Bassanio's Obtaining Loan at Antonio's Behalf:
Bassanio is in vital need of money in order to fulfil his mission of Belmont. In Belmont, he wants to apply his luck at winning a rich heiress by the name of Portia as his wife. He approaches Antonio for a loan, knowing that he has already owed him a great deal of money, but he assumes Antonio that this time, he will be so careful with the money which he is confident Antonio will lend him, that, even if his suit fails, he will be able to repay the loan at least. Antonio has no ready money with which to oblige his friend, but he states that he will gladly stand surety for the amount that Bassanio requires, to any person who may be prepared to lend the money. Hence he goes to Bassanio to get the required money for his mission to Belmont.
Antonio's Signing A Bond:
Shylock who is great fond of money and considers money as God, at first, shows his unwillingness to lend any money to Bassanio in Antonio's name on the ground that Antonio has always ill- treated him are defamed him. Antonio who happens to join his friend Bassanio at this time, tells Shylock that in future also he would treat him in the same manner and would still spurn him and spit on him, Shylock then changes his tune and says that he wants to befriend Antonio while Antonio is unduly losing his temper. Shylock agrees to lend the required amount of three thousand ducats to Antonio if Antonio signs a bond containing the condition that, in the event of Antonio failing to repay the loan within a period of three months, Shylock would be entitled to cut off a pound of flesh from nearest Antonio's heart. Shylock says that this dangerous clause about the pound of flesh is intended by him merely as a joke. All his talk about putting in the condition "in a merry sport" was merely intended to deceive. But it is another matter if by this he meant more than to ensure that he would have respite from Antonio's mental persecution of himself during the period that the bond was current. It is the elopement of his daughter Jessica with Lorenzo, the Christian friend of Antonio, which inflames his worst passion of hatred and vindictiveness to such an extent that when the opportunity offers to wreck a terrible revenge on the Christian in the person of Antonio, he is determined to take it. Bassanio opposes the proposed bond which seems dangerous to him, but Antonio signs the bond, telling Bassanio that his ships would soon return, and that he would then be in a position to repay the loan much before the expiry period of three months.
Shylock's Filing A Suit Against Antonio for A Pound of Flesh:
After passing the certain period, the news of Antonio's disaster is heard. It is heard that All Antonio's ships have been wrecked on the seas. Antonio is now completely ruined. He is now reduced to a state of bankruptcy. A question of some importance is as to whether Shylock had the money not been forthcoming for its liquidation when the bond fell due, would have insisted on the penalty of pound of flesh if there had been no new cause of provocation offered him after the bond has been signed. That he had a sinister intention in mind when he proposed the condition about the forfeit of the pound of flesh is open to much doubt. The period of three months, prescribed in the bond for the repayment of the loan, is also now nearing its end. It also becomes evident that Shylock would demand the pound of flesh which has been specified in the bond as the penalty for Antonio's failure to repay the loan. Antonio's failure to repay the loan had at that time seemed to Antonio something impossible, but fortune has played false to Antonio, and impossibility has turned not only into a possibility but a certainty. Three months have now expired; and the Jew then actually files a suit against Antonio, demanding the penalty specified in the bond.
Shylock's Rejecting the Offer and Portia's Plan to Rescue Antonio:
Bassanio, after winning Portia as his wife and becoming very rich learnt about the crisis in Antonio's life. He rushed back to Venice with plenty of money which Portia has generously given him so that he can appease the Jew by offering him any amount as compensation to him for Antonio's inability to have repaid the loan within the prescribed period of time. But Shylock rejects all offers of money.
Bassanio's wife Portia hits upon a plan to rescue Antonio from the clutches of the Jew. She is able to prevail upon the eminent lawyer, Bellario, living in Padna, to send her to Venice to act as the judge in Shylock's case against Antonio. She disguises herself as a man and dressed as a lawyer, goes to court in Venice where the case is to be tried. The Duke of Venice welcomes Portia because she has been recommended by Bellario. Actually the Duke had invited Bellario to come from Padua and act as the judge, but Bellario has expressed his inability to accept this assignment and has sent Portia to take his place.
Shylock's Being Punished with His Own Weapon:
According to the bond, Portia consents Shylock to cut off a pound of Antonio's flesh from his chest. But Portia stops him just when the Jew moves to carry out his purpose and says that the bond allows him only to cut off a pound of flesh but that he must not shed single drops of blood. This interpretation of the bond makes it impossible for Shylock to cut off the flesh. Thereupon Shylock says that he would be satisfied if he is paid three times the amount of the loan which Antonio had failed to repay. But Portia says that having already refused the offer of money in the open court Shylock can only have a pound of flesh, and can have it without shedding any blood. This means that Shylock can have nothing at all, neither the flesh nor the money. Shylock is now a defeated man Moreover, when Shylock gets ready to leave the court in a state of deep dejection. Portia informs him that according to the laws of Venice, he is now liable to a severe punishment. She says that Shylock had tried to kill a Christian of Venice by wanting to cut off a pound of flesh from nearest his heart, and that Shylock's own life is therefore forfeit now. Eventually, Shylock's life is spared by the Duke of Venice but he is freed to become a Christian and also to give away half of his wealth to his daughter Jessica and her husband Lorenzo, and to level the other half of his wealth to them at the Se of his death. Thus the Jew is punished severely with the very weapon with which he had wanted to take Antonio's life.
Bond Story, a Plea for Tolerance:
It can be observed that the Bond Story is regarded as something of a plea for tolerance. The Jew appears to be a monster and a devil. He pays no heed to the appeals for mercy from any quarter, and he feels most jubilant when it seems that he would be allowed to cut off a pound of Antonio's flesh and thus he enabled to put an end to the life of a Christian whom he regards as his worst enemy. Here he appears as a blood thirsty man who is determined to kill his enemy. He is regarded as an abominable and detestable person.