The Merchant of Venice summary in English.

The Venetian merchant Antonio is sad for no reason. Close friends Salanio and Salarino suggest that it’s all about unrequited love or ordinary worry about ships with goods. Antonio rejects these options.

Bassanio's closest friend and relative asks Antonio for money to go to Belmont to see his beloved Portia. He is confident that the matchmaking will be successful. Antonio does not have money to give to a friend and he offers to take out a loan in his name.

And Portia says to the maid that she has no right to choose her groom. Anyone who can guess which casket contains her portrait will become a husband, such is the will of the father. There are three such caskets - silver, lead and gold. No matter what suitors the maid suggests, they are all venomously ridiculed by Portia, only Bassanio evokes tender memories in her.

Bassanio, meanwhile, takes three thousand ducats from the Jewish moneylender Shylock. Antonio acts as guarantor. If Bassanio does not return the money after a month, then Shylock wants to receive a pound of the guarantor’s meat for the penalty. And Shylock hated Antonio because he despised him, and therefore he will offer such a deal. Antonio was confident that the ships would arrive on time, and he would give the money at the right time.

Jessica is ashamed of the profession of her father Shylock, and therefore conveys a secret letter to her beloved Lorenzo through the servant Launcelot. The letter contains an escape plan.

Jessica disguises herself as a page and escapes, taking her father's jewelry and money. Gratiano and Bassanio hastily sail to Belmote.

Meanwhile, suitors come to Portia to woo her, among them the Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Aragon. They take an oath that they will no longer woo any girl if they cannot give the correct answer, but none of them can guess which casket contains Portia’s portrait.

Shylock, having learned about his daughter's act, becomes furious, Salani and Salario do not lose the opportunity to make fun of him. And they say that even if Antonio’s ships do not arrive on time, the moneylender still will not take meat from him, what will it be good for him? But the enraged Shylock decided to go to the end and take revenge for his shame and the obstacle in his affairs. When the two friends leave, his servant Tubal comes to the moneylender. His news is not comforting - he could not find his runaway daughter. All he managed to find out was that Jessica was squandering her father’s property, even the ring that Shylock’s dying wife gave her was exchanged by her daughter for a monkey. Father curses Jessica. His only consolation is the opportunity to pour out his grief and anger on Antonio.

Bassanio arrived at Belmont and, like the other applicants, must pass the test. Portia worries that he will make a mistake with his choice, but the lover chooses a lead casket containing a portrait of the girl, and preparations for the wedding begin.

Portia's maid Nerissa and Gratiano also fell in love and got married. Two girls give their grooms rings as a sign of love.

Having learned that the ships were lost, and Shylock demands payment of a penalty, Gratiano and Bassanio return to Venice.

Portia and the maid draw up her plan; she takes a man’s dress and papers from her cousin, a doctor of law, and goes to Belmont.

Shylock enjoys triumph, the law is completely on his side, and he does not want to receive material compensation even in double the amount, he will be cruel to the end, and it will not be possible to soften him, he is already sharpening his knife.

At this time, it is announced that Dr. Balthazar from Rome will conduct the trial. Portia, disguised as a Doctor, tries to pity Shylock, but to no avail and admits that the law is on his side. At the same time, the judge reminds the moneylender that he must take only meat, not blood, and, moreover, exactly one pound. If he violates the terms of the agreement, then, as a violator, he himself will be punished by law. Shylock understands that he cannot fulfill these conditions, and therefore he must give Antonio half of his property. Noble Antonio did not take advantage of this right, but the condition was that Lorenzo would receive this part after the death of Shylock, and the moneylender himself should convert to Christianity. The poor guy had to agree to all the conditions.

Dressed girls trick their husbands into giving them rings as payment for their work. In the evening, the girls accuse their husbands of giving their rings to other women and do not want to accept any excuses. They joke that they will share the bed with the scribe and the judge in order to return their rings, and then they say that they have already done this and show the jewelry as proof. The husbands are horrified, but the girls admit to their prank.

