four score ducats and a ring for a monkey

four score ducats and a ring for a monkey

fiction
Edward w Pritchard

A sympathetic portrayal of Shylock the money lender in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice is hard for a Director to pull off if he follows the script as presented by William Shakespeare. Shylock has been wronged, by Antonio, by his daughter Jessica and Venice itself has wronged Shylock for being a Jew. In his grief and madness at the loss of his daughter and damage to reputation Shylock seeks to enforce his contract with Antonio and extract his pound of flesh for the default of the money lent from Shylock to Antonio.

Al Pacino presents the  consummate Shylock to modern audiences in the 2004 " Merchant of Venice". Pacino's Shylock is a tour de force performance. 

Shakespeare depiction of Shylock confuses and embarrasses the modern audience. The "Merchant of Venice" is an easy play to over analyze and many critics do that with the character of Shylock. Like some other notable roles in Shakespeare the Character of Shylock comes alive on stage and in the script.

Shylock is talking to a fellow Jew and has just found out that his daughter who left Venice against his wishes with a large part of his fortune has been partying in Genoa and spent 80 ducats [ 8000 American dollars] in one night's revelry. To top off that Jessica has denounced her Jewish faith, stole a large part of her Father's hard earned money and wants to marry a Christian opportunist.

Shylock goes mad with rage when he hears that on top of spending 80 ducats in one night of partying
Jessica has traded her deceased Mother's ring for a monkey. What a fantastic piece of writing by William Shakespeare. Who that sees the play can forget 80 ducats and a ring for a monkey?

Portia and the three caskets, Portia dressed as a man and disguised as a Doctor and acting as a learned attorney, and Portia defeating Shylock in court ends with Shylock disgraced and forced to convert to Christianity. The morality play has ended with the comic villain Shylock getting his deserved justice. Portia's friends split Shylock's remaining fortune.

Shylock stumbling about boggy Venice after the end of the play runs through your head thereafter. What has Shylock done to deserve being spit on and what happened to him in court in Venice a city known for providing Justice for all? What will happen to Shylock if he leaves the protection of the Jewish ghetto?

Too bad for us that Shakespeare did not do a sequel to Shylock. What more might Shakespeare have done with the evolving character of Shylock; what might Al Pacino have done with the role.

See the masterpiece "Merchant of Venice" with Al Pacino as Shylock, it's intriguing.