'Passionate Friendship' in The Merc

'Passionate Friendship' in The Merchant of Venice"
Addison Palanza, VMI
Camaraderie amongst men can easily lead to equivocal
sexual boundaries. In sixteenth century England, prose
that reflected what scholars call the “passionate
friendship” between men was common. William Shakespeare’s
The Merchant of Venice, is a brilliant example of such a
text because Bassanio’s quest for heterosexual love
reflects his homosexual relationship with Antonio. In
helping Bassanio to gain Portia’s love, Antonio provides
money, advice, and almost his life, ironically fulfilling
the inscription on the casket that Bassanio must choose in
order to win Portia’s hand, “Who chooseth me, must give and
hazard all he hath” (act 3 scene 1). Although these appear
to be the actions of a dependable friend, closer
examination shows Antonio’s feelings to be those of a
homosexual love.
Male camaraderie is based on bonds formed while men
share experiences in life, helping each other to achieve
their goals. These bonds create relationships in which men
willingly sacrifice for each other, strengthening the ties
of friendship. Each sacrifice becomes a piece of a safety
net, constructed by male camaraderie, which supports a man
as he progresses in the world. However, the properties of
a safety net in a male friendship are similar to those of a
fishing net. Small fish, or those that are unworthy of
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being kept, fall through the holes in the net whose
placement is determined by social and personal boundaries.
In The Merchant of Venice, Antonio and Bassanio share
similar social standing and a long time friendship that
creates their net. Antonio provides Bassanio with
financial support as he attempts to gain Portia’s love
despite the fact that Bassanio already owes him a sizable
sum. While his actions seem like those of a friend,
scrutiny shows that Antonio supports Bassanio in an unusual
way, risking all “to secure the happiness of the friend he
love[s]” (Auden 235). Due to the fact that Antonio has all
of his assets spread out at the time, to financially help
Bassanio he is forced to act as a guarantor on a loan from
a cruel Jew named Shylock. Incredibly, Antonio agrees to
“seal unto this bond,” despite the bond being one pound of
his own flesh (act 2 scene 2). Because Antonio’s feelings
transcend acceptable heterosexual bounds, the holes of
their net are closed, nearly causing its own destruction
when Shylock demands payment on the loan and Antonio’s life
becomes endangered. In a normal heterosexual relationship,
men do not risk their lives so that a friend may woo a
woman in style. Instead, such a situation would pass
through the net, leaving the friendship intact. As in
fishing, when they cannot pass through it, unacceptable
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items damage the net. W.H. Auden points out that “intense
emotions” of this kind in a strong male relationship such
as the two have, will inevitably produce the “tragic
possibilities” that eventually occur (Auden 222).
Thorough examination of the play shows that
Shakespeare begins to allude to a homosexual relationship
between Bassanio and Antonio from the very the outset of
the work. Act one, Scene one, begins with Antonio holding
a casual conversation with two of his male friends,
Gratiano and Salanio. When Gratiano asks Antonio why he is
so melancholy, he replies that he is sad because the world
is but “a stage where every man must play a part and [his]
a sad one.” Immediate inspection of this statement reveals
nothing out of the ordinary for a heterosexual male. His
reference to a “part” in life could feasibly refer to
anything. However, when Bassanio enters the scene,
Antonio’s other two friends insist on leaving immediately,
with polite excuses and references to other business.
Oddly, both men insist on leaving together, as if they know
that Antonio would prefer to be alone with Bassanio,
stating that they “think he only loves the world for him”
(act 1 scene 1). In his essay Brothers and Others, Auden
points out that such words are those of a “melancholic who
is incapable of loving a woman” (Auden 229). Immediately
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following their departure, Antonio begins to question
Bassanio, asking about the “lady… that you to-day promised
to tell me of” (act 1 scene 1). Although this is an
understandable question for a man to ask his friend, close
scrutiny alludes to deeper feelings of love within Antonio.
The dejectedness that he explains as sadness at the “part”
he must play in life actually refers to his elite position
in society and the social pressures he must face about
sexuality. In this regard, it is important to note that
Antonio is unmarried and saddened at the prospect of
Bassanio loving a woman, because he loves Bassanio and does
not want to lose him. In fact, Steve Patterson calls
Antonio “a lovelorn homosexual vainly in pursuit of the
obviously heterosexual Bassanio” (Patterson 9). His
actions to support Bassanio in his courtship reflect his
homosexuality as well as the importance of boundaries in a
male relationship.