Antonio receives a letter with information that his ships are intact, and Jessica and Lorenzo receive a deed for their father's inheritance.

Anything can happen in a person's life, but if he has true friends, he will cope with all difficulties.

Picture or drawing of the Merchant of Venice

Other retellings for the reader's diary

Summary of Mining Master Bazhov
This story by Bazhov is about fidelity and trust in a loved one. The main character, Katerina, was left alone, her fiancé Danila disappeared. They were talking all sorts of things: as if he had run away, as if he had disappeared
Summary of Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault
In Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" we are talking about a little girl who wore a red cap. The girl’s grandmother lived far away; to her house it was necessary to go through the forest.
Summary of Pushkin Poltava
1828 Russia. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin carefully studies historical documents, and then writes a creative transcription of the most important historical event - the Battle of Poltava - and gives it a name
Summary of the fable “The Pig under the Oak Tree” by Krylov
The pig, under a huge oak tree that was hundreds of years old, ate plenty of acorns. After such a good and satisfying lunch, she fell asleep, right under the same tree.
Summary Ostrovsky How steel was hardened
Pavka Korchagin is a hooligan and doesn’t really want to study, which is why he is kicked out of school. He is very young and has not even finished school yet. But, nevertheless, he leaves the city when everyone learns the news that the king has been overthrown. The boy is eager to fight, the real one

The Merchant of Venice

(The Merchant of Venice) - Comedy (1596 ?, published . 1600)

English literature

I. A. Bystrova

The Venetian merchant Antonio is tormented by causeless sadness. His friends, Salarino and Salanio, try to explain it by concern for ships with goods or unhappy love. But Antonio rejects both explanations. Accompanied by Gratiano and Lorenzo, Antonio's relative and closest friend, Bassanio, appears. Salarino and Salanio leave. The joker Gratiano tries to cheer up Antonio, but when this fails (“The world is a stage where everyone has a role,” says Antonio, “mine is sad”), Gratiano leaves with Lorenzo. Alone with his friend, Bassanio admits that, leading a carefree lifestyle, he was left completely without funds and is forced to again ask Antonio for money to go to Belmont, the estate of Portia, a wealthy heiress, with whose beauty and virtues he is passionately in love and with the success of his matchmaking with which I am sure of. Antonio has no cash, but he invites his friend to find a loan in his name, Antonio.

Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia complains to her maid Nerissa (“Little Black”) that, according to her father’s will, she cannot choose or reject a groom herself. Her husband will be the one who guesses, choosing from three caskets - gold, silver and lead, in which her portrait is located. Nerissa begins to list numerous suitors - Portia venomously ridicules each one. She remembers only Bassanio, the scientist and warrior who once visited her father, with tenderness.

In Venice, Bassanio asks the merchant Shylock to lend him three thousand ducats for three months under the guarantee of Antonio. Shylock knows that the entire fortune of the guarantor is entrusted to the sea. In a conversation with the appeared Antonio, whom he fiercely hates for his contempt for his people and for his occupation - usury, Shylock recalls the countless insults to which Antonio subjected him. But since Antonio himself lends without interest, Shylock, wanting to gain his friendship, will also give him a loan without interest, only on a comic collateral - a pound of Antonio's meat, which Shylock can cut from any part of the merchant's body as a penalty. Antonio is delighted by the pawnbroker's joke and kindness. Bassanio is full of forebodings and asks not to make a deal. Shylock assures that such a pledge will still not be of any use to him, and Antonio reminds him that his ships will arrive long before the due date.

The Prince of Morocco arrives at Portia's house to choose one of the caskets. He gives, as the conditions of the test require, an oath: if he fails, he will not marry any more women.

