The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare - 1596
Introduction
The Merchant of Venice, by Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare, ranks among the most popular and frequently performed of the Bar...
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The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare
Alifelong resident of England, William Shakespeare may have visited Venice, Italy, on tour with his acting company. Certainly many of his well-to-do co...
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Biography Essay"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer,...
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The English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is generally acknowledged to be the greatest of English writers and one of the most extraordinary creators in human history.The ...
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Considered by critics, scholars, and the theater-going public the most important dramatist in the history of English literature, William Shakespeare occupies a unique position in the pantheon of great...
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"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer, in English or ...
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William Shakespeare's reputation is based primarily on his plays. With the partial exception of the Sonnets (1609), quarried since the early nineteenth century for autobiographical secrets allegedly ...
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In the following essay, originally written in 1991, Stockholder reads The Merchant of Venice as the dream of Portia's dead father in order to unravel the play's psychological and social ...
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In the following essay, Jagendorf examines the depiction of male friendship and heterosexual love in The Merchant of Venice, arguing that Shakespeare's play features a strong contrast between t...
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Alan Sinfield, The University of Sussex
It has been recognized for a long time that The Merchant of Venice is experienced as insulting by Jewish people, who constitute a minority in Western Europe ...
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In the following essay, Halio examines The Merchant of Venice as a play concerned with "mercy in the context of justice."
Much has been written about Shakespeare's legal prowess&#...
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In the following essay, Kornstein evaluates The Merchant of Venice as a legal parable that weighs the conflict between rigid and equitable interpretations of law.
The Merchant of Venice is surely the ...
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In the following essay, Cohen probes the ideological threat to the dominant social order represented by Shylock's legal suit in The Merchant of Venice.
The interdisciplinary study of literature...
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In the following essay, Dobbins and Battenhouse evaluate the morality of Jessica's actions in The Merchant of Venice, seeing her dissimulation as theologically justified.
Capping a century of r...
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In the following excerpt, Berley focuses on the dramatic context of Lorenzo's speech about music and harmony in Act V, scene i of The Merchant of Venice.
Shakespeare put into dramatic conflict ...
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Mary Janell Metzger, Western Washington University
Jessica, the other Jew in The Merchant of Venice, is doubly distinguished.1 Unlike her father, Shylock, she is said to be "gentle": at...
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In the following essay, Cantor identifies devotion to religious principles as the quality that links Shylock and Antonio in The Merchant of Venice, asserting harmony is only achieved by the defeat of ...
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In the following essay, Roth remarks on the parallels between Aeschylus's Eumenides and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, with special reference to their depictions of the conflict b...
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In the following essay, Hutton studies the homosexual bawdy in The Merchant of Venice.
The very Janus of poets; he wears almost everywhere two faces; and you have scarce begun to admire one, ere you d...
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In this overview of the play, Palmer examines the "overt sententiousness " of the play and argues that the action of the play frequently contradicts the morals apparently being emphasize...
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In the following essay, Engle contends that the relationships in the play transcend emotional boundaries and are all to some degree economic or legal in nature. Engle goes on to argue that a discussio...
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In the following essay, Newman argues that the "structure of exchange " permeates both economic and romantic transactions in the play; she then explores the means by which power and pres...
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In the following essay, Waddington analyzes the Christian approach to the play, maintaining that while the Christian characters are frequently accused of not practicing the beliefs they profess, when ...
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In the following essay, Ferber surveys the play from an ideological standpoint and examines how several varying ideological discourses inform the play's issues and themes. An early version of t...
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In the following essay, Novy argues that the play criticizes the self-denial Antonio demonstrates throughout the play in favor of Portia's self-assertion and her acceptance of sexuality.
Many c...
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In the following essay, Kahn focuses on the ring plot and how it strengthens the main courtship plot of the play. Additionally, Kahn maintains that the ring plot demonstrates both the bonds between me...
