Merchant of Venice: Friendship
Thesis Statement: Shakespeare portrays many forms of love in Merchant of Venice such as the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, which grows and becomes stronger as the play continues.
Since Bassanio is such good friends with Antonio, he feels comfortable asking him for money, and he needs it for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that he has a debt he needs to pay. Secondly, he wants to see Portia, but he doesn’t have enough money to do so because all the men she are seeing are very wealthy, so he must compare. Bassanio asks, and Antonio answers with a warm heart. “Within the eye of honor, be assured/ My purse, my person, my extremest means/ Lie all unlocked to your occasions” (Shakespeare 1:1 L 144-146). Clearly, Antonio is fine with this and he even wants to give him the money. Because of Antonio and Bassanio’s strong relationship, Antonio accepts Bassanio’s request for money even though Antonio is in a strong debt. All his money is out in the ocean, and he might not even get the money back. He still tells him he will give him it, proving how great their relationship really is. If Antonio wasn’t this good and kind of a person in this play, the story would be completely different. He is putting his wealth on the line for someone else, someone who he really cares about and has a great friendship with. No other character in this play would do anything as kind as this. This is a reason why Antonio and Bassanio have a great friendship together and will help each other out any time they need it.
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Knowing how strong Antonio and Bassanio’s relationship is, Antonio feels comfortable sending Bassanio a letter right before he passes away, requesting his presence before he dies. Because of Antonio and Bassanio’s friendship with each other, Antonio feels the need to see him prior to his death. Antonio’s letter requests: “Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all miscarried, my/ creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to/ the Jew is forfeit, and since in paying it, it is impossible/ I should live, all debts are cleared between you and me if/ I might but see you at my death. Notwithstanding, use/ your pleasure. If your love does not persuade you to/ come, let not my letter” (Shakespeare 3.3 L 328-334). Due to the closeness of their relationship, Bassanio leaves his newly engaged wife, which would be hard, to see his best friend on his deathbed. This proves that Bassanio must truly have a close bond with Antonio, hence is why he is seeing him for one last time. The fact that Bassanio comes through with Antonio’s letter and goes to Belmont to see Antonio shows how much he cares for him. In addition, he just left his new fiancé. This is just one of the many different ways Shakespeare shows love in his plays; in this case, even between two men, especially relationships outside of their own marriage.
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