The Duke of Venice presides over the trial of Shylock’s suit against Antonio. He is helpless to influence matters, being bound by the laws of the state, a position in which Shakespeare often places his rulers in this way the Duke emphasizes a principle to which the playwright was strongly committed: the importance of the law in a well-ordered society. Although the Duke is prepared to see Antonio die, as the full rigor of the law dictates, he is merciful to Shylock after the case is resolved in Antonio's favor, thus highlighting another virtue Shakespeare saw in an ideal ruler.

Morocco (Morochus) is an African prince and unsuccessful suitor of Portia. Faced with the choice among three caskets ordained by Portia's father, Morocco rationalizes his choice in a long speech (2.7.13-60) that presents a viewpoint that the play as a whole invalidates. Morocco is attracted by the richness of the gold casket, which promises 'what many men desire' (2.7.5), but he finds within it an image of a death's head and a scroll whose message begins with the now-familiar line 'All that glisters is not gold' (2.7.65). Morocco fails because he equates appearance with inner worth and because he cannot imagine hazarding all in pursuit of happiness, unlike Bassanio, who wins Portia by selecting the lead casket, and Antonio, who risks every thing for his friend in accepting Shylock perilous loan.  Portia dislikes the prospect of marrying Morocco.  In 2.1 she politely assures him that she recognizes his virtues as a man and a prince, but after his defeat, she is relieved.  The Merchant of Venice is a play that acknowledges and makes use of Elizabethan prejudices; not only is it distinctly anti-Semitic, but the two unsuccessful suitors—both presented as examples of flawed values—are a black man and a political enemy of England, the Spaniard ARRAGON.  In both the Quarto and First Folio editions of the play, the name Morocco is rendered in Latin, Morochus, and some modern editions follow this practice.

Arragon (Aragon) is a Spanish prince and unsuccessful suitor of Portia. In selecting among the caskets of silver, gold, and lead to win Portia's hand, Arragon reveals the arrogance that his name suggests. He rejects the lead casket as unworthy and the gold because its inscription promises 'what many men desire' (2.9.24), and he feels himself superior to the 'common spirits' (2.9.32).  Although Arragon is a somewhat comic figure—he is a caricature Spaniard of a sort familiar to 16th-century English theatre-goers—his failure to select the correct casket illuminates the thematic values of the play. He is presented as a foil to Bassanio, who chooses the humble lead casket and wins the lottery and whose victory reflects on the Spaniard's vanity. Further, the villainous Shylock resembles Arragon in his pride, refusing to relinquish an iota of what he feels he deserves. An unselfish sense of community with others is necessary for romantic success, in the play's scheme of things, and Arragon demonstrates its opposite.

Antonio is the title character in The Merchant of Venice.  Antonio borrows money from Shylock and agrees to let the usurer cut away a pound of his flesh if he defaults on the repayment. Antonio represents the ideal of selfless generosity that the play advocates. He borrows only in order to help his spendthrift friend Bassanio, who wishes to appear wealthy as he woos Portia. Antonio's extravagant willingness to risk his money—and his life—stands in opposition to Shylock's calculating greed. Also, his often expressed fondness for Bassanio represents another literary ideal of Shakespeare's day—that of close friendship between males—which the playwright dealt with more extensively in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Although this motif was a common one, some scholars contend that the intensity of Antonio's affection for Bassanio may demonstrate homosexual tendencies in Shakespeare.  However, this same relationship has been staged as a father-son or older brother type as Bassanio is usually seen as younger and less experienced.  Whatever the true relationship, Antonio is a passive, melancholy, somewhat colorless man, stoical in the face of death and lonely amid the lovers' happiness at the play's end.

Bassanio is sometimes seen in a rather different light. Some critics regard him as an heiress-hunting playboy whose irresponsibility endangers Antonio.  However, Bassanio objects to Antonio's acceptance of Shylock's bond (1.3.150-151) and is persuaded only by his friend's assurances that he will certainly be able to repay the loan. And although Bassanio refers to Portia's wealth when he first mentions the idea of marrying her (1.1.161-176), this does not necessarily make him a gold-digger. Such considerations were normal in the 16th century; one would not discuss courtship without bringing up the subject of wealth. For Shakespeare's audience, and for the playwright himself, such behavior was ordinary, and Bassanio was surely intended as a romantic hero, a personification of good fortune in love.