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In the following essay, Shapiro explores the varying purposes and effects of the three instances of cross gender disguise (Portia, Nerissa, and Jessica) in The Merchant of Venice.
Although Shakespeare...
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In the following essay, Kirschbaum analyzes what the words "Christian" and "Jew" meant to an Elizabethan audience and argues that Shylock is not meant to be Shakespeare�...
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In the following essay, Cohen contends that The Merchant of Venice is an anti-Semitic work not simply due to the characterization of Shylock but in the way it equates "Jewishness" with w...
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In the following essay, Shapiro discusses the Elizabethan fascination with the Jewish practice of circumcision and argues that Shylock's desire to cut a pound of Antonio's "fair f...
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In the essay below, Lyon describes The Merchant of Venice as a “controversial play.” He demonstrates that literary critics have been widely divided concerning Shakespeare's views ...
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In the essay below, Fike analyzes disappointment as a central theme in The Merchant of Venice, concluding that the disappointment found in love, friendship, and aspirations in the play mirrors Shakesp...
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In the essay below, Moisan argues that while The Merchant of Venice appears to celebrate the Elizabethan values of Christian ethics and good business, the play instead subtly exposes a contradiction b...
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In the essay below, Perret asserts that modern directors of The Merchant of Venice are wrong in worrying about Shakespeare's anti-Semitism, and claims that the playwright might in fact have bee...
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In the essay below, Hall focuses on lines in Act Three of The Merchant of Venice which describe Launcelot's impregnation of a black woman. Hall argues that this brief passage underscores a majo...
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In the essay below, Picker describes Elizabethan England's creation of and discrimination against the “other,” or outsider, in order to preserve its own sense of a closed society....
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In the excerpt below, Oz remarks that the outsider status that Renaissance European cities imposed upon non-European inhabitants (and on Jews in particular) was an attempt to exert power over various ...
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In the essay below, Metzger examines Elizabethan England's anxieties about racial and religious differences as symbolized by Shylock's daughter, Jessica, in The Merchant of Venice. Metzg...
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In the essay below, Sokol discusses the legally sanctioned forms of racial prejudice in Elizabethan England—against Jews and people of color, for example—but argues that through characte...
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In the essay below, McLean identifies allegorical elements in The Merchant of Venice, arguing that the parable of the rebellious but repentant Prodigal Son is reenacted numerous times between differen...
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In the essay below, Rosenheim argues that the themes of power, fatherhood, and blindness are developed through allegory in The Merchant of Venice. These themes are principally presented through the pa...
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In the following essay, Graham maintains that shifting standards of moral, economic, and social value in The Merchant of Venice provide a fundamental insight into the variety of interpretations and re...
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In the following excerpted review of the 1998 Globe season, featuring Richard Olivier's production of The Merchant of Venice, Potter comments on the overall carnivalesque quality of the product...
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In the following review of Trevor Nunn's 1999 production of The Merchant of Venice, Wolf surveys the effective performances of the major players and notes the centrality of anti-Semitism and it...
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In the following essay, Kleinberg claims that The Merchant of Venice dramatizes “the triumph of heterosexual marriage” over homoeroticism, the latter represented by Antonio and his love ...
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In the following essay, Normand contends that the tensions and conflicts of The Merchant of Venice are depicted through references to the body and its association with language.
When Morocco challenge...
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In the following essay, Oldrieve reads both Shylock and Portia as social outcasts alienated from the Christian and patriarchal world of Venice/Belmont in The Merchant of Venice.
I. Introduction
In The...
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In the following essay, Abrams explores the theme of sadness in The Merchant of Venice, noting that disappointment is Shylock's most telling characteristic.
My topic is sadness in The Merchant ...
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In the following essay, Ajzenstat evaluates The Merchant of Venice as a romantic comedy featuring a number of significant oppositions, the most fundamental being that between “the conditional a...
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In the following essay, Rosen remarks on the rhetorical strategies of The Merchant of Venice's racial outsiders, emphasizing Shylock's recursive and literal mode of speaking and the Prin...
