"Venice, Supreme City of Wealth, Glamour, and Intrigue, With a Dynamic Diva and Two Pantaloni: "The Merchant of Venice""
Dr. Eric Nicholson

“Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?”, asks Portia, cross-dressed as the legal expert Balthazar, soon after she/”he” arrives at the courtroom presided over by the Doge of Venice himself. Her question implies that the play’s title character Antonio and his opponent Shylock are as similar as they are different: as we will study and discuss, their similarities can be instructively linked to the famously Venetian maschera, or character type, of the “commedia dell’arte” Pantalone. As is often the case with Pantalone, these two competitive, wealthy, and aging businessmen lose the person they most love to someone much younger. In Antonio’s case, the younger rival is Portia herself, who strongly recalls the “Prima Donna” actress-divas of the Italian commedia with her exceptionally versatile qualities as rich young heiress, fairytale princess, Medea-like sorceress, trans-gendered trickster, and eloquently improvising public speaker. Focusing on Portia and her faithful friend and trusted accomplice Nerissa, along with the other cross-dressing and self-transforming female character Jessica, we will consider how these three women represent Venice and its world. To assist and sharpen our ideas and interpretations, we will look at excerpts from recent cinematic and theatre adaptations, including the film, shot on location, with Al Pacino as Shylock and Lynn Collins as Portia, and the 2015-16 Shakespeare’s Globe live production.