Drama - The Merchant of Venice

Characters
•Antonio
•Bassanio
•Shylock
•Portia
•Nerissa
•Gratiano
•Jessica
•Lorenzo
•Salanio & Salarino
•Launchlot Gobbo
•Old Gobbo
•Tubal
•The Duke
•Balthasar & Stephano
•Morocco & Arragon
★A Brief Summary of The Merchant of Venice -
The play starts with the portrayal of Antonio, the Merchant of Venice , who is melancholic . The reason of his sadness could not be fathomed. When his friends suggest that it may be because of his business enterprises (his luck stuck in the ships at the mercy of the ocean) , Bassanio rejects the idea. We are also introduced to Bassanio, a young Venetian noble men, who wishes to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress of Belmont, Portia. Being a spendthrift, Bassanio lives on borrowed money. Though he has borrowed from Antonio earlier and is yet not able to play him back, he approaches his friend Antonio for three thousand ducats to sponsor his expenditures to get to Belmont to try his luck at the lottery of Caskets to woo Portia. Antonio agrees, but since his money is locked in the sea,he asks Bassanio to take a loan from anyone in Venice with his credit worthiness. Bassanio goes to the Jewish money lender Shylock and names Antonio as the loan's guarantor.
Shylock is a Jew and hates Antonio because of his anti-Jewish mentality. Shylock finds it a perfect occasion to be even with Antonio and he agrees to lend the necessary amount ( three thousand ducats) without changing any interest upon a condition that if Antonio is unable to repay the amount within the specific date, Shylock could take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Antonio signs the contract. With money at hand, Bassanio leaves for Belmont with his friend Gratiano.
Meanwhile in Belmont, when we meet Portia, we come to know that various suitors from different places have come to take part in lottery of Caskets. Portia's father has left a will according to which each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets - one each of gold, silver and lead. One, who picks the right casket, gets Portia. The first suitor we are shown on the stage is the luxurious Prince of Morocco who chooses the gold casket, interpreting it's slogan “Who choosenth me shall gain what many men desire" as referring to Portion thinking that a beauty like her cannot be anything worse than gold. The second suitor, the conceited Prince of Arragon, chooses the silver casket, with proclaim “Who choosenth me shall get as much as he deserves",vainly thinking about himself to be full of merit. Both suitors thus go back empty handed. The last suitor is Bassanio, whom Portia wishes to succeed, as they have met before and Portia likes Bassanio to some extent. As Bassanio thinks about his choice, members of Portia's household sing a song to warn him not to choose anything based on the outer appearance. He chooses the Lead Casket and wins Portia.
In between the subplot of the play has also been developed as we see Shylock's daughter Jessica is extremely bored in the dull household of Shylock and is secretly in love with Lorenzo. She has planned their elopement, cross dressed as a boy and she does so, while carrying some wealth of Shylock. And in another subplot, we see Gratanio, when he visits Belmont with Bassanio, falling in love with Nerissa ,the lady-in-waiting of Portia.
Back in Venice, news is not favorable for Antonio as his ships are reported to be lost at sea. Having no money at hand he has no way but to be a victim of Shylock's revenge. By now the elopement of Jessica with Lorenzo has made Shylock even more determined to exact revenge. At Belmont , Bassanio receives a letter which tells him that Antonio has been unable to return the borrowed money and is in deep danger. Therefore, immediately after marriage (Bassanio with Portia and Gratiano with Nerissa), Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life. Portia does not remain passive, but sends a servant to seek the counsel of Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua.
The climax of the play is in the court of the Duke of Venice ,where Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of six thousand ducats , twice the amount of the loan and everyone pleas for mercy; Shylock's determination because stronger as  he demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke wishes to save Antonio but is bound by the rule of law. Out of nowhere a young “doctor of law",bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario arrives in the court with a clerk (Nerissa cross dressed) accompanying her. The lawyer Balthazar (Cross dressed Portia) requests Shylock to have mercy on Antonio and when he adamantly refuses any compensations and insists on the pound of flesh, Balthazar asks the court to grant Shylock his due. But the doctor insists that according to the bond signed by Antonio, Shylock is entitled to nothing but an exact pound of flesh and he can get it by without shedding a single drop of Antonio's blood. And if Shylock we're to she'd a drop of Antonio's blood, his ”land and goods" would be forfeited under Venetian laws for planning to murder a respectable Venetian Citizen. Defeated, Shylock agrees to accept Bassanio's offer of money for defaulted bond - first his offer to pay “the bond thrice" ,and when Portia tells him he cannot do according to the bond; Shylock is ready to take merely the principal amount which Portia refuses to pay as Shylock is already refused it in front of the court. Portia then cites a Venetian law, according to which Shylock being a Jew has attempted to take life of a citizen and hence half of his property would go to Antonio and half to the state exchequer and his life depends of the mercy of the Duke. The Duke pardons Shylock's life. Antonio asks for his share “in use" until Shylock's death, when it will be given to Lorenzo and Jessica. At Antonio's request, the Duke grants remission of the state's half of forfeiture, but on the condition that Shylock converts to Christianity and bequeaths his entire estate to Lorenzo and Jessica.
Bassanio and Gratanio are not able to recognize their respective disguised wives, but offers money to lawyer. First Portia declines,but as they insist, Portia requests Bassanio's wedding ring which he had promised to Portia that he will never loose, sell or give away. Bassanio hesitates ,but at last ,after persuasion from Antonio ,gives the ring to Portia. Nerissa also succeed in retrieving her ring from Gratianio. Next we are again transported to the romantic setting of Belmont. Portia and Nerissa reach before their husbands and when Bassanio and Gratiano reach there ,they taunt their husbands about ring that they have given away before revealing that they were really the lawyer and the clerk in disguise. Antonio gets the news that his ships have returned safely after all, thus the play ends happily.