Who are the important minor characters of the play The Merchant of Venice?

The major characters of The Merchant of
Venice are Bassanio, Antonio, Portia, Shylock, Lorenzo and Jessica. These are
the characters involved in the main love plots of the play. As is typical of
Shakespeare, the two love plots are interconnected. The other characters in the play are
minor, and exist either for comic purposes or as ancillary in furthering the
plot.

The minor characters can be distinguished in several
ways. First, characters without names who often appear in groups and are labelled by
roles (magnificoes, officers, jailer, servants and attendants) are usually minor.
Friends, who support the main characters in certain scenes (Gratiano, Solanio, Salarino,
Salerio and Tubal) are considerd "supporting characters". Servants are crucial for
furthering the plot, and often have important roles and speeches (e.g. the Nurse in
Romeo and Juliet) but because they are not protagonists of the main plot but just serve
to act for the protagonists are normally considered monor (e.g. Nerissa, Lancelot Gobbo,
Leonardo) The suitors to Portia only serve to show her character and popularity and have
no other significant function, and thus are minor, as is the Duke of
Venice.