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Posted on: Oct 14, '08

Merchant of Venice in the Fropper Court of Law!!! - Part I

Merchant of Venice in the Fropper Court of Law!!! – Part I

For those of you who haven’t read and for those of you who needs a ‘re-read’ of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice; here’s your bedtime story! Read on; of course, the retold version!

Cast of Characters:

Antonio – The poor lamb (gentleman)
Bassanio – Antonio’s friend
Portia - Bassanio’s love
Shylock – The villain of the piece, a money-lender
Nerrissa – Portia’s attendant, but more of a wise friend
Jessica - The good daughter of the bad Shylock
Lorenzo – A gentleman interested in rescuing Jessica from her father
Gratiano, Solario, Salerio – Friends of Antonio and Bassanio
Launcelot – The clown
Gobbo – The clown
The Duke of Venice – It is to his court the case comes to trial

In the beautiful city of Venice, lived a beautiful soul named Antonio; always found with a helping hand, the personification of kindness! And in the same beautiful city of Venice, lived a not so beautiful soul, named Shylock; his favourite pastime was to spite anyone and everyone-well, the virtue of it being that he never discriminated! Every human being who’s name was not Shylock, wasn’t worth his salt; wasn’t worth the world; wasn’t worth living---these were his non-sovereign, non-democratic principles!

Bassanio, who was in love with Portia, planned to propose to her. But he needed money, big money. He sought Antonio, his best friend. Antonio readily agreed to help, but his ships that were at sea, din’t reach shore on time. But as he had promised Bassanio, he didn’t want to go back on his word. So, he decided to take a loan from Shylock. All his friends warned him against it, but he wouldn’t listen. Shylock was gleeful, as he was waiting for such an opportunity, for he hated Antonio for his popularity among the citizens of Venice.

Shylock agreed to lend the money, but of course, there were ‘terms and conditions applied’! He said that if Antonio failed to repay the loan in three months’ time, he’d have to pay a fine; and the fine was a pound of flesh off Antonio’s body! Antonio was sure his ships would arrive before the dead line; and in the same faith, he agreed to the conditions, took the loan and signed a bond!

Lo! Behold! The ships never arrived, but the deadline did! The case was brought to trial. The Duke was helpless; he didn’t want or like injustice; but the case was strong in favour of Shylock; and the witnesses were in place. As he was wringing his hands in despair, Portia, disguised as a male lawyer, walked in to the courtroom. She was a very clever and ingenious woman; cleverer than all the other women put together and cleverer than most men.

She gained permission to argue in favour of Antonio. She interrogated Antonio, Shylock and the witnesses. She then declared, ‘I have no choice, but to agree to the condition; Shylock may have his pound of flesh’! The courtroom fell silent; everyone’s heart sank into their shoes! And suddenly she turned to Shylock and said, ‘But remember; you have only asked for a pound of flesh; you may proceed to cut it off Antonio, but be mindful that not a drop of blood is shed’! It was now Shylock’s turn to lose his tongue; he didn’t know what to say! He argued that it was not possible to cut a pound of flesh without loss of blood; but the delighted duke, who was mentally doing a jig with Portia, clung to the point. And so it ended that a disappointed, disgruntled, ranting and raving Shylock walked out of the courtroom .

Good always wins over evil; this has been the pivotal force of the world and humanity since Adam and Eve! And Venice was no exception!

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Nazlini said:
very nice

October 23, '08

matin1971 said:
very very nice

October 21, '08

SweetAdonis said:

October 21, '08

unflappable said:
Summary of English drama?

October 19, '08

nimarLEO said:
nice

October 18, '08

impeccabledude said:
no no no, i want shylock to win, this is cheating, please change the story. gurrr.......

October 17, '08

goutamKol said:

October 16, '08

HG52 said:
i remember my english Teacher narrated this story to us. thx 4 making me recollect my good old school days... can never forget this story.. regards

October 16, '08

ASYLUM said:
i remember this one from the school days! & I loved the way it ended! thanks for bringing it back..

October 16, '08

Pagal-Bhoot said:

October 16, '08

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