comment on the importance of the opening scene of shakespheres play the merchant of venice

The Merchant of Venice, like so many of Shakespeare's plays, opens with a depressed and melancholy character. The depression of Antonio at the beginning, for which he can give no explanation, is much like Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors. Portia, the wealthy Belmont heiress, is likewise a depressed and unhappy character in the opening scenes. The reasons for their melancholy, although never directly expressed, are due to their self-absorption.

The opening scene of the Merchant of Venice holds a drama significance as "the coming events cast their shadows before". The unresonable sadness of Anotnio in the opening scene is parallel to Portia's malancholy in scene ii which opens at Belmount, thus connecting a link between the bond story and the story of the caskets, both which contructs the sub-plot of the play.