In Venice, Shylock's servant Launcelot Gobbo, constantly joking, convinces himself to run away from his master. Having met his blind father, he plays him for a long time, then initiates him into his intention to become a servant to Bassanio, known for his generosity. Bassanio agrees to accept Launcelot into his service. He also agrees to Gratiano’s request to take him with him to Belmont. At Shylock's house, Launcelot says goodbye to the former owner's daughter, Jessica. They exchange jokes. Jessica is ashamed of her father. Lancelot undertakes to secretly deliver a letter to Jessica's lover Aorenzo with a plan to escape from home. Dressed as a page and taking with her her father's money and jewelry, Jessica runs away with Lorenzo with the help of his friends Gratiano and Salarino. Bassanio and Gratiano hurry to sail with a fair wind to Belmont.

At Belmont, the Prince of Morocco chooses a gold box - a precious pearl, in his opinion, cannot be enclosed in another frame - with the inscription: “With me you will receive what many desire.” But it does not contain a portrait of a beloved, but a skull and edifying poems. The prince is forced to leave.

In Venice, Salarino and Salanio make fun of Shylock's rage after learning that his daughter robbed him and ran away with a Christian. “Oh my daughter! My ducats! Daughter / Ran away with a Christian! The Christian ducats have disappeared! Where is the court? - Shylock groans. At the same time, they discuss out loud that one of Antonio's ships sank in the English Channel.

There is a new contender in Belmont - the Prince of Aragon. He chooses a silver casket with the inscription: “With me you will get what you deserve.” It contains an image of a stupid face and mocking poetry. The prince leaves. The servant reports the arrival of a young Venetian and the rich gifts he has sent. Nerissa hopes that it is Bassanio.

Salarino and Salanio discuss the new losses of Antonio, whose nobility and kindness both admire. When Shylock appears, they first mock his losses, then express confidence that if Antonio defaults on the bill, the moneylender will not demand his meat: what is it good for? In response, Shylock says: “He has disgraced me,<...>hindered my affairs, cooled my friends, inflamed my enemies; and what was his reason for this? The one that I'm Jewish. Doesn't a Jew have eyes?<...>If you prick us, don't we bleed?<...>If we are poisoned, don't we die? And if we are insulted, shouldn’t we take revenge?<...>You teach us vileness, I will fulfill it...”

Salarino and Salario leave. The Jew Tubal appears, whom Shylock sent in search of his daughter. But Tubal could not find her. He only retells rumors about Jessica's extravagance. Shylock is horrified by the losses. Having learned that his daughter exchanged the ring given to him by his late wife for a monkey, Shylock sends a curse to Jessica. The only thing that consoles him is the rumors about Antonio's losses, on whom he is determined to take out his anger and grief.

At Belmont, Portia persuades Bassanio to hesitate in making a choice, she is afraid of losing him if he makes a mistake. Bassanio wants to immediately try his luck. Exchanging witty remarks, young people confess their love to each other. They bring in the caskets. Bassanio rejects gold and silver - external shine is deceptive. He chooses a lead casket with the inscription: “With me you will give everything, risking everything you have” - it contains a portrait of Portia and a poetic congratulation. Portia and Bassanio are preparing for their wedding, as are Nerissa and Gratiano, who have fallen in love with each other. Portia gives the groom a ring and takes an oath from him to keep it as a pledge of mutual love. Nerissa gives the same gift to the betrothed. Lorenzo and Jessica appear and the messenger who brought a letter from Antonio appears. The merchant reports that all his ships were lost, he is ruined, the bill to the moneylender is overdue, Shylock demands payment of a monstrous penalty. Antonio asks his friend not to blame himself for his misfortunes, but to come see him before he dies. Portia insists that the groom immediately go to help the Friend, offering Shylock any money for his life. Bassanio and Gratiano go to Venice.

In Venice, Shylock revels in the thought of revenge - after all, the law is on his side. Antonio understands that the law cannot be broken, he is ready for inevitable death and only dreams of seeing Bassanio.

