In Shakespeare’s play the merchant of Venice the audience learns about love in many forms. Through the characters, of Portia and Bassanio, Shylock and his love for money over his daughter and Antonio and Bassanio. The audience learns through Portia that true love always triumphs. From shylock we learn that money isn’t everything it seems to be and that you should treasure your family more than money. Through the friendship of Antonio and Bassanio we learn about the love of one friend for another and how they would sacrifice anything for one another. Shakespeare uses many techniques including: tests, plot incident, passionate dialogue, characterisation and emotive language to express his idea of love and friendship to the audience.
Plot incident and passionate dialogue are used in the merchant of Venice to convey the friendship and the almost brotherly love between Bassanio and his best friend Antonio. Their friendship is so strong that Antonio would risk his life for Bassanio to go visit Portia. Later this is shown in the court scene when Bassanio says that he would take the punishment of getting a pound of flesh cut from anywhere on his body instead of his best friend. When Antonio gives Bassanio the money (ducats) to go visit Portia in Belmont he says “therefore go forth, try what my credit can in Venice do, that shall be racked even to the uttermost to furnish thee to Belmont”. This means that Antonio will give Bassanio the money to go to Belmont and find Portia, his best friend’s true love. This is a plot incident because it leads up to the main plot in the play as Antonio agreed to give one pound of flesh if the money is not repaid in three months time with ten percent interest. Passionate dialogue is also used because they are really good friends that care so much for each other they would do anything for each other.
Portia’s fathers will insisted that suitors must correctly choose from three caskets made of gold, silver and lead to