Antonio (The Merchant)

Good ol' Charlie Brown!

"I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano,

A stage where every man must play a part,

And mine a sad one" (I.i.77-79).

 

ntonio is just like our poor friend Charlie Brown.  It sounds crazy, I know, but think about it.   Here's a guy with nothing but good will for everyone.  He just wants people to like him, but he ends up getting dumped on.  Plus, he's in a perpetual funk.  Starting to see my point?

    Now, the strange thing is, Antonio is depressed even from the beginning of the play, before anything really bad has happened to him.  We can postulate a number of reasons for this unhappiness, but so can his friends, Salerio and Solanio, and none of their suggestions are accepted as true:

Salerio: I know Antonio is sad to think upon his merchandise.

Antonio: Believe me, no. ...my merchandise makes me not sad.

Solanio: Why, then you are in love.

Antonio: Fie, fie!                           (I.i.39-46)

Okay, so it's not worry about boat cargo, and it's not love, so what is it?  Well, the source of Antonio's troubles is never explained, and soon he has real issues to worry about, such as Shylock taking a pound of his flesh.  One wonders, then, exactly why Shakespeare chose to make Antonio down in the dumps from the very beginning.  Possibly to establish sympathy for him from the audience?  What do you think?

    Anyway, the way one views Antonio's behavior in this play largely depends on one's opinion of Shylock's behavior.  For example, if Shylock is the villain, then Antonio is seen as the victim, the poor soul who is taken advantage of.  He doesn't know what he is getting into when he agrees to Shylock's contract.  On the other hand, if one sees Shylock as being in the right, then Antonio can be viewed as the louse who weasels out of his bargain by calling his friends in to help him.  Read this piece of Antonio's speech in court:

Give me your hand, Bassanio; fare you well!

Grieve not that I am fall'n to this for you,

For herein Fortune shows herself more kind

Than is her custom.  It is still her use

To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,

To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow

An age of poverty; from which lingering penance

Of such misery doth she cut me off.

...Repent but you that you shall lose your friend,

And he repents not that he pays your debt.

For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, 

I'll pay it instantly with all my heart.

(IV.i.263-279)

 If one takes the pro-Antonio view, then this is a very noble and moving speech.  Antonio is willing to give up his life to help Bassanio and to keep his bargain.  If one takes the pro-Shylock view, then this is an overly-melancholy speech which is meant to induce pity.  Antonio is playing the martyr because he knows people will take his side and save him.  Either interpretation works with the depression aspect of the character, so it is all up to the director really.  Interesting.

    It is also worthwhile to note that although he seems to be the title character,  Antonio gets relatively few lines and stage time.  However, notice how most of the play hinges around him.  Without Antonio, Bassanio would not win Portia, Shylock would not lose his money, etc, etc.  He's a big deal, even though he is kind of a mushy sad-sack most of the time.  He won't even keep half of Shylock's wealth when it is offered to him in court. He asks that it be given to Lorenzo, and that Shylock "record a gift / here in the court of all he dies possessed / unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter" (IV.i.386-388).  Is anyone really ever this noble? Good ol' Antonio.

Now go or visit Antonio's Links.

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Portia / Shylock / Bassanio / Gratiano & Nerissa / Lorenzo & Jessica / Salerio & Solanio / The Gobbos / The Princes / The Duke / The Servants