THE MERCHANT OF VENICE During The Merchant of Venice, the theme of loss is constantly brought up and just about every character encounters it. This play provides a look at some tragedy with a small amount of "old" humour. When you talk about tragedy ,loss is always included. In the opening scene, Antonio supposedly loses his ships. Also early in the play, Shylock lends Antonio money that will never be repaid. When Jessica runs away …showed first 75 words of 739 total…

…showed last 75 words of 739 total…made the readers feel more for Shylock and his hard times. The debts and losses of characters help us kind of realize how the world worked back then. People were always unkind to one another, they never gave anyone a chance to reflect and let go of the life they were leading. This play was very well done and will be remembered as one of Shakespeare's best contrasts between cruel yet emotional people like Shylock.