Research Question: Chance, Predestination, and Free Will in the Merchant of Venice

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Chance, predestination, and free will are themes that crop up frequently in the Merchant of Venice. Different characters regard these topics differently. Portia and Nerissa disagree about Portia's father's benevolence as pertains to his devising of the casket lottery for Nerissa. Portia complains that her father has left her future to chance, whereas Nerissa believes (or claims to believe) that the lottery is engineered so that she will marry the best man. Bassanio is chosen – but is this fate or fortune? Also, Gratiano and Antonio disagree about the roles they have to play in life. Antonio feels he has been assigned the role of "the melancholy" whereas Gratiano feels he can choose his own fate. Other features of the play have to do with fate as well, such as Antonio's ships at sea and Shylock's taking charge of his future via the relatively safe undertaking of usury with the security of guarantors and contracts. Does Shakespeare favor one paradigm over another (free will/predestination), as discerned by the fate of his characters? Is one outlook portrayed as wiser than the other? Or are the two juxtaposed but with no resolution regarding their relative values?

William Shakespeare. Illustration source

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