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In the following essay, Berley examines Lorenzo's statements concerning music and harmony alongside Jessica's dark response to “sweet music,” finding in this contradiction ...
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In the following essay, Weisberg appraises the legalistic elements of The Merchant of Venice, and finds “non-ironic” interpretations of the play's opposition between Christian mer...
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In the following essay, Zuckert views The Merchant of Venice as a highly unified work that depicts Antonio and Portia as rivals for the love of Bassanio, a competition in which Portia is victorious.
P...
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In the following essay, Tanner analyzes the three crucial locations in The Merchant of Venice—Antonio's Rialto Venice, Shylock's Venetian ghetto, and harmonious Belmont—and...
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In the following essay, Alter focuses on Shylock as the central figure of The Merchant of Venice, contending that the source of the play's enduring popularity can be found in the variety of the...
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In the following excerpt, Lewis regards The Merchant of Venice as an ironic tragicomedy, concentrating on Antonio as the focus of the drama's ambiguities, contradictions, and equivocations, whi...
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In the following excerpt, Yaffe argues against the conventional view that the depiction of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice is anti-Jewish.
The figure of Shylock is like some secondary figure in a Re...
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In the following essay, Edelman reconstructs Elizabethan perceptions and expectations of Jewish theatrical characters, offering evidence that Shakespeare's Shylock was more likely a tragic figu...
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In the following review of Barbara Gaines's 1998 production of The Merchant of Venice, Napoleon concentrates exclusively on design elements that contributed to the project's evocation of...
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In the following review of Richard Olivier's 1998 production of The Merchant of Venice, Mahon comments on the director's “colorblind” casting, decision to make Portia the p...
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In the following essay, Cohen views The Merchant of Venice as a flawed romantic comedy and suggests that the play may be viewed as a reflection of the socio-economic problems in late Elizabethan Engli...
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In the following review, Klein assesses Richard Corley's production of The Merchant of Venice for the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, contending that although it attempted to develop the play&...
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In the following excerpted review, Smallwood describes Trevor Nunn's production of The Merchant of Venice for the National Theatre as brilliant, and praises the principal actors, particularly H...
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In the following review, James praises Trevor Nunn's adaptation of The Merchant of Venice for PBS, including Henry Goodman's “mesmerizing” Shylock and Derbhle Crotty'...
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In the following excerpted review of Loveday Ingram's feminist production of The Merchant of Venice, Young states that the male characters were too emasculated to be credibly seen as romantic f...
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In the following essay, Luxon investigates the play's treatment of Jews within the context of late Elizabethan society's attitudes toward Jewishness as both race and religion.
Two recent...
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In the following essay, Patterson maintains that The Merchant of Venice analyzes the early modern tradition of male homoerotic friendship through Antonio's frustrated passion for Bassanio.
Rath...
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In the following essay, the critics argue that The Merchant of Venice demonstrates that “racism was already fully operational” in the late Elizabethan era, despite the fact that “...
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In the following essay, Abrams examines Shakespeare's characterization of Antonio and Shylock, suggesting that Antonio's sadness is partially an affectation and that Shylock seeks love a...
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In the following essay, Boehrer studies the play's bestial language and imagery, contending that Shylock's association with a mongrel or cur informs an understanding of his role in The M...
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In the following essay, Rosenshield examines Antonio's role as an economic ideal—a Christian merchant—in The Merchant of Venice.
For several millennia conservative writers have se...
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In the following review of Andrei Serban's production of The Merchant of Venice for the American Repertory Theater, Marks finds Will LeBow's Shylock to be the most moving aspect of the p...
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In the following review of Trevor Nunn's production of The Merchant of Venice for the National Theatre, Jensen describes the way Nunn's direction emphasized the isolation of the main cha...
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In the following review, Wolf praises the ability of Trevor Nunn, the director of The Merchant of Venice for the National Theatre, to sustain audience interest throughout his production.
Among the man...