In Belmont, Portia entrusts her estate to Lorenzo, and she and her maid retire supposedly to a monastery to pray. In fact, she is going to Venice. She sends the servant to Padua to her cousin, Doctor of Law Bellario, who must provide her with papers and a man's dress. Launcelot makes fun of Jessica and her adoption of Christianity. Lorenzo, Jessica and Launcelot exchange humorous remarks, trying to outdo each other in wit.

Shylock enjoys his triumph in court. The Doge's calls for mercy, Bassanio's offers to pay double the debt - nothing softens his cruelty. In response to reproaches, he refers to the law and, in turn, reproaches Christians for the fact that they have slavery. The Doge asks to introduce Doctor Bellario, with whom he wants to consult before making a decision. Bassanio and Antonio try to cheer each other up. Everyone is ready to sacrifice themselves. Shylock sharpens his knife. The scribe enters. This is Nerissa in disguise. In the letter she transmitted, Bellario, citing ill health, recommends to the Doge his young but unusually learned colleague, Dr. Balthazar from Rome, to conduct the process. The Doctor is, of course, Portia in disguise. She first tries to appease Shylock, but, having been refused, admits that the law is on the side of the moneylender. Shylock extols the wisdom of the young judge. Antonio says goodbye to his friend. Bassanio is in despair. He is ready to sacrifice everything, even his beloved wife, if only it would save Antonio. Graziano is ready for the same. Shylock condemns the fragility of Christian marriages. He is ready to begin his disgusting business. At the last moment, the “judge” stops him, reminding him that he must take only the merchant’s meat, without shedding a drop of blood, and, moreover, exactly a pound - no more and no less. If these conditions are violated, a cruel punishment awaits him according to the law, Shylock agrees to pay triple the amount of the debt - the judge refuses: there is not a word about this in the bill, the Jew has already refused the money before the court. Shylock agrees to pay only one debt - again a refusal. Moreover, according to Venetian laws, for an attempt on the life of a citizen of the republic, Shylock must give him half of his property, the second goes as a fine to the treasury, and the life of the criminal depends on the mercy of the Doge. Shylock refuses to ask for mercy. And yet his life is spared, and the requisition is replaced with a fine. The generous Antonio refuses his half on the condition that after Shylock's death it will be bequeathed to Lorenzo. However, Shylock must immediately convert to Christianity and bequeath all his property to his daughter and son-in-law. Shylock, in desperation, agrees to everything. As a reward, the supposed judges swindle rings out of their duped husbands.

On a moonlit night in Belmont, Lorenzo and Jessica, preparing for the return of their owners, order the musicians to play in the garden.

Portia, Nerissa, their husbands, Gratiano, Antonio converge in the night garden. After an exchange of pleasantries, it turns out that the young husbands have lost the rings they gave them. Wives insist that the pledges of their love were given to women, husbands swear that this is not so, make excuses with all their might - all in vain. Continuing the prank, the women promise to share the bed with the judge and his scribe in order to return their gifts. Then they report that this has already happened and show the rings. The husbands are terrified. Portia and Nerissa admit to the prank. Portia hands Antonio a letter that fell into her hands, informing her that all his ships are intact. Nerissa gives Lorenzo and Jessica the deed by which Shylock denies them all his wealth. Everyone goes to the house to find out the details of the adventures of Portia and Nerissa.

The Merchant of Venice

(The Merchant of Venice) - Comedy (1596?, publ. 1600)

English literature

I. A. Bystrova

The Prince of Morocco arrives at Portia's house to choose one of the caskets. He gives, as the conditions of the test require, an oath: if he fails, he will not marry any more women.

On a moonlit night in Belmont, Lorenzo and Jessica, preparing for the return of their owners, order the musicians to play in the garden.

