A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories

by Angela McAllister

  Bassanio’s relief turned to horror. “I won’t let you agree to that, Antonio!” he cried.

  Shylock looked offended. “But I make this offer in friendship, gentlemen,” he said. “If my money is not repaid all I gain is a pound of flesh which is worth nothing at all.”

  Although Antonio knew that Shylock’s friendship was false, he could not refuse the money-lender’s challenge. Determined to help Bassanio, he agreed to accept the conditions of the loan. “My ships will return long before the money is due to be repaid,” he assured his friend.

  Bassanio took Shylock’s money and bought fine clothes for himself and gifts for Portia. His friend Gratiano, who had accompanied him on his first trip to Belmont, was also eager to return, so they set sail together.

  While Bassanio and Gratiano travelled towards Belmont, Portia was growing tired of all the unsuitable men who came to visit, hoping to marry her. Before her father died, he’d given her three caskets – one made of gold, one of silver and one of lead – and insisted that only the man who could guess which casket contained Portia’s portrait should marry his daughter.

  “It’s so hard not to be able to choose a husband for myself,” Portia said as her maid, Nerissa, set out the caskets for the arrival of the Prince of Morocco.

  “If I was to choose a husband for you, my lady, it would be that handsome man who came from Venice to visit your father,” replied Nerissa mischievously.

  Portia remembered the young Venetian very well. “Yes, Bassanio was his name, wasn’t it?” she said. “He was certainly handsome.” And she turned from Nerissa to hide her blushes.

  When the Prince of Morocco entered, Portia told him of her father’s test. “One of these three caskets contains my portrait, Prince. If you choose that one then I will be your wife.”

  The Prince of Morocco accepted the challenge. First, he read the inscription on the casket of lead. “Whoever chooses me must risk all he has.”

  “No man of wealth would risk all he has for worthless lead!” scoffed the Prince, so he turned to the silver casket.

  “Whoever chooses me will get what he deserves,” he read. “I’m a man of noble birth and deserve the finest things, so surely I deserve the Lady Portia,” he thought to himself. But to be sure, he read the inscription on the gold casket.

  “Whoever chooses me will get what many men desire.” The Prince smiled. “Many men come to gaze at your beauty, my Lady,” he said to Portia. “This must be the right choice.”

  However, to the Prince’s dismay, the casket only contained a skull with a note beside it.

  “All that glistens is not gold,” he read. The Prince of Morocco realised that he’d been unwise to choose by appearances. With a heavy heart he departed.

  A short while later, the Prince of Aragon arrived. He studied the caskets carefully. Like the Prince of Morocco, he refused to risk anything for a casket of lead. He also dismissed the casket of gold.

  “I won’t choose what many men desire,” he said, “because most men are fools.” So he turned to the silver casket. “Whoever chooses me shall get what he deserves. Well, that’s just how it should be,” he decided. “And I deserve the best!” The Prince opened it up but he was disappointed to find the portrait of a jester inside.

  “It seems I came here with one fool’s head and I go away with two,” he said sadly.

  Portia heaved a sigh of relief as she watched him go. However, Nerissa hardly had time to put the caskets away when a messenger announced that another suitor had arrived from Venice. “Please let it be Lord Bassanio,” she whispered to herself.

  Portia and Bassanio greeted each other with great joy. As Nerissa had suspected, Bassanio had won her mistress’s heart the moment they first met and now he confessed that he’d thought of nothing but Portia since that day. Bassanio told Portia how his good friend Antonio had helped him but she only cared that he loved her as much as she loved him. However, they could not be married unless Bassanio faced her father’s test and chose correctly.

  Nerissa set the three caskets before him.

  “I am locked in one of them,” said Portia. “If you love me, you will find me.” Portia desperately wished that she could tell Bassanio which casket to choose but all she could do was watch silently and trust that her father’s test would bring her true love’s happiness.