Solanio is a friend of Antonio. Solanio is a cultured gentleman whose conversation in elegant verse reflects the advanced civilization of his city. He is difficult to distinguish from his companion Salerio. In commenting on the action, these two gentlemen present facts and ideas. For instance, consoling the melancholy Antonio in 1.1, they speak of his status as a wealthy and successful merchant, and in 2.8 they offer a picture of Shylock's despair and rage at Jessica’s elopement and speculate that the Jew will vent his anger on Antonio if he can. In 3.1 they tease Shylock, eliciting from him his famous speech claiming equality with Christians.  Solanio is simply a conventional figure whose main purpose is to further the development of more significant characters.

Salerio (Salarino) is a friend of Antonio, Salerio, whose conversation in elegant verse reflects his position as a cultured gentleman of Venice, is difficult to distinguish from his companion Solanio. They present certain facts to the audience, as when, consoling the melancholy Antonio in 1.1, they refer to his status as a wealthy and successful merchant. In 2.8 the same figures discuss Shylock’s despair and rage at Jessica’s elopement (which Salerio has assisted) and speculate that the Jew will vent his anger on Antonio if he can. In 3.1 they tease Shylock, eliciting from him his famous speech claiming equality with Christians. Salerio is simply a conventional figure whose role is to further the development of more significant characters.  In some editions Salerio's part, except in 3.2, is assigned to Salarino, who is thought of as a separate character. However, most modern scholarship holds that the latter name is simply a 16th-century typographical error.

Gratiano is a friend of Bassanio and lover of Nerissa. Gratiano is a crude and frivolous companion. As Bassanio himself puts it, 'Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing' (1.1.114). He can be tactless, as in 1.1, where he is the only one of Antonio's friends who fails to see the propriety of leaving Antonio and Bassanio to confer privately. Bassanio, fearful that his friend will embarrass him before Portia, feels constrained to chastise him, 'Thou art too wild, too rude, and bold of voice . . .' (2.2.172). Gratiano's bluff heartiness turns ugly in the trial scene (4.1), when he baits the desperate Shylock, and his lewd remarks, as in 3.2.216, mark him as a lesser person than the gentlemanly Bassanio.  His courtship of Nerissa is simply an echo of Bassanio's wooing of Portia and seems to have no point but symmetry; such doubling was very popular among Elizabethan audiences. Gratiano's name comes from the Italian Commedia Dell’Arte tradition, where it was used for a stock character, the comical doctor.

Lorenzo is the suitor and then husband of Jessica and a friend to Antonio, Bassanio, and Gratiano.  Lorenzo is a stock theatrical figure, a stylish young aristocrat with little distinctive personality. However, the rhapsodies of Lorenzo and Jessica on moonlight and music in 5.1 provide the play's finest lyric poetry. Lorenzo's musing on the music of the spheres (5.1.55-65) presents an idea of universal harmony that is appropriate to the play's conclusion, in which the oppositions that have been its principal substance—love versus greed, justice versus mercy—are resolved.

Shylock's name has puzzled scholars. Shakespeare may have derived it from shallach, the Hebrew word meaning 'cormorant', a term often used abusively to describe usurers, who were equated with that greedy fish-eating bird. The name has also been associated with Shiloh, a name used in Genesis 49:10 for the coming Messiah, and with Salah or Shelah, the father of Eber, from the whom the Hebrews took their name (Genesis 10:24, e.g.). Also, Shakespeare may have adapted a 16th-century English word for a contemptible idler, shullock or shallock.

Launcelot provides evidence of Elizabethan anti-Semitism. In 2.2 he delivers a comic monologue in which he recounts a dispute between his conscience and a fiend as to whether or not he should leave Shylock's service. This passage and Launcelot's subsequent conversation with his father help to establish Shylock's reputation as a miser in virulently anti-Semitic terms. Similarly, in 3.5 he jests with Jessica on the likelihood of her damnation as a Jew, reflecting centuries of Christian prejudice. Although plainly intended as comical, Launcelot's attitude surely indicates something of the spirit in which Shakespeare's audience received Shylock—as an obvious villain, at least in part because he is Jewish.

