Acts 4-5: Resolution & Belmont
The Ring Plot (Act 4, Scene 1 – Act 5)
After the trial, Portia (still disguised as Balthasar) asks Bassanio for his ring as payment. Bassanio initially refuses — he promised Portia he would never part with it. But Antonio intervenes: 'Let his deservings and my love withal / Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandment.' Bassanio gives up the ring. Gratiano gives Nerissa's ring to the 'clerk' (Nerissa in disguise). This comic subplot tests whether the men value their wives above their male friendships.
In Act 5, Portia and Nerissa confront their husbands about the missing rings. The women enjoy making the men squirm before revealing the truth. Portia's joke has a serious edge: she proves that she, as 'Balthasar,' is more powerful than the men realise. The ring plot demonstrates that gender and power in the play are more complex than they appear. Portia operates in both the female world of Belmont and the male world of Venetian law, excelling in both.
The ring plot tests Bassanio and Gratiano's loyalty. Both give away their wives' rings to the disguised women who saved Antonio. Portia proves her intellectual superiority and the power she holds even within marriage — she was the lawyer, the strategist, and the one who controlled the outcome.
Belmont: Harmony or Illusion? (Act 5, Scene 1)
Act 5 opens in Belmont with Lorenzo and Jessica exchanging romantic references to classical lovers: 'In such a night as this...' The moonlit scene is beautiful, but Shakespeare's choices are telling — every couple they mention (Troilus and Cressida, Pyramus and Thisbe, Dido and Aeneas) suffered tragic endings. The references create an undercurrent of unease beneath the romantic surface.
Lorenzo describes the music of the spheres — the old idea that the universe is governed by divine harmony. But he also says: 'The man that hath no music in himself... / Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.' This seems aimed at Shylock, who told Jessica to 'stop my house's ears' against the masque music. Shakespeare associates music with Christian harmony and its absence with Jewish exclusion — a deeply troubling equation that reinforces rather than challenges prejudice.
The play ends with the ring trick resolved, Antonio's ships miraculously restored, and three couples united. Formally, it is a comedy. But the uneasy resolution lingers. Shylock has been destroyed. Antonio is alone — he has no partner and his relationship with Bassanio is now secondary to Bassanio's marriage. Jessica has betrayed her father and abandoned her faith. The happiness of Belmont is built on the suffering of Venice.
For the OCR exam, this ending is crucial. A top-band response will argue that Shakespeare deliberately creates an ending that looks happy but feels hollow. The play's comic structure is fulfilled, but its moral questions remain unanswered. This is what makes it a 'problem play' — it refuses to offer a comfortable resolution.
Jessica's Position at the End
Jessica is present in Belmont but largely silent in Act 5. She has converted to Christianity, married Lorenzo, and inherited her father's wealth. But Shakespeare gives her no lines of celebration. Her silence may suggest contentment, but it may equally suggest loss — she has abandoned her identity, betrayed her father, and joined a society that despises her origins. Lorenzo's comment that the man without music 'is fit for treasons' sits uncomfortably close to her.
The last line of the play belongs to Gratiano, making a crude sexual joke about Nerissa's ring. Shakespeare ends not with harmony but with vulgarity — an odd choice for a play about mercy, justice, and love. This may be deliberate: the play's 'comedy' is always slightly off-key, and its ending refuses to let the audience feel entirely comfortable.
The play opened with Antonio's unexplained sadness. It ends with him surrounded by happy couples but alone. His ships are restored, but his closest relationship (with Bassanio) has been superseded by marriage. Antonio's isolation mirrors Shylock's in an uncomfortable way — both are outsiders to the play's comic resolution. Shakespeare may be suggesting that the comic ending cannot accommodate everyone, and that those who don't fit its pattern are quietly excluded.
The ending formally fulfils comedy's requirements (marriages, restored fortunes) but feels hollow: Shylock is destroyed, Antonio is alone, Jessica is silent, and the classical references in Act 5 all point to tragic love stories. Belmont's happiness is built on Venice's cruelty.