SOURCE: Graham, Cary B. “Standards of Value in The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Quarterly 4, no. 2 (April 1953): 145-51.

In the following essay, Graham maintains that shifting standards of moral, economic, and social value in The Merchant of Venice provide a fundamental insight into the variety of interpretations and responses the drama has elicited.

Recently Professor E. E. Stoll remarked, “… nearly everything certain in Shakespeare scholarship has in some quarters been disputed, as nearly everything uncertain has been affirmed.”¹ Although the statement was not applied especially to The Merchant of Venice, it is obvious that this play is a fruitful source of disagreement. It may be called either comedy or tragedy. Shylock may be regarded as a villain, a comic figure, or a martyr. Bassanio may be either an idealized Renaissance lover or a wastrel who recoups a squandered fortune by risking the life of a dear friend who in...