In "Merchant of Venice", the problem towards Antonio occurs due to bad weather at the sea which eventually causes his ships to be delayed which allowed him to exceed the limit of three months to pay his debts back to Shylock. Antonio, whose money and other properties are in different ships as a trader, has to give a pound of his flesh to Shylock. As in the harbor in the picture, the setting of the play is well represented. For instance, the boats correspond to the ships that carry Antonio's merchandise overseas to other cities. Also, the white hall symbolizes the court where the bond between Shylock and Antonio is being decided; whether Antonio would have to give a pound of his flesh or not. At first, the Duke is not able to influence Shylock to change his mind about getting a pound of Antonio's flesh; however, like the bright harbor in the picture, Antonio gets to have a way out that rescues him from facing death. Portia, who is a wife of Antonio's best friend Bassanio, arrives to court dressed like a lawyer and uses her wisdom to exonerate Antonio from Shylock who is vile. The buildings also symbolize the bond between Shylock and Antonio that its existence may be hold tightly from both inside and out; however the bond may be broken from stronger force from the exterior forces. This picture should be the book cover for the play Merchant of Venice because it has lots of implications about the setting and the characteristics of main characters of the play are well displayed in ...