Bibliography

All the masterpieces of world literature in a brief summary. Plots and characters. Foreign literature of ancient eras, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Encyclopedic edition. / Ed. and comp. V.I. Novikov - M.: “Olympus”; ACT Publishing House LLC, 1997

Which "the spirit of the times assimilated" ("The Merry Wives of Windsor", I, 3) and, having dismissed his feudal retinue, started a profitable scam. Section 1. The question of periodization of the work of Shakespeare's mature period There was a time when Shakespeare's plays were grouped by plot: and the result was a group of comedies, a group of tragedies, chronicles from English history, Roman tragedies. This grouping is completely artificial: connecting in...

There is a man. A. Blok himself wrote: “Dogmatism, as an affirmation of certain truths, is always required in the form of a foundation (for one must proceed from some foundation).” The “diversity of minds scattering in different directions,” noted by W. Shakespeare in “Coriolanus” (II, 3), is determined by the diversity of people’s ideas about what a person is. As Laertes rightly noted: “The enemy is there too...

Less than 400 cases of fundamentally different translation possibilities. 6.2 Shakespeare’s sonnets and their connection with tragedies An analysis of translations of Shakespeare’s tragedies is impossible without reading his sonnets. That is why it seems to us that it is through the example of translations of sonnets that we can sufficiently see the Russian tradition in translations from the language of the Great Bard. As the Adyghe proverb says, the whole village is never stupid. ...

Thus, among the English, Shakespeare is the most excellent in both types of plays intended for the stage... The heyday of creativity In the 1590s. (the period that is considered to be the first in Shakespeare's work) Shakespeare creates all of his main chronicles as well as most of the comedies. In 1595-96, the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” was written, followed by “The Merchant of Venice” - the first comedy that...

Venetian merchant Antonio I'm tormented by causeless sadness. His friends, Salarino and Salanio, try to explain it by concern for ships with goods or unhappy love. But Antonio rejects both explanations. Accompanied by Gratiano and Lorenzo, Antonio's relative and closest friend, Bassanio, appears. Salarino and Salanio leave. The joker Gratiano tries to cheer up Antonio, but when this fails (“The world is a stage where everyone has a role,” says Antonio, “mine is sad”), Gratiano leaves with Lorenzo. Alone with his friend, Bassanio admits that, leading a carefree lifestyle, he was left completely without funds and is forced to again ask Antonio for money to go to Belmont, the estate of Portia, a wealthy heiress, with whose beauty and virtues he is passionately in love and with the success of his matchmaking with which I am sure of. Antonio has no cash, but he invites his friend to find a loan in his name, Antonio.

The Prince of Morocco arrives at Portia's house to choose one of the caskets. He gives, as the conditions of the test require, an oath: if he fails, he will not marry any more women.

In Venice, Shylock's servant Launcelot Gobbo, constantly joking, convinces himself to run away from his master. Having met his blind father, he plays him for a long time, then initiates him into his intention to become a servant to Bassanio, known for his generosity. Bassanio agrees to accept Launcelot into his service. He also agrees to Gratiano’s request to take him with him to Belmont. At Shylock's house, Launcelot says goodbye to the former owner's daughter, Jessica. They exchange jokes. Jessica is ashamed of her father. Lancelot undertakes to secretly deliver a letter to Jessica's lover Lorenzo with a plan to escape from home. Dressed as a page and taking with her her father's money and jewelry, Jessica runs away with Lorenzo with the help of his friends Gratiano and Salarino. Bassanio and Gratiano hurry to sail with a fair wind to Belmont.

Salarino and Salanio discuss the new losses of Antonio, whose nobility and kindness both admire. When Shylock appears, they first mock his losses, then express confidence that if Antonio defaults on the bill, the moneylender will not demand his meat: what is it good for? In response, Shylock says: “He disgraced me, [...] hindered my affairs, cooled my friends, heated my enemies; and what was his reason for this? The one that I'm Jewish. Doesn't a Jew have eyes? […] If you prick us, don’t we bleed? […] If we are poisoned, don’t we die? And if we are insulted, shouldn’t we take revenge? […] You teach us vileness, I will fulfill it...”

