The Merchant of Venice is by definition, a comedy. However, when the characters and themes begin to be examined, it quickly becomes evident that this play contains matters much darker than those of other Shakespearean comedies, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream. This play deals with social and political issues; Sexuality, racism, gender roles, and religious prejudice. It makes the reader question whether or not this play contains any element of comedy at all. Although the content seems to be more dramatic or even tragic than comedic, the plot structure of the play determines its classification. The genre "Comedy" does not mean the same thing to us today as it did in Victorian England. Back then, a play was considered a comedy if it used comedy through language, had an overarching theme of love, a complicated plot, and utilized mistaken identities.
The Merchant of Venice does all of these things. An example of comedy through language is the "stake" joke between Gratiano and Bassiano, the plot revolves around the love between characters who have to overcome certain obstacles to be together, the plot is indeed very complicated in terms of character depth and location, and the climax of the play is brought by the mistaken identities of Nerissa and Portia. Thus, The Merchant of Venice is indeed classifies as a Shakespearean comedy, even though it doesn't have the lightness of being that we expect from a modern day romcom or teen novel.
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