Symbols and allegories play a vital role in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. They provide a perspective that offers subtle allusions to what Shakespeare intended and serve as a building block for many themes and motifs evident in the play. Although the work contains a number of tragic and at the same time comical elements, the key ideas present in the symbol of a ring are the themes of love, pain, humanity and commitment. This significance of the rings can also be seen in performances such as Michael Radford's adaptation of The Merchant of Venice and how techniques allow the importance of certain symbols or messages to be enhanced. The idea that humanity is imperfect contains a certain degree of truth. In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, the character of Shylock is ambiguous, showing the perception of both the victim and the villain. However, although the relationship between Shylock and Jessica was flawed, the love Shylock had for his late wife Leah can be seen through the sentimental feelings he had towards her turquoise ring which happens to be Shylock's most prized possession. He seemed to treasure Leah's ring as a reminder of happier days of love and domestic warmth. When Shylock first learns of Jessica's escape and the theft of his gold, he expresses his frustration by exclaiming “My daughter! Oh my ducats! Oh my daughter! Eloped with a Christian! O my Christian duchies!” Through this frenetic outburst, Shylock is portrayed as a selfish man whose priorities are not right, who values ​​his money more than the well-being and safety of his daughter. However, when the turquoise ring is mentioned, Shakespeare allows us to see another side of Shylock that may elicit some sympathy from the audience. Shylock agonizes over the fact that hi...... middle of paper...... ironic that he was the first to be honest with his wife by telling her that the ring was no longer in his possession. The ring is not only a symbol of love or wealth, but also a representation of the extremes these characters will go through for love. The sheer weight of Portia, Nerissa, and Shylock's turquoise ring, given by Shakespeare, is enough to turn it into a potentially tragic element in the play. Despite the comedic aspects that Shakespeare may have intended from this “ring trick,” Portia and Nerissa would surely have felt hurt by the simple actions of their negligent husbands who initially did not understand the meaning of the ring as their wives did. The ring subplot draws attention to the scale and idea of ​​gift exchange in The Merchant of Venice, exposing a type of economy that lies behind seemingly spontaneous love..