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In the following excerpted review, Smallwood observes that Gregory Doran's Stratford production of The Merchant of Venice offered no new insights into the play.
Gregory Doran's The Merch...
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In the following excerpted review, Simon contends that certain elements of Trevor Nunn's production of The Merchant of Venice for the National Theatre were bit contrived, but finds the play as ...
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In the following excerpt, Mahood examines the date and sources of The Merchant of Venice and the critical assumptions governing the play's reception.
Date and Source
The magnificent sailing shi...
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In the following review of the 2003 Pearl Theater Company production of The Merchant of Venice, Bruckner underscores the effects of director Shepard Sobel's emphasis on the relationship between...
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In the following essay, Astley explores issues of morality and ethical risk-taking in The Merchant of Venice.
The Merchant of Venice bases its dramatic logic on the New Testament premise that you get ...
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In the following essay, Hatlen offers a Marxist reading of The Merchant of Venice, maintaining that the playwright questioned both feudal and bourgeois concepts of value.
Twentieth-century historians ...
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In the following essay, Anderson references Shakespeare's religious sensibility to explain the “sordid conflict between religions” in The Merchant of Venice.
�...
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In the following essay, Hale discusses Shakespeare's use of Il Pecorone as a source for The Merchant of Venice.
The value of source-criticism within Shakespeare is ancillary, negative, and indi...
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In the following excerpt, Halio addresses Shakespeare's attitude toward Jews, a source of considerable controversy surrounding the representation of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.
Any appro...
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In the following essay, Kawachi chronicles the reception of Shakespeare's play in Japanese translation.
In the sixteenth century Venice became one of the most prosperous hubs of East-West trade...
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In the following excerpt, Edelman documents the performance history of The Merchant of Venice, paying particular attention to the actors who have played Shylock.
Mark Twain is thought to have said tha...
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In the following essay, Hapgood discusses Portia's devotion and loyalty to the letter of the law.
In a passage which sums up the main point of his provocative article, “The Merchant of V...
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In the following essay, Echeruo compares Shakespeare's characterization of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice with Marlowe's rendering of Barabas in The Jew of Malta, examining the relati...
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In the following essay, Sklar highlights similarities between Bassanio and Shylock despite their apparent differences.
Bassanio is probably the least prepossessing of the principal figures in The Merc...
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In the following excerpt, Rothwell praises the outdoor settings of the Film d'Arte Italiana silent film version of The Merchant of Venice, but regrets that the film's ending has been los...
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In the following review, Fischer calls Hansgünther Heyme's 2002 staging of The Merchant of Venice a “postmodern, transcultural production,” incorporating elements of Erwin ...
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In England, during the lifetime of William Shakespeare, oppression was occurring against people of different races, ethnicities, and even genders. The religious conflicts stemmed from the differing t...
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In many plays there are two types of characters, good and evil. Then there are those few who could be on either side of the fence. The character could have both good and evil aspects, creating a compl...
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In many respects, the `Merchant of Venice' is a traditional love story. The plot outlines Bassanio's quest to marry the fair Portia, and the difficulties that arise along the way. But in the text, S...
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Prejudice is defined by the dictionary as an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or an examination of the facts. Many of us are deliberately prejudiced, but don't notic...
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In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the Jewish moneylender Shylock emerges as the play's most memorable character because of his vindictive determination to oppose the benevolent will of ...
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I have never have never been a Christian, and before this assignment was given to me, never touched a Bible before. However, reading the gospel John has helped in my understanding of The Merchant of V...
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Appearance and Reality
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The Merchant of Venice depends heavily on deception to thicken the plot and create the general atmosphere and mood of suspense shrouding the ...
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I agree to an extent. In the "Merchant of Venice", Shylock is portrayed as both a victim and a villain. Christians looked down on him, and he suffered humiliation and prejudice because of his job as a...
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The Merchant of Venice is a romantic comedy which was written between 1596 and 1597. It opens on the streets of Venice and throughout the comedy, the setting shifts between Venice and Belmont.
