Discuss the Tension and Opposition in "The Merchant of Venice" In the Merchant of Venice there are many themes. The main theme within the play is the rivalry between Shylock, a Jewish loan shark, and Antonio, a Venetian merchant. Other themes that are present in the play are the mutual hatred shared between the Christians sand the Jews and the love that can prosper, for example Bassanio and Portia. One of the biggest themes running …showed first 75 words of 1855 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1855 total…chooses lead, the exact opposite of the supposed obvious answer and wins her hand in marriage. "Merchant of Venice" is a play full of tension and opposition, the main tension being the Jew Vs. Christian fued. But all other tensions link into the main feud some way or another. Emotions ranging from love and hate to comedy and tragedy, make this play a constantly changing arena for the feud of the religions to take place.