All that glisters is not gold' Explore the theme of deception in 'The Merchant of Venice'
             Throughout 'The Merchant of Venice' deception is an important factor, coming up repeatedly at various points in the play. Shakespeare wrote for an Elizabethan audience and at the time there were frequent rebellions against the Queen so they would have been accustomed to plots and deceptions in their everyday lives. Therefore Shakespeare is making his play something which the Elizabethan audience would relate to. The deception draws the audience more into the action of the play because they would have an outsider's perspective and would see the plot from the points of view of various characters. This would mean that they would understand the deceptions in full, so it would give them an advantage over the characters- they would be aware of things which some characters would not be.
             Another thing that is reflected in the play from Shakespeare's society is the prejudice against Jews. The audience would have been likely to have a hatred or mistrust of Jews and would have enjoyed seeing one being deceived so Shakespeare is trying to give them what they wanted by portraying Shylock as the villain. In contrast, they would have admired a woman like Portia for being strong-willed and witty, despite her greedy and racist nature, and would have supported any deception that she was involved in.
             One example in 'The Merchant of Venice' of deception is during the scene where Antonio and Shylock are discussing a loan of money and Shylock is trying to make the deal to his advantage but without letting Antonio see this. He gives the impression that he 'would be friends with [Antonio]' (Act 1, Scene 3, Line 131) so that Antonio will agree to his offer, which is in fact inadvisable. The deal he is proposing is that if Antonio does not pay back the money in time, Shylock is permitted to take 'a...