The Merchant of Venice
By Delilah van Tol
My Last blog post was dedicated to how Alternative Dispute Resolution could “kill” Shakespeare’s literature. But this does not count for every written piece of literature. A more skeptic approach can argue that alternative dispute resolution can play a major or a small part in certain masterpieces of literature. Using Shakespeare’s work as an example again, we will be focusing on Shakespeare’s masterpiece “The Merchant of Venice”.
This literature piece is the story of Bassiano, who is in love with great lady Portia. He needs to get into a financial position that makes it possible to win her love. His friend and mentor, Antonio, has a fund that is tied up and soon will be free. They decide to lend money from Shylock, the money lender. After the deal was made, Bassiano wins lady Portia. He then has to choose between three caskets; the first one is silver, the second one is gold, and the last one is a picture of Portia and the right to claim marriage. Bassiano’s money is not coming through, making the bond to Shylock forfeited. Nevertheless, Portia gives Bassiano double the money the repay the money lender in Venice. The three men went into Court, as Shylock did not have a good relationship with Antonio and refused the offer. A mysterious lawyer appears (Portia) in Court. This lawyer, Portia, uses considerable skills to convince Shylock to be merciful and the advantages that came with it. Portia uses persuasive arguments saying that killing Bassiano will forfeit his assets and religion. Nevertheless, Shylock is not changing his mind and wants the bargain to be upheld. However, this is when he realizes that according to the bargain he will get a pound of flesh of Antonio but that there will be no bloodshed, which means that he is defeated, and his world collapses. It makes Shylock feel like he was the victim. [1]
Now that we know what “The Merchant of Venice” is about in a nutshell, we can clearly conclude that this story an excellent example of dispute resolution. The complete opposite of the earlier diagnosed literature of “Romeo and Juliet”. [2] But what do we learn from this piece of literature? First of all, the importance of being considerate of the other party/parties emotions and feelings. Shylock wanting to take revenge on Antonio took over his common sense. He could have gained a better deal out of the whole situation, but he was mainly focused on vengeance.[3]
Moreover, this tale also illustrates the vital role of a good facilitator/mediator. Without Portia stepping in, the judicial process could have gone differently, and they might not have considered essential details laid down in the earlier made deal. The benefit that was gained because of Portia’s expertise was beyond what they could have done by themselves. It shows that dispute resolution works if the facilitator is competent and can provide proper guidance.[4]
Furthermore, it shows the effectiveness and advantage of interest-based bargaining.[5] A platform could have been provided where both parties could agree with their interest in mind. One of the parties was very reluctant and did not in any way wanted to change his mind. Which, at the end of the day, caused him to lose any of his leverage and was in no position to bargain. Shylock ended up losing and victimizing himself.[6] Nevertheless, if he would have been upon to the process of alternative dispute resolution, he might not have gotten what he initially wished to get, but he would not have been empty-handed. On the other hand, Portia acted as a “textbook” mediator and saved the day for Antonio and Bassiano.
In a nutshell, The Merchant of Venice is a perfect example of how alternative dispute resolution can make an excellent literature piece. Even when disputes create passion and lead to an in-depth insight into a character’s way of thinking, it is also very interesting to see how this insight can build a solid understanding of alternative to violence methods of dispute resolution. Nevertheless, both The Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet are great written literature in their own way. But it might not be wrong to assume that Romeo and Juliet could have had a happier ending if they had implemented alternative dispute resolution.
[1] Sparknotes ‘The Merchant of Venice’ (Sparknotes) https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/merchant/summary/ > Accessed 12.08.2021
[2] Susan H. ‘The Merchant of Venice-Winner or Loser?’ (Creative Family Solutions; August 5, 2017) https://cflsolutions.com.au/merchant-venice-winner-loser/ > Accessed 16.08.2021
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.