42 pages 1 hour read

William Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1596

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Symbols & Motifs

Blood and the Pound of Flesh

Blood repeatedly emerges as a symbol of the characters’ shared humanity, whether they are White or non-White, Christian or Jewish. Shylock’s speech in defense of his own humanity and personhood crescendos with the famous line, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” (3.1.63). Elsewhere, the dark-skinned prince of Morocco tells Portia to bring him her Whitest suitor and “let us make incision for your love / To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine” (2.1.6-7). The Christian characters, on the other hand, view blood not as a symbol of shared humanity but as a symbol of their status as White Christians. For example, when Bassanio needs to borrow the 3,000-ducat principal from Portia, he says, “I freely told you all the wealth I had / Ran in my veins: I was a gentleman” (3.2.265-66). This notion that Christian blood differs significantly from Jewish blood also lies at the heart of the blood libel, a pervasive anti-Semitic conspiracy that was surely on the minds of Shakespeare’s contemporary audiences, particularly when Shylock jokes, “But yet I’ll go in hate, to feed upon / The prodigal Christian” (2.5.15-16).

In turn, the pound of flesh represents the commodification of human bodies in a protocapitalist society like 16th-century Venice.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 42 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,500+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools