To pay for his courtship of the rich heiress Portia, the young Venetian Bassanio borrows 3,000 ducats from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, with his friend the merchant Antonio as guarantor. Shylock, long insulted by Antonio, asks no interest, only a pound of Antonio's flesh if the money is not repaid on time, and then word comes that Antonio's ships have gone down.