The Casket story and the Bond story in Merchant of Venice are undoubtedly interlinked. Bassanio needed the money as he wanted to go for seeking Portia’s hand. That was all about choosing the right casket and win Portia as his mistress. So Antonio, as a great friend, wanted to help him with the money but he had no money at hand. That is why they had to go to Shylock and lend the money signing the bond.

So, we see that without the casket story, Bassanio wouldn’t need the money and the bond story would not have existed at all.

Again, the bond story has made it possible for Portia to show her wisdom and win the lawsuit for Antonio, while the casket story enables Bassanio win Portia’s hand. So, it seems that in the absence of any one of these two plots, the perfect portrayal of these characters wouldn’t have been possible. Hence, interconnection of these two story has been an inseparable part of the play The Merchant of Venice.