The play opens with the title character –Antonio, the merchant of Venice – telling two of his friends that he feelsmelancholicor depressed. However, he cannot explain the reason for his feeling so down. He also describes his emotion as “a want-wit sadness” (6). The wordwanthere means lacking. Antonio is lacking or missing his wits. He feels dull and sluggish. Shakespeare is suggesting that there are times in a man’s life when he may just feel blue without any obvious or direct cause. Simply, the weariness of day-to-day living has gotten him down. He just does not seem to care much aboutlife.
Many other people, however, cannot understand how a person can feel depressed without having an obvious reason for feeling so. Neither Salerio nor Solanio, Antonio’s friends (and both minor characters in this play), understands Antonio’s feelings. And, so, they thus attempt to find a cause or explanation for hisdepression.
Salerio, quite poetically, suggests that perhaps Antonio is worried about his several ships that are on their way to Venice. Antonio has