Bas...
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The Merchant of Venice is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. This well known story portrays many different themes. It could be argued that the main theme of this story is appearance versus real...
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Shylock
Shylock is definitely the most complicated character in the play "The Merchant of Venice." He is a Jewish moneylender. Which is a double disadvantage for him, as there were ...
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We can rationally analyse if Portia is the most important and the most intelligent character in the play. There are several incidents that she displays intelligence and importance. The wittiness she d...
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Portia is very upset about the casket test that her father stated in his will. suitors have come from all over the world to take a chance and have a go at their luck at the test of choosing between ...
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Bassanio is one of the most important characters of the play. He is Antonio's best friend, and later marries Portia after winning the casket test.
One of the most positive aspects about him is th...
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Antonio is a rich Venetian merchant. He is the merchant of the title. Like all men he has strengths and weaknesses, good and bad aspects. It is known that he is a merchant because Salanio and Saleri...
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ACT III SCENE III
In the play "The Merchant of Venice" a strong rivalry is revealed between Antonio and Shylock. Antonio's portrayed as the good man, a loyal and honest Christian compared to Shyloc...
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In most of Shakespeare's plays women are given little intelligence or power. Portia, however, doesn't seem to be subject to this image. Portia plays a main part in "the merchant of Venice." She is p...
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The merchant of Venice is no doubt a play about property, with property being defined by anything you can lose. This came to be an important theme, property and the consequences of greed. Shylock's ...
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Antonio is the merchant of Venice of the play's title. His role in the play is far from the biggest but is a very significant one. The play begins with his role `In sooth I know not why I am so sad', ...
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To know if Portia is a Renaissance woman, we must first define the term Renaissance. As the term "Renaissance" suggests, the renaissance was a time of rebirth or revival. It happened during the 14th t...
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The Merchant of Venice brings together different characters of different religions. Shakespeare uses the character in this play to reflect sixteenth century views on
Christianity and Judaism. The ch...
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In the play `The Merchant Of Venice' by William Shakespeare, the character Shylock has two sides to his personality. These two sides, victim and villain of the piece, present themselves frequently ...
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First performed in 1605, Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice deals with what are today some very controversial issues. The character that seems to be the source of most of the controversy is tha...
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No, I disagree with the above statement to a large extent.
The above statement suggests two assumptions. Firstly, that Shylock is an unattractive character in the play. I agree with this assumption, ...
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As an audience we see Shylock in two different ways, as a villain and as a victim. Whereas in the play most of the other characters just see him as a villain the whole time. In this essay I am going t...
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In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Portia is a woman who has seemingly good intentions and tries to play by the rules. However, she looks for ways to bend the rules and make them go in her favo...
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In the Merchant of venice there is racism used a lot. Sometimes it gets so bad that names are not used just mentions of religions. This was said by Old Gobbo and Solanio.
"which is the way t...
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In William Shakespeare's timeless play, The Merchant of Venice, Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, prosecutes Antonio for he fails to repay his debt. Shylock attempts to use the law for his own personal ...
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The Merchant of Venice portrays many tests for its characters in which they encounter various themes from the book. The way each person reacts to his individual test determines the characters persona...
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William Shakespeare is the greatest playwright in the era of Renaissance of England. He was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. Shakespeare spent his childhood in a rather affluent bourgeoisie. The boy...
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The 2004 film, The Merchant of Venice, directed by Michael Radford, is an excellent tool for students studying Shakespeare's play of the same name. The film's story taking place in Shakespeare's inten...
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Antonio's counterpart, Shylock, is the most noteworthy figure in Shakespeare's comedy, The Merchant of Venice. No consensus has been reached on whether Shylock is a tyrannical villain or a tragic vict...
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What makes a villain? How do you define villainy? Villains may have a desire to kill, to steal, or to cause suffering. To define a villain is not done by just evaluating their actions but by looking a...
