What fairytale elements can be discerned in Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice?'

There are many fairytale elements in 'The Merchant of Venice'. For example, there is the idea of being three different items such as the three caskets, three thousand ducats in the bond and the three marriages. There is also the idea of deception, which is featured in many fairy tales. An example of this idea is when Jessica betrays her father to elope with Lorenzo. There is also disguise, when Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves …

…complex is because there are several different storylines that intertwine for the ending to make sense. In conclusion, I would say that there are many fairytale like elements in 'The Merchant of Venice' but there are some elements missing, such as magic and an obvious villain. However, when the play was first written, it may have been considered a fairytale as people would have considered Shylock to be much more of a villain than do.