However, Antonio's melancholy mood in the beginning of the story is not because he was secretly in love with Bassanio and is afraid to tell anyone. People are quick to jump to the conclusion that there is only one reason Antonio is sad and it must be because he is gay and longs to be with Bassanio. The truth is that many of Shakespeare's plays open with a depressed and melancholy character, and some also give no explanation. An example of this is Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors. Antipholus is a character that is first shown as somewhat melancholy and sad. We see Antipholus experiencing a kind of angst or spiritual incompleteness that we assume is brought on by the absence of his twin or maybe his mother. Maybe there is more to the story could he of had love on his mind?.
Why must we assume Antonio is sad about Bassanio; couldn't it be he had other things on his mind, like whether or not his ships were going to come in, or maybe because he was alone and he wished he had a girl to fall in love with? Indeed it may.
This may lead to the question of why Antonio is the only one in the play to end up alone or why the only time he speaks of romance is when he makes references to Bassanio. If Antonio were paired up it might take away from the overall feeling of the play, or it may take attention away from the main characters and story line. Let's say Antonio has a love affair with the Nerissa or another women character in the play. One might say he did not help Bassonio as a friend but so he himself could gain from it and loaned him the money for selfish reasons. This would put quite a damper on the "feel sorry for Antonio" court scene. What about other women in Venice or Belmont? Again, the reason being is that Antonio's role in the play is to simply be a good friend and good businessman, not to fall in love and get married. The story revolves around the love relationship between Portia and Bassanio, and Antonio speaks of romance in reference to Bassanio in order to focus on the romance and love throughout the entire story.