  Bassanio studied the caskets thoughtfully. He wasn’t tempted by the shining gold and silver. “Beauty can’t be trusted,” he said, “it’s often used to disguise something ugly. But the lead casket promises nothing; it only asks that I risk all that I have, which I willingly do for love.” To Portia’s delight, he opened the lead casket and found her portrait inside.

  “Myself, and all that is mine, I give to you,” said Portia. Nerissa and Gratiano smiled at each other and congratulated them.

  “Well, now at last I can marry too,” announced Gratiano and he revealed that he and Nerissa had also fallen in love the day they first met. “Nerissa vowed not to marry me unless Bassanio wed her mistress,” he explained. “So I thank your lordship for giving me a wife!”

  Their two weddings soon followed. But a month later, a letter arrived that cut short everyone’s happiness.

  “Antonio’s ships have all been wrecked,” Bassanio read aghast. “Our loan hasn’t been repaid on time, so now Shylock is demanding his pound of flesh!”

  “You must hurry to help your friend,” said Portia. “We have gold to pay the debt twenty times over.”

  Bassanio and Gratiano set sail at once for Venice.

  Unable to pay his debt, Antonio had been arrested and locked up. From his prison cell, he tried to reason with Shylock, but the cruel moneylender showed him no pity.

  “The law must give me justice,” Shylock said. “I’ll have my pound of flesh. You called me a dog, Antonio, well now you’ll see my fangs!”

  Meanwhile, Portia came up with her own plan to help Antonio. “After all, we owe him our happiness,” she told Nerissa. First she took advice from her cousin, Doctor Bellario, who was a learned lawyer, and then she and Nerissa set off for Venice themselves.

  On the day of Antonio’s trial, he was brought to the courtroom, before the Duke of Venice.

  “I’m sorry for you, Antonio,” said the Duke. “Shylock is an inhuman wretch.” But Antonio was resigned to his fate. He knew that his bargain must be kept. The law couldn’t save him from Shylock’s revenge.

  When Shylock entered the courtroom, the Duke asked him to show mercy towards Antonio.

  The moneylender cruelly refused. “I hate Antonio!” he said. “I only demand what is due to me.”

  Then Bassanio stepped forward. “For your three thousand ducats I offer you six thousand,” he said.

  But Shylock just shrugged. “If you offered me six thousand times six thousand ducats I wouldn’t take them,” he said with a sneer. “I want my pound of flesh. Shall I have justice?”

  The Duke told the court that he wished to wait until the learned lawyer, Doctor Bellario, arrived, before making a judgement. At that moment a young lawyer and his assistant arrived in court with a letter from Doctor Bellario. Bassanio and Gratiano didn’t recognise their wives in disguise.

  The Duke read the letter. “Doctor Bellario is unwell,” he told the court, “so instead he has sent a brilliant young lawyer called Balthasar.” The Duke asked Balthasar to speak.

  Portia pressed her false beard firmly to her chin and stepped forward.

  “I have read the details of this case,” she said gruffly. “Antonio, do you agree that you owe money to this man, Shylock?” she asked. Antonio agreed. “Then the moneylender must be merciful,” she said.

  Shylock scowled. “Why should I?” he replied.

  “Mercy is twice blessed,” Portia told him. “It blesses the one who gives it and the one who receives it.”

  “I don’t care about mercy, I’ve done nothing wrong.” Shylock shook his fists in frustration. “I only want the law!” he demanded.

  Bassanio explaine
d that he’d offered to repay the loan but his money had been refused. “Then the law says that Shylock has the right to his pound of flesh,” announced Portia, “to be cut off near the merchant’s heart.”

  Everyone in the court gasped. Shylock’s eyes glinted with malice. He took a knife from his bag and began to sharpen it. The sight sent a chill through the crowd.

  “Prepare yourself, Antonio,” said Portia.

  Shylock took a pair of scales out of his bag, ready to weigh the flesh, and grinned with wicked anticipation.

