Merchant of Venice 1

The main theme of The Merchant of Venice is appearence vs. reality. If you look hard enough you can find an endless amount of examples of this.
Later, in Belmont, Bassanio must choose between a casket of gold, silver, or lead to win Portia, who he wants to marry. It turns out that lead is the correct choice. This shows that what may appear to be unvaluable, can yield the best results, another example of appearence vs. reality.
Yet another example of this theme is when Shylock is lending money to Antonio without interest, but if Antonio fails to pay back on time, he loses a pound of flesh. Shylock offers this in a way that seems generous and jokingly, but really wants to use the situation to get back at Antonio for past humilitations.
This theme reoccurs throughout the play. Once you know what to look for, you'd be surprised how many times you see it. You are introduced to it at the beginning of the play. Bassanio had borrowed, and is borrowing more, money from Antonio so he can look and live on a higher level than his own income can sustain.
This theme of Appearance Vs. Reality is used throughout the play to mislead and confuse so things may not always be what they seem. Shakespeare uses deception to enhance the unfolding drama and involve his audience more fully in the play – the audience are party to deceptions which the characters themselves are unaware of.
Prejudice was common and the word “Jew” applied to hardhearted unscrupulous moneylenders. An Elizabethan audience would have been happy to see a Jew, Spaniard or a Moor deceived and Shakespeare clearly tried to give his audience what it wanted. In contrast, many, particularly ladies, would have admired the strong and witty Portia and even though she appears arrogant and racist this would have been accepted in Elizabethan England. Any deception carried out by Portia would therefore be admired and applauded by Shakespeare’s audience and it is not surprising therefore.