The Merchant of Venice | Teaching Setting, Symbolism and Objects

Object Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major objects in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Objects

Venice - A northern Italian port city, famous for its canals.

Belmont - Another Italian city near the main port city.

Chests - There were three of these, one made of gold, one made of silver, one made of lead.

Ducats - Italian money of the 12th century.

Usance - The practice of lending money and charging interest for it.

Ring - Portia gives this to Bassanio as a symbol of their love.

Deed - This is the document that Shylock signs agreeing that upon his death, all of his money will go...
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