  But as he raised his knife, Portia had a warning for him. “Take care, Shylock,” she said. “The penalty you agreed to was a pound of flesh, but it said nothing of Antonio’s blood. If you shed one single drop, the Duke has the right to take your life.”

  Shylock froze with the knife in his hand. He couldn’t take what was owed to him without losing his own life! He realised that he’d been outwitted. “Then give me the money!” he cried.

  “You’ve already refused it,” said Portia firmly. “The law only grants you the penalty.”

  The moneylender cursed under his breath. Prevented from having his money or his revenge upon Antonio, Shylock slunk away, empty handed and humiliated.

  Then Antonio was released. Although he wished to thank the young lawyer who had saved him, Portia and Nerissa hurried away from the court, to get home before their husbands.

  When the two couples were reunited and the deception was revealed, there was much laughter in Belmont. Portia and Bassanio agreed that their happiness was now complete, with the freedom of their good friend Antonio, the merchant of Venice.

  ABOUT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

  William Shakespeare was born in the English town of Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1564. When he was seven, he went to the local grammar school to study Maths, English, French and Latin, and was introduced to stories including the fables of Aesop, Greek myths and Ovid. His first experience of theatre was perhaps acting out Greek plays at school, or helping out with the visiting ‘Mystery’ and ‘Miracle’ plays of the time – religious pantomimes acted out by groups of craftsmen. William’s father was a glove-maker, and at around age 15, he began to learn this craft. Not much of him is known after that until 1585 when William and his family moved to London, so that he could become an actor and a playwright!

  By 1594, William had become a member of the best troupe of players in London: the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. In his early days as an apprentice, he probably played small roles, swept up after the crowds had gone home and helped the actors dress. Another of his tasks may have been helping more experienced playwrights add new scenes to plays, and even coming up with his own ideas. One of his earliest performed works in 1590 was The Taming of the Shrew. This was followed by The Comedy of Errors and The Gentleman of Verona. Two of his best-loved plays, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, were written soon after. Some of his plays were performed at court as well as for the public.

  In 1599, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men moved to a new theatre: The Globe. Here, many of Shakespeare’s most famous plays were performed, including Henry V, Hamlet, Othello and Twelfth Night. His plays were popular for making audiences laugh one minute and weep the next and made Shakespeare a famous and wealthy man. He owned the second-biggest house in Stratford and other houses in London. In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died and King James I took the throne. Shakespeare’s company was awarded a royal patent and became the King’s Men. Shakespeare continued to write plays for The Globe, but also used an indoor theatre called Blackfriars in bad weather. His last great work, The Tempest, was performed there in 1613.

  William Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616. His plays are considered to be among the greatest works of literature ever written in the world, and are still performed regularly today.

  FULL LIST OF PLAYS

  COMEDIES

  All’s Well that Ends Well (1604-5)

  As You Like It (1599-1600)

  The Comedy of Errors (1594)

  Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594-5)

  Measure for Measure (1603-4)

  The Merchant of Venice (1596-7)

  The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597-8)

  A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595)

  Much Ado About Nothing (1598)

  Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607-8)

  The Taming of the Shrew (1590-1)

  The Tempest (1611)

  Twelfth Night (1600-1)

  The Two Gentleman of Verona (1590-1)

  The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613-4)

  The Winter’s Tale (1609)

  HISTORIES

  Henry IV, Part 1 (1596-7)

  Henry IV, Part 2 (1597-8)

  Henry V (1598-9)

  Henry VI, Part 1 (1591)

  Henry VI, Part 2 (1591)

  Henry VI, Part 3 (1591)

  Henry VIII (1613)

  King John (c.1595)

  Richard II (1595)

  Richard III (1593)

  TRAGEDIES

  Antony and Cleopatra (1606)

  Coriolanus (1605–1608)

  Cymbeline (1611)

  Hamlet (1600-1)

  Julius Caesar (1599)

  King Lear (1605-6)

  Macbeth (1606)

  Othello (1603-4)

  Romeo and Juliet (1595)

  Timon of Athens (c.1608)

  Titus Andronicus (1588-93)

  Troilus and Cressida (1601)

  ABOUT THE PLAYS IN THIS BOOK

  As You Like It

  During the 1590s Shakespeare wrote a number of comedies (plays that ended happily and made people laugh). In this one, Shakespeare makes fun of the ideas about love at the time, for example that love is a disease that brings suffering and torment. He also contrasts city life and country life, showing the forest to be a place where characters may be healed, away from the stresses of courtly life. It may be that the Forest of Arden was inspired by the real Forest of Arden, near where Shakespeare grew up!

