Short on cash before his ship comes in, Antonio seals a bond with Shylock to sustain the profligacy of loyal, dear Bassanio. Cunningly, Shylock extends the credit with the proviso that, should Antonio fail to honor the bond, Shylock is entitled to a pound of Antonio's flesh. Predictably, Antonio's fortune is not homeward bound. With unmitigated glee, Shylock claims the bond. But enforcing the bond proves difficult. The rules of the game are interpreted in such a way that Shylock must forego his bond unless he claims it in a way which spills no Christian blood – a way which is clearly impossible. All ends well except for Shylock. Antonio is richer by Shylock's misfortune and so, indirectly, is Bassanio, having used the loan to conquer princess Portia, who is as good a catch as anyone ever was.

The main themes of Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice, are familiar. Friendship juxtaposed to love, greed to sacrifice. But it is literally a story of debt, and figuratively an account of the possibility of taking advantage of debt when being in debt is as fluid and deceptive as the Seas of Venice.

In sixteenth-century Venice, Christian rules favored Christian borrowers over Jewish lenders. Shylock tried to bring that order down by funding the untenable spending habits of Bassanio, whom Antonio felt obliged to protect. Much by way of commercial and financial interactions has changed in the course of half a millennium yet there are striking parallels to mull over.