest of her life with, and not obeying. She is the intelligent to Bassanio’s dull, rich to

5. Julie Metzler
LIT 225-001
Words, words, words paper
Bassanio’s poor, and yang to Bassanio’s yin. Portia describes how her “little body is a-weary of
this great world” (I.ii.1-2), and that she is not happy that she “cannot choose [a husband], nor
refuse none” (I.ii.23-24). Portia desires power over her life, as well as her considerable wealth,
and sets herself on a path that entwines with Bassanio’s to ensure she achieves this. Portia even
says that “something tells me, (but it is not love,) I would not lose you” (III.ii.4-5). Portia admits
that she does not love Bassanio, but “something” tells her that he is a keeper. That “something”
is her inner compass steering her to quintessential ecstasy and complete control of her life. Portia
seals the deal when she reveals that she was the doctor who saved Antonio, and makes it plain
that she holds the power in this respective relationship. Similarly, Lorenzo and Jessica, as well as
Gratiano and Nerissa pursue their respective relationships. Jessica escapes the “hell” (II.ii.2) that
her life living in the ghetto as a Jew was by marrying Lorenzo. Jessica even says that “If
[Lorenzo] keep promise, I shall end this strife” (II.iv.20). Though they seem to be in love, Jessica
may not have made the same decision if she were a Christian woman who had prospects in life
other than living under the laws of her father, until she married and lived under the laws of her
husband. Also, Jessica did not have to take Shylock’s ducats and spend them on monkeys and
other frivolous entertainment, but she and Lorenzo did, focusing on their personal satisfaction.
Gratiano and Nerissa, like Bassanio and Portia see each other, and decide to get married. There is
no official reason why they get married other than that they saw each other and “lov’d for
intermission” (III.ii.203), but it seems to make them both happy. Perhaps they both had sexual
desires that needed satisfying, and Nerissa could not go to a brothel like Gratiano could, just as
Gratiano would be better off with a wife for that, because it is more befitting a gentleman of
class, as well as being free. Whatever the case, Gratiano and Nerissa, as well as Lorenzo and
Jessica pursue their happiness, no matter who they hurt in the process.

6. Julie Metzler
LIT 225-001
Words, words, words paper
The Merchant of Venice is a compelling comedy, and is centered on the theme of
happiness. Though happy is only said nine times, it has the power to shape all the character’s
decisions and actions throughout the play. Personal happiness is the driving force behind the
actions taken by each character, all for their own reasons, but all similar in the single-minded
sense of purpose and conviction by which the characters of Antonio, Shylock, Bassanio, Portia,
Lorenzo, Jessica, Gratiano, and Nerissa pursue archetypal happiness.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Ed. Paul Moliken. Clayton: Prestwick House,
2006. Print.