Gobbo is the father of Launcelot Gobbo.  He is nearly blind and is teased by Launcelot, who pretends to be a stranger and informs the old man that his son has died. Rewarded by his father's distress, Launcelot tells him the truth and enlists him to help approach Bassanio about a job. After providing these few moments of incidental mirth, Gobbo disappears from the play. 

Leonardo is a servant of Bassanio. In 2.2 Leonardo speaks one line when he is instructed to arrange Bassanio's trip to Belmont.  

Balthasar is a servant of Portia. In 3.4 Balthasar is sent with a letter to Portia's cousin, setting in motion her plan to impersonate a lawyer at the hearing of Shylock’s suit against Antonio. Portia later takes Balthasar's name as part of her disguise. 

Stephano is a servant of Portia. In 5.1 Stephano tells Lorenzo and Jessica that his mistress will be returning to Belmont shortly.

Portia is a fine example of the frank and fearless young women who appear in many of the plays; like Rosaline, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Helena, she seems to embody an ideal of femininity that the playwright held and put forth often. Spirited and capable, she is willing to enter a man's world—in this case, that of the law—in pursuit of her aims, yet she ultimately accepts the conventional Elizabethan woman's status, that of a wife, at least theoretically subservient to her husband.

NERISSA

Nerissa is lady-in-waiting to Portia. Nerissa is a pert and lively companion to her mistress. In the early scenes involving the lottery of the three caskets, she assures the uneasy heiress that all will be well, and she seconds Portia in the practical joke of the betrothal rings in 5.1. Her courtship by Gratiano echoes that of Portia by Bassanio; such symmetrical couples were quite popular in the Elizabethan theatre. 

JESSICA

Jessica is the daughter of Shylock and lover of Lorenzo. Jessica is an apparently demure young woman who nevertheless abandons her father and her religion willingly in eloping with Lorenzo, and she also steals Shylock's money.  Tubal reports her extravagance with these funds in 3.1. In 5.1 the romantic rhapsodies of Lorenzo and Jessica provide the play's finest lyric poetry and establish the triumph of love, a major theme of the work. Jessica's behavior to her father has often been criticized, and, if Shylock is viewed as a sympathetic or tragic character, his daughter can only seem immoral. Moreover, her desertion and theft seem to be related to the anti-Semitism that infects this play. Referring to Jessica's enthusiastic readiness to steal from her father, Gratiano avers that she is 'a gentle [i.e., gentile], and no Jew' (2.6.51). That is, she qualifies as a Christian by her actions against a Jew. However, the play is clearly a traditional romantic Comedy, and Jessica's role in that context is a simple one. She flees to romantic love from the prison other father's miserly household, which she describes as -hell' (2.3.2). In doing so, she illustrates a bold example of the opposition between love and greed that lies at the heart of the play.  Further, her theft of her father's funds reflects Shylock's traditional function as a comic villain (although Shakespeare enlarged the character considerably) and was probably received by the play's original audiences as a comeuppance to the miser, a traditional subject of comical raillery. Jessica is humorous as she steals, archly asserting that the weight of a purloined casket is 'worth the pains' and saying she will 'gild myself with moe ducats' as she leaves (2.6.33, 49-50). She is essentially a secondary character, graceful but uncomplicated. Only her relationship to Shylock inspires comment.

Serving-man is the servant of Portia. The Serving-man brings his mistress word that four unwanted suitors are leaving and that another suitor, the Prince of Morocco, is arriving.  Serving-man (2) is the servant of Antonio. In 3.1 the Serving-man tells Salerio and Solanio that his master wishes to see them.

Messenger

The Musicians appear in two important episodes. In 3.2 their song 'Tell me where is Fancy bred' provides an interlude that heightens the suspense as Bassanio contemplates his fateful choice among the three caskets, and it also makes a point about the nature of beauty. Further, it may offer Bassanio a clue as to which casket to select. In 5.1 the Musicians add to the romantic charm of Belmont, dissipating the disturbing and anxious atmosphere of the preceding courtroom scene. Musicians were a normal feature of a wealthy household in Shakespeare's day.