A NEW VIEW:
THE TRIAL SCENE RECONSIDERED*
Last updated:
10/26/10
OVERVIEW
This analysis of the
trial scene in The Merchant of
Venice invites the reader to
reconsider conventional interpretations of this famous scene in
several respects:
▪...
it is the
first to consider the trial scene as if it
..
...were an actual trial,
from the perspective of an
......experienced
trial lawyer who has educated himself
......in
sixteenth century English laws and legal history;
▪...
it
demonstrates that Shakespeare wrote the scene as
a
.....
travesty of
a trial, and not as the.serious,
more-or-less
.... normal trial as it has
been conventionally portrayed; and
▪...
it includes
an analysis of Judge Portia’s trial strategy.
PART
I
The first section of
this Part discusses what are to us the arcane laws and legal
procedures of sixteenth century England, and provides other
background information.
The second section of this Part analyzes what happens in the trial
scene from its very beginning to its end, from the perspective of a
legally informed member of the audience to one of the first
performances of the play by Shakespeare and his acting company,
circa 1597. It demonstrates that Shakespeare wrote the scene in
such a manner that his audiences would have understood it to be a
travesty of a trial that took place in the Court of Queen’s Bench
in England.
However, virtually all discussions and enactments of the trial
scene for the last two hundred years or so have treated the scene
as if it were a serious, quasi-conventional trial that took place
in a so-called Court of Justice in Venice. If this traditional
understanding of the trial scene is so seriously mistaken, then it
follows that the traditional understanding of the rest of the play
may also be mistaken, and must be re-examined.
PART
II
This Part discusses the
early textual history of The Merchant of
Venice. It demonstrates that
there exists no evidence contemporary with Shakespeare’s time
concerning how Shakespeare and his fellow actors may have
performed The Merchant of
Venice, or what anyone in any
audience may have thought about such a performance.
In addition, it reveals that a period of nearly a century and a
half had passed between the last known performance of
The
Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare and his
acting company in 1605, and the next performance of the play in
1741.
Finally, it postulates that current notions regarding the trial
scene are based mostly upon the unsupported assumptions,
speculations, and prejudices of the first editors of
Shakespeare’s Complete
Works, beginning in the
eighteenth century.
PART
III
This Part discusses
Judge Portia’s first encounter with Shylock in the trial scene, and
analyzes that encounter from the perspective of an experienced
trial lawyer. It provides insight into the dynamics of the trial
strategy that Judge Portia was pursuing.
PART
IV
By making the trial
scene a travesty of a trial, Shakespeare undermined both the Bond
Plot and the Casket Plot. Why would he do such a thing, and what
must really be going on in the play?
This analysis does not address these issues in any detail. However,
I have done some research into various possible approaches, and
have included summaries of that research, together with brief
discussions of my preliminary conclusions. The main issues
discussed in Part IV are:
▪...Shakespeare
wrote Shylock as the Devil —not as a Jew—
.....and wrote himself into
the play as Shylock.
▪...Primarily
in Acts Four and Five, Shakespeare wrote
.....Portia as the Risen
Christ.
▪...Table
of cross-references: The Merchant of
Venice to
......Doctor
Faustus and The.Jew
of Malta.
▪...Table
of cross-references: The Merchant of
Venice to
.....
The
Gospel of John
and
to The
Revelation of John
the
......Divine.
▪...Table
of cross-references: The Merchant of
Venice to
.....The
Spanish Tragedy.
▪...Portia’s
(imagined) letter to Bellario.
▪...The
identities of Bellario and Balthasar.
▪...Richard
Baines and blasphemy.
▪...Discussion
of Shylock as not a Jew at all.
HANDOUTS FOR
CLASS
I have also made
available two handouts that I prepared for a presentation to a
class of undergraduates, who had just finished studying the trial
scene. Educators interested in stimulating their students to focus
on the text of the play (Handout Text), and to think critically
about what they have read (Handout Notes), are welcome to download
and modify these handouts from this site: http://public.me.com/wnblanton1.
SOURCES
I have listed at the end
of this analysis several sources for sixteenth century English law
and procedure, and for other background matters. Most of the
discussion that follows consists of my original observations and
conclusions based on the text of the play, my research into
sixteenth century English law, and my own knowledge and experience
as a trial lawyer. I will occasionally reference some of these
source materials, using a shorthand citation instead of a formal
footnote. As reflected in the Acknowledgements section, I have
submitted earlier drafts of this article to recognized experts in
sixteenth century English law and procedure, and of the history of
the period (with respect to Part I), and to an experienced,
award-winning trial judge (with respect to the dynamics of the
trial, Part III).
REFERENCE
TEXT
I will use
The
Applause First Folio of Shakespeare in Modern
Type, Neil Freeman, editor,
Applause, New York (2001) as the text for this article. Freeman has
not made any editorial interventions, has retained the original
spellings, and has generously given me permission to use those
portions of the text that appear here. I have included as an
Appendix the Trial Scene from this text.
COMMENTS
I welcome your comments
and questions: wnblanton1@me.com.
Pleased to meet you.
Bill
____________________________
* My name is Bill Blanton. I am a native Houstonian, obtained a BA
from Rice University, a JD with Honors from the University of Texas
School of Law, and practiced law in Houston for twenty years. While
in active practice, I specialized in civil litigation, and was
certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in both
Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law.