In Belmont, Portia entrusts her estate to Lorenzo, and she and her maid retire supposedly to a monastery to pray. In fact, she is going to Venice. She sends the servant to Padua to her cousin, Doctor of Law Bellario, who must provide her with papers and a man’s dress. Launcelot makes fun of Jessica and her adoption of Christianity. Lorenzo, Jessica and Launcelot exchange humorous remarks, trying to outdo each other in wit.

On a moonlit night in Belmont, Lorenzo and Jessica, preparing for the return of their owners, order the musicians to play in the garden.

William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice
The Venetian merchant Antonio is tormented by causeless sadness. His friends, Salarino and Salanio, try to explain it by concern for ships with goods or unhappy love. But Antonio rejects both explanations. Accompanied by Gratiano and Lorenzo, Antonio's relative and closest friend, Bassanio, appears. Salarino and Salanio leave. The jokester Gratiano tries to cheer up Antonio, but when this fails (“The world is a stage where everyone has a role,” says Antonio, “mine is sad”), Gratiano leaves with Lorenzo. Alone with his friend, Bassanio admits that, leading a carefree lifestyle, he was left completely without funds and is forced to again ask Antonio for money to go to Belmont, the estate of Portia, a wealthy heiress, with whose beauty and virtues he is passionately in love and with the success of his matchmaking with which I am sure of. Antonio has no cash, but he invites his friend to find a loan in his name, Antonio.
Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia complains to her maid Nerissa (“Blackie”) that, according to her father’s will, she cannot choose or reject a groom herself. Her husband will be the one who guesses, choosing from three caskets - gold, silver and lead, in which her portrait is located. Nerissa begins to list numerous suitors - Portia venomously ridicules each one. She remembers only Bassanio, the scientist and warrior who once visited her father, with tenderness.
In Venice, Bassanio asks the merchant Shylock to lend him three thousand ducats for three months under the guarantee of Antonio. Shylock knows that the entire fortune of the guarantor is entrusted to the sea. In a conversation with the appeared Antonio, whom he fiercely hates for his contempt for his people and for his occupation - usury, Shylock recalls the countless insults to which Antonio subjected him. But since Antonio himself lends without interest, Shylock, wanting to gain his friendship, will also give him a loan without interest, only on a comic collateral - a pound of Antonio’s meat, which Shylock can cut from any part of the merchant’s body as a penalty. Antonio is delighted by the pawnbroker's joke and kindness. Bassanio is full of forebodings and asks not to make a deal. Shylock assures that such a pledge will still not be of any use to him, and Antonio reminds him that his ships will arrive long before the due date.
The Prince of Morocco arrives at Portia's house to choose one of the caskets. He gives, as the conditions of the test require, an oath: if he fails, he will not marry any more women.
In Venice, Shylock's servant Launcelot Gobbo, constantly joking, convinces himself to run away from his master. Having met his blind father, he plays him for a long time, then initiates him into his intention to become a servant to Bassanio, known for his generosity. Bassanio agrees to accept Launcelot into his service. He also agrees to Gratiano’s request to take him with him to Belmont. At Shylock's house, Launcelot says goodbye to the former owner's daughter, Jessica. They exchange jokes. Jessica is ashamed of her father. Lancelot undertakes to secretly deliver a letter to Jessica's lover Lorenzo with a plan to escape from home. Dressed as a page and taking with her her father's money and jewelry, Jessica runs away with Lorenzo with the help of his friends Gratiano and Salarino. Bassanio and Gratiano hurry to sail with a fair wind to Belmont.
At Belmont, the Prince of Morocco chooses a gold box - a precious pearl, in his opinion, cannot be enclosed in another frame - with the inscription: “With me you will receive what many desire.” But it does not contain a portrait of a beloved, but a skull and edifying poems. The prince is forced to leave.
In Venice, Salarino and Salanio make fun of Shylock's rage after learning that his daughter robbed him and ran away with a Christian. “Oh my daughter! My ducats! Daughter Ran away with a Christian! The Christian Ducats have disappeared! Where is the court? - Shylock groans. At the same time, they discuss out loud that one of Antonio's ships sank in the English Channel.
There is a new contender in Belmont - the Prince of Aragon. He chooses a silver casket with the inscription: “With me you will get what you deserve.” It contains an image of a stupid face and mocking poetry. The prince leaves. The servant reports the arrival of a young Venetian and the rich gifts he has sent. Nerissa hopes that it is Bassanio.
Salarino and Salanio discuss the new losses of Antonio, whose nobility and kindness both admire. When Shylock appears, they first mock his losses, then express confidence that if Antonio defaults on the bill, the moneylender will not demand his meat: what is it good for? In response, Shylock says: “He disgraced me, hindered my affairs, cooled my friends, heated my enemies; and what was his reason for this? The one that I'm Jewish. Doesn't a Jew have eyes? If you prick us, don't we bleed? If we are poisoned, don’t we die? And if we are insulted, shouldn’t we take revenge? You teach us vileness, I will fulfill it...”