  Hamlet

  At the beginning of this play, Hamlet sees his father’s ghost who tells him that he was murdered, and asks him to avenge his death. Revenge plays were common at the time, but Shakespeare’s Hamlet was different. Instead of there being lots of violent action, Hamlet’s is unsure what to do. He questions whether he can trust the ghost, or has the courage to commit murder, and even starts to question the nature of life and death itself. It is this focus on Hamlet’s thoughts that has made the play so famous.

  Julius Caesar

  For this play, Shakespeare focuses on real-life events: the assassination of Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BCE. Here, he explores ideas of who should rule and how. Rome is a Republic ruled by a group of men called Senators who vote on its laws, but Caesar is becoming more and more like a king. The play is also about free will versus fate, as Caesar (like Macbeth) receives a prophecy at the beginning that foretells what will happen to him.

  King Lear

  King Lear is perhaps Shakespeare’s darkest play of all. An elderly king allows his vanity to get the better of him, and leaves his kingdom to his two selfish daughters, rather than the one who loves him the most – Cordelia. When his daughters betray him, Lear slowly goes mad. Audiences find very little justice in this play, as at the end Lear is reunited with Cordelia, only for them to be defeated in battle and eventually die. There is goodness in the play, but it’s hard to tell if it triumphs over evil or not.

  Macbeth

  Macbeth is a tale of how hunger for power can have tragic consequences. The prophecy of three witches begins a chain of events that leads to death and destruction, but it’s never clear whether Macbeth is truly fated to be king, or just wills it to be so. Macbeth was one of the first plays performed for James I after the gunpowder plot of 1605 which tried to blow up the king’s court. Some historians think it is a cautionary tale, warning any more would-be assassins of the consequences for their actions.

  The Merchant of Venice

  Justice and the law are two of the themes of this play. Mercy is another: Sh
ylock’s determination to have his ‘pound of flesh’ from Antonio, despite others asking him to be merciful, makes the audience think he is a villain. But is he also a victim of prejudice? Some people believe that The Merchant of Venice is anti-semitic, in its portrayal of Shylock, who is Jewish. However, in one famous speech Shylock tells the audience that Jews are the same as anyone else: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”

  A Midsummer Night’s Dream

  Written to celebrate a wealthy London wedding, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy about mistaken identity and the difficulty of love. Four lovers are mixed up in a quarrel between the fairy king and queen with hilarious results. As Lysander points out, “The course of true love never did run smooth”, but all is made well by Puck and a little magic. Light-hearted and fun, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays today.

  Much Ado About Nothing

  Full of wit and good humour, this lively comedy tells the story of two couples: Benedick and Beatrice, and Hero and Claudio. It contains similar themes to Shakespeare’s other comedies, such as mistaken identity and the obstacles to true love. What is unique about Much Ado is the witty conversation and polished social graces which characterised courtly life at the time. The relationship between Benedick and Beatrice is particularly spiky!

  Othello

  Jealousy and obsession are the main themes of this play, as Shakespeare explores how an honourable man can be driven to suspect his wife by someone with evil intent. As a Moor, Othello is an outsider in Venice. Iago’s racism partly motivates him to convince Othello that his wife is being unfaithful, but perhaps it is Othello’s outsider status which makes him believe Iago. In many of Shakespeare’s plays, including Much Ado About Nothing, the ‘honour’ of women is seen as very important.