The Merchant of Venice: Overview (AQA GCSE English Literature)

The Merchant of Venice question is part of Paper 1, Section A of your GCSE. For this, you are required to write one essay-length answer to one set question. This can seem daunting at first, but this page contains some helpful information, and links to more detailed revision note pages, that will enable you to aim for the highest grade. This page includes:

• A summary of The Merchant of Venice

• A brief overview of what is required in the exam

• The Merchant of Venice characters

• The Merchant of Venice context

• The Merchant of Venice themes

• The Merchant of Venice quotes

• Top tips for the highest grade

The Merchant of Venice summary

The Merchant of Venice was written by William Shakespeare during the late 16th century. It depicts the story of Antonio, a merchant from Venice, who fails to repay a substantial loan borrowed from a Jewish moneylender named Shylock.

It is classified as a comedy and is similar to other romantic comedies by Shakespeare. The play is largely known for its dramatic scenes and for the character of Shylock. Shylock is renowned for demanding a "pound of flesh" as retribution. The play also includes two famous speeches: one from Shylock about the nature of humanity and Portia's speech on mercy. It contains many of the typical conventions of comedy such as marriage, misconception, and disguise and gender. For more on the conventions of tragedy, see The Merchant of Venice: Writer’s Methods and Techniques page. 

The play is about Antonio, a merchant, who owes money to Shylock, a vindictive moneylender. Antonio borrows the sum on behalf of his friend, Bassanio, to woo and marry a woman named Portia. After Antonio's trading ships sink, he cannot repay the debt, prompting Shylock to demand a pound of flesh as per their agreement. However, Portia, disguised as a man, intervenes during the trial and saves Antonio. As a result, Shylock is instructed to convert to Christianity and Antonio recovers his wealth from his sunken ships. For a more detailed summary, please see The Merchant of Venice: Plot Summary page. 

How is The Merchant of Venice assessed in the exam?

• Your GCSE Paper 1 requires you to answer two questions in 1hr 45min. That means you have approximately 52 minutes to plan, write and check your Merchant of Venice essay

• Paper 1 is worth 64 marks and accounts for 40% of your overall GCSE grade

• The Merchant of Venice essay is worth 34 marks in total, because it also includes 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar

• Section A of Paper 1 contains The Merchant of Venice question and you are required to answer the one available question on the play

• Your question will also include a printed extract of about 25 lines from the play

• It is a closed-book exam, which means you will not have access to a copy of the text (other than the printed extract) in your exam

• The question will require you to analyse and write in detail about an aspect of The Merchant of Venice

• Your answer will need to address both the extract from the play that you will be given, and the play as a whole

For a much more detailed guide on answering The Merchant of Venice question, please see our revision notes on How to Answer the Shakespeare Essay Question.

The Merchant of Venice characters

The characters you should focus on when revising The Merchant of Venice are:

• Shylock

• Portia

• Bassanio

• Antonio

When considering a Shakespeare play or any other text, it is crucial to remember that characters are intentionally crafted by the writer to serve a specific purpose. In many cases, these characters embody certain concepts or beliefs, and the writer, such as Shakespeare, uses them to reflect on and examine these ideas. For more details on how Shakespeare uses his characters in The Merchant of Venice, please see The Merchant of Venice: Characters revision notes page. 

The Merchant of Venice context

Understanding what context actually is can be tricky at GCSE. Examiners understand context not as historical information, or biographical facts about a writer, but as the ideas and perspectives explored by a writer through their text. Therefore, The Merchant of Venice context you should explore in your essay response is not information about medieval Italy, or facts about William Shakespeare, but ideas about:

• Prejudice and intolerance

• Love and friendship in the Elizabethan era

• Wealth and power

Lots of these ideas and perspectives are universal, so your own opinions of them are valid and will be rewarded in an exam. For a detailed breakdown of the contextual topics listed above, see The Merchant of Venice: Context page. 

The Merchant of Venice themes

Understanding the themes that Shakespeare explores in The Merchant of Venice is one of the best approaches any student can take when revising the play. This is because to get the highest mark on your exam, you need to take what examiners call a “conceptualised approach”: a detailed and perceptive exploration of Shakespeare’s ideas and intentions. The main themes explored by Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice are:

• Prejudice and intolerance

• Justice and mercy

• Love and friendship

• Wealth and power

Shakespeare explores numerous other themes in The Merchant of Venice beyond those mentioned above and you are encouraged to examine these themes too. However, the above list makes a great place to start and detailed breakdowns of each of these themes can be found on The Merchant of Venice: Themes page. 

The Merchant of Venice quotes

Although you are given credit for including quotations from The Merchant of Venice in your answer, it is not a requirement of the exam. In fact, examiners say that “references” to the rest of the play are just as valid as direct quotations: this is when students pinpoint individual moments in the play, rather than quoting what the characters say. In order to select references really successfully, it is extremely important that you know the play itself very well, including the order of the events that take place in the play. This detailed act-by-act breakdown of the plot will help you to revise the chronology of The Merchant of Venice.

However, it can also be useful to revise a few – very well selected –  quotations from the play that can be used in a variety of essays on different themes and characters. Luckily, we have made that selection for you! For a ‘translation’ and detailed analysis of each of these quotations, see The Merchant of Venice: Key Quotations page.

Top tips for the highest grade

Please see our revision pages on the Shakespeare exam for guides on:

• Structuring The Merchant of Venice essay

• The Merchant of Venice methods and techniques

• How to include context in The Merchant of Venice essay

• Understanding The Merchant of Venice mark scheme

• A Shakespeare model answer