Loyalty

In The Merchant of Venice, friendship is a close personal relationship; loyalty is the commitment that makes someone act on that relationship. A character may express love, but Shakespeare tests it through money, danger, promises and competing duties. Antonio risks his body for Bassanio, Jessica leaves her father for Lorenzo, and Bassanio must decide whether gratitude to Antonio’s rescuer outweighs a promise to Portia.

Loyalty means remaining committed to a person, belief or promise when that commitment becomes difficult. Shakespeare repeatedly makes one loyalty clash with another: to a friend or a wife, to a father or a chosen husband, to religious identity or the demands of a hostile community.

In The Merchant of Venice, loyalty means remaining committed to someone or something when that commitment is tested. Shakespeare makes it more demanding than simply feeling affection: characters must lend money, risk their bodies, keep promises or choose between conflicting duties.