Act 5 — The Merchant of Venice — AQA GCSE English Literature 8702
AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702
Act 5
The plot, part by part
What you need to know
Lorenzo and Jessica at Belmont, the return of Portia and Nerissa, the quarrel over the rings, Antonio's ships restored, and a comic ending without Shylock.
Key quotations: 'The moon shines bright: in such a night as this', 'How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!', 'The man that hath no music in himself', 'How far that little candle throws his beams! / So shines a good deed in a naughty world', 'When the moon shone, we did not see the candle', 'If you did know to whom I gave the ring', 'Let not that doctor e'er come near my house', 'Nothing is good, I see, without respect', 'Sweet lady, you have given me life and living', 'There do I give to you and Jessica, / From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift'.
Structure: the moonlit, musical opening and the comic quarrel over the rings as a harmonious ending, and Shylock's absence from it.
Context: the play as a comedy that ends in marriages and music, and why some critics group it with Shakespeare's problem plays.