Bassanio explains Portia to Antonio by admitting that
he owes everything he has to Antonio’s love and his
generosity in lending money to him. Such actions are
seemingly typical of a man attempting to help a friend. He
goes on to say that “from [this] love” he has a “warranty
to unburden all [of his] plots and purposes how to get
clear of all the debts” (act 1 scene 1). Clearly, Bassanio
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is attempting to present his feelings for the wealthy
Portia as a scheme to pay off his debts if he can marry her
and gain control of her money. When viewed in this manner,
it appears that Bassanio knows his love for a woman will
hurt Antonio, who is in love with him. Therefore, he tries
to deny any emotional involvement in an attempt to maintain
the safety net created by Antonio’s friendship that has
been supporting him financially.
Further evidence of homosexuality in the relationship
between the two men becomes evident when Bassanio asks
Antonio for yet another loan, so that he may pursue Portia
properly and compete with her other suitors. Despite the
fact that Bassanio still owes him substantial amounts of
money, Antonio agrees to help Bassanio, saying that “[his]
purse, [his] person, [his] extremist means, lie all
unlocked to [Bassanio’s] occasion” (act 1 scene 2). Here,
the safety net appears to be working as one friend makes a
sacrifice to help another. However, Antonio is clearly
affirming for Bassanio that he is willing to share
everything with him, including his purse and person, that
is, body. In a typical male friendship, a man’s “person”
and “extremist means” would pass through the net and not be
offered because such things cause complications that may be
detrimental to a relationship in the long run. This is
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demonstrated by Bassanio taking advantage of Antonio’s
offer (that should have gone through the net) and nearly
causing the destruction of his own friendship when Shylock
demands payment on the loan. Auden agrees when he points
out that Antonio is risking his life so that Bassanio can
gain Portia and entrance to her life of wealth and love in
Belmont, while he himself is excluded from such a life.
Belmont seems to be a fairytale land where entrance can
only be gained by heterosexual marriage, a prerequisite
that Antonio cannot attain. Therefore, he attempts to live
vicariously through Bassanio, in an effort to gain his
love.
Because the safety net of their friendship allowed
nothing to pass through, its destruction naturally becomes
eminent in act four, scene one. Antonio faces death as
Shylock attempts to collect on his loan. Had the
relationship between Antonio and Bassanio been a normal
one, Antonio would have never agreed to offer his own life
as a bond and the friendship would never be at risk of
ending. Importantly, when faced with death because
Bassanio couldn’t pay the loan, Antonio does not get angry.
Rather, he asks Bassanio to tell Portia how much he loved
him and asks her to be the “judge whether Bassanio had not
once a love”. He says that “he repents not” that he dies
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for Bassanio (act 4 scene 2). At this moment in the play,
Shakespeare makes it obvious that Antonio is asking
Bassanio to tell his wife about their love in an attempt to
make Bassanio realize its extent. Antonio’s homosexuality
is evident in the fact that he is willing to die so that
Bassanio may woo a woman because he doesn’t want to live if
Bassanio doesn’t love him. His sadness at the opening of
the play stems from Bassanio’s feelings towards a woman,
yet he agrees to help Bassanio win her. By doing so, he is
knowingly risking his life when he agrees to Shylock’s
bond. The fact that Antonio depends on Bassanio to pay the
loan, although he has not paid any of his past debts,
indicates that he is hoping for death. In that way, he
will become a martyr for love, showing Bassanio the depth
of his feelings by sacrificing his life so that Bassanio
can achieve his goals and be happy. By attempting to
provide too much of a safety net for Bassanio, Antonio
crosses the bounds of a normal friendship and reveals the
homosexuality in their relationship. When no aspect of
their lives passes through the net, it is nearly destroyed
at the hands of Shylock.
Unbridled male friendships can easily cause homosexual
emotions. The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare,
illustrates this point by presenting a man’s quest for
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heterosexual love and the way it affects his closest
friend. To help Bassanio gain Portia’s love, Antonio
provides money, advice, and nearly his life. While these
appear to be the actions of a dependable friend, closer
examination of Antonio’s motives reveal the homosexual
nature of his feelings.
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Works Cited
Auden, W. H. "Brothers and Others." The Dyer's Hand.New York: Ra