Salarino and Salario leave. The Jew Tubal appears, whom Shylock sent in search of his daughter. But Tubal could not find her. He only retells rumors about Jessica's extravagance. Shylock is horrified by the losses. Having learned that his daughter exchanged the ring given to him by his late wife for a monkey, Shylock sends a curse to Jessica. The only thing that consoles him is the rumors about Antonio's losses, on whom he is determined to take out his anger and grief.
At Belmont, Portia persuades Bassanio to hesitate in making a choice, she is afraid of losing him if he makes a mistake. Bassanio wants to immediately try his luck. Exchanging witty remarks, young people confess their love to each other. They bring in the caskets. Bassanio rejects gold and silver - external shine is deceptive. He chooses a lead casket with the inscription: “With me you will give everything, risking everything you have” - it contains a portrait of Portia and a poetic congratulation. Portia and Bassanio are preparing for their wedding, as are Nerissa and Gratiano, who have fallen in love with each other. Portia gives the groom a ring and takes an oath from him to keep it as a pledge of mutual love. Nerissa gives the same gift to the betrothed. Lorenzo and Jessica appear and the messenger who brought a letter from Antonio appears. The merchant reports that all his ships were lost, he is ruined, the bill to the moneylender is overdue, Shylock demands payment of a monstrous penalty. Antonio asks his friend not to blame himself for his misfortunes, but to come see him before he dies. Portia insists that the groom immediately go to help the Friend, offering Shylock any money for his life. Bassanio and Gratiano go to Venice.
In Venice, Shylock revels in the thought of revenge - after all, the law is on his side. Antonio understands that the law cannot be broken, he is ready for inevitable death and only dreams of seeing Bassanio.
In Belmont, Portia entrusts her estate to Lorenzo, and she and her maid retire supposedly to a monastery to pray. In fact, she is going to Venice. She sends the servant to Padua to her cousin, Doctor of Law Bellario, who must provide her with papers and a man's dress. Launcelot makes fun of Jessica and her adoption of Christianity. Lorenzo, Jessica and Launcelot exchange humorous remarks, trying to outdo each other in wit.
Shylock enjoys his triumph in court. The Doge's calls for mercy, Bassanio's offers to pay double the debt - nothing softens his cruelty. In response to reproaches, he refers to the law and, in turn, reproaches Christians for the fact that they have slavery. The Doge asks to introduce Doctor Bellario, with whom he wants to consult before making a decision. Bassanio and Antonio try to cheer each other up. Everyone is ready to sacrifice themselves. Shylock sharpens his knife. The scribe enters. This is Nerissa in disguise. In the letter she transmitted, Bellario, citing ill health, recommends to the Doge his young but unusually learned colleague, Doctor Balthasar from Rome, to conduct the process. The Doctor is, of course, Portia in disguise. She first tries to appease Shylock, but, having been refused, admits that the law is on the side of the moneylender. Shylock extols the wisdom of the young judge. Antonio says goodbye to his friend. Bassanio is in despair. He is ready to sacrifice everything, even his beloved wife, if only it would save Antonio. Graziano is ready for the same. Shylock condemns the fragility of Christian marriages. He is ready to begin his disgusting business. At the last moment, the “judge” stops him, reminding him that he must take only the merchant’s meat, without shedding a drop of blood, and exactly a pound, no more, no less. If these conditions are violated, a cruel punishment awaits him according to the law. Shylock agrees to pay triple the amount of the debt - the judge refuses: there is not a word about this in the bill, the Jew has already refused the money before the court. Shylock agrees to pay only one debt - again a refusal. Moreover, according to Venetian laws, for an attempt on the life of a citizen of the republic, Shylock must give him half of his property, the second goes as a fine to the treasury, and the life of the criminal depends on the mercy of the Doge. Shylock refuses to ask for mercy. And yet his life is spared, and the requisition is replaced with a fine. The generous Antonio refuses his half on the condition that after Shylock's death it will be bequeathed to Lorenzo. However, Shylock must immediately convert to Christianity and bequeath all his property to his daughter and son-in-law. Shylock, in desperation, agrees to everything. As a reward, the supposed judges swindle rings out of their duped husbands.
One night in Belmont, Lorenzo and Jessica, preparing for the return of their owners, order the musicians to play in the garden.
Portia, Nerissa, their husbands, Gratiano, Antonio converge in the night garden. After an exchange of pleasantries, it turns out that the young husbands have lost the rings they gave them. Wives insist that the pledges of their love were given to women, husbands swear that this is not so, make excuses with all their might - all in vain. Continuing the prank, the women promise to share the bed with the judge and his scribe in order to return their gifts. Then they report that this has already happened and show the rings. The husbands are terrified. Portia and Nerissa admit to the prank. Portia hands Antonio a letter that fell into her hands, informing her that all his ships are intact. Nerissa gives Lorenzo and Jessica the deed by which Shylock denies them all his wealth. Everyone goes to the house to find out the details of the adventures of Portia and Nerissa.