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Shylock: Victim of The Merchant of Venice
Shylock from The Merchant of Venice is a Jewish money lender who lives in Venice. Shylock has lent three thousand ducats to Bassanio which he is to pay back ...
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In "The Merchant of Venice" Shakespeare used Portia and Jessica as his stereotypical characters through which he successfully conveyed greatness and challenged the perception of 17th century society. ...
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In the Merchant of Venice Shylock seeks justice to punish Antonio for not repaying the loan. Shylock refuses to accept anything other then the pound of flesh. Shylock says that the contract Antonio si...
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Conflict in `the Merchant of Venice'
In Shakespeare's `a Merchant of Venice', conflict is a major theme that can be seen throughout the play in the main plot and every subplot. It is evident on a pe...
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`The Merchant of Venice' written by William Shakespeare is two stories; the flesh blond tale and the love caskets tale. An important character that portrays these two stories is Shylock, an arrogant J...
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William Shakespeare represents different social groups by penning different religions in `The Merchant of Venice.' Shylock is a Jew and hates Christians, `O father Abram, what these Christians are, wh...
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Merchant of Venice Book Notes is a free study guide on Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. Browse the summary below:
Author Biography / Context of the Work
One-Page Plot Summa...
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Teaching The Merchant of Venice
All teaching products sold separately.
The Merchant of Venice Lesson Plans contain 136 pages of teaching material, including:
Shakespeare's plays are thought-provoking and complex texts that explore the human themes of romance, deceit, tragedy, and comedy, and revenge. These activity guides are designed by teachers for t...
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This series features classic Shakespeare retold with graphic color illustrations. Educators using the Dale-Chall vocabulary system adapted each title. Each 64 page book retains key phrases and quot...
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Thirty-five reproducible activities per guide reinforce basic reading and comprehension skills while teaching higher-order critical thinking. Also included are teaching suggestions, background note...
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Hypocrisy _ religious and otherwise _ is the theme of a double dose of classics Theatre for a New Audience has brought to off-Broadway's Duke on 42nd Street.The plays are William Shakespeare's "The...
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As far as I can determine, 2004 seems to be neither the best nor the worst year for movies, at least as far as the proportion of good (low, as always) to bad (high, as always) is concerned. Of cour...
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Question 1 of 10:"Throne of Blood", a classic Japanese film about a murderous Samurai, is based on which play?a) Macbeth (1)b) Richard III (0)c) Hamlet (0)d) Othello (0)Question 2 of 10:Who recentl...
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The disappointing new musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, adapted from the 1988 movie about two con men in the South of France, left me cold, I'm afraid. On the other hand, everyone was roaring with l...
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F. Murray Abraham’s performance as Shylock for Theatre for a New Audience touches greatness in every aspect of an immensely challenging role. The magnificent veteran actor inhabits Shylock...
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"Go travel for a while," Shakespeare wrote in "Pericles, Prince of Tyre." So, take his advice; go travel somewhere and see some Shakespeare
You can enjoy the Bard's works seemingly anywher...
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Even Shakespeare couldn't help Marion Jones stay out of jail.Her attorney quoted the bard in asking a judge to be merciful, but the former Olympic track gold medalist was sentenced Friday to six mo...
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Even Shakespeare couldn't help Marion Jones stay out of jail. Her attorney quoted the bard in asking a judge to be merciful, but the former Olympic track gold medalist was sentenced Friday to six m...
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Just before U.S. financial markets were roiled by a global credit squeeze this summer, an equally dramatic financial crisis threatened "Second Life," the much-hyped online world.On July 25, the com...
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A year without a new play by Sir David Hare can’t be all bad—and so it happily proved.
Top of my list is the stunning, imaginative achievement of Gregory Burke...
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The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare - 1596
The Merchant of Venice
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
Critical Essay by Kay Stockholder
Background and Influence: Merchant of Venice
Merchant of Venice
Merchant of Venice Student Guide
Shakespeare, Marlowe examine outsiders
