Merchant of Venice Essay: The Relationship between Antonio and Bassanio
Antonio, the protagonist of the story, is extremely good friends with Bassanio. I have
come up on a hypothesis that Antonio is gay and Bassanio is a bisexual. Antonio seems to
like Bassanio in a romantic way. Antonio is a male. Bassanio is a male. Bassanio likes
Antonio in a romantic way and also loves Portia, a female.
Also, there is another pair who I am suspicious about. They are Salanio and Salerio. The
reason is that they are always together, just like siamese twins. When Salanio comes,
Salerio comes. When Salerio goes, Salanio goes.
Here is a famous quote by Shakespeare, ?The love that dares not speak its name.O In the
play, there are many places where Antonio expresses love for Bassanio; for example, ?love
the world for BassanioO and also ?great affection for BassanioO.This certainly appeals
to me that Antonio likes Bassanio as more than just a friend. ?Great affectionO means you
love, adore, or even worship someone. Antonio therefore adores Bassanio.
Another thing that makes me wonder is where Salerio and Salanio come and go? They are
always together. Unless they are living together, this is a mystery. But letOs say they
are living together. A male and a male doing the same things and living together?
I conclude that Antonio is gay because he loves and adores Bassanio, Bassanio is bisexual
because he loves both Antonio and Portia. But this is not the end. Think about these: In
the masquerade, Jessica went as a boy. She likes to dress up as boys; Nerissa likes
Portia in a romantic way. I will not go into these subjects because the essay would be
too long.
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