In this work you can see the obsession with money, vindictiveness and even nationalism. There are two Venetian merchants, Bassanio and Antonio, in an extremely difficult financial situation. Bassanio, as a way out of this situation, decides to go to woo the rich heiress Portia, but he has no money for it. Antonio also has no money, but he borrows a large amount from a Jew Shylock under „his honest name."