The Venetian merchant Antonio is tormented by causeless sadness. His friends, Salarino and Salanio, try to explain it by concern for ships with goods or unhappy love. But Antonio rejects...
Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" has been known since 1597. The plot about the fate of loving hearts separated by the will of people or circumstances was widespread in literature...
William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet The tragedy covers five days of one week, during which a fatal series of events takes place. The first act begins with a brawl among the servants...
DUENIA (Betrothal in a Monastery) Lyric-comic opera in four acts (nine scenes) Libretto by S. Prokofiev Characters: Don Jerome, Seville nobleman Tenor Ferdinand Louise) His...
The tragedy covers five days of one week, during which a fatal series of events occurs. The first act begins with a brawl between servants who belong to two warring...
Ugo Foscolo The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortiz The action begins in October 1789, ends in March 1799 and takes place mainly in the north of Italy, in...
The action begins in October 1789, ends in March 1799 and takes place mainly in northern Italy, in the vicinity of Venice. The narrative is letters...
William Shakespeare Twelfth Night, or Whatever The action of the comedy takes place in a fabulous country for the English of Shakespeare's time - Illyria. Duke of Illyria Orsino is in love with a young...
The action of the comedy takes place in a fabulous country for the English of Shakespeare's time - Illyria. Duke Orsino of Illyria is in love with the young Countess Olivia, but she is in mourning after...
William Shakespeare The Tempest The play takes place on a secluded island, where all the fictional characters are transported from different countries. Ship at sea. Storm. Thunder and lightning....
The play takes place on a secluded island, where all the fictional characters are transferred from different countries. Ship at sea. Storm. Thunder and lightning. The ship's crew is trying...
E. T. A. Hoffman Everyday views of Murr the Cat In preparation for printing the notes of Murr, a descendant of the famous Hintz von Hinzenfeld (better known to the world as the Cat in...