Title page of the first quarto (1600)

The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1596 and 1598. Although classified as a comedy in the First Folio, and while it shares certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps more remembered for its dramatic scenes (particularly the trial scene), and is best known for the character of Shylock. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (526x849, 205 KB) Title page of the first quarto of The Merchant of Venice The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (526x849, 205 KB) Title page of the first quarto of The Merchant of Venice The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term... First quarto is a bibliographic term, usually encountered in the study of English literature in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially in regard to the early printings of the plays of English Renaissance theatre. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Shakespearean comedies are one of the three (sometimes four) genres of plays by William Shakespeare. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... A romantic comedy may be a film or novel, presenting a story about romance in a comedic style. ... Shylock After the Trial by John Gilbert (late 19th century) Shylock is a central character in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice who famously demanded a pound of flesh from the title character. ...

The title character is the merchant Antonio, not the more famous villain, the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who is the play's most prominent figure. Though Shylock is a tormented character, he is also a tormentor, so whether he is to be viewed with disdain or sympathy is up to the audience (as influenced by the interpretation of the play's director and lead actors). As a result, The Merchant of Venice is often classified as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. Antonio is the title character in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In Shakespeare studies, the term problem plays normally refers to three comedies that William Shakespeare wrote between the late 1590s and the first years of the seventeenth century: Alls Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida, although some critics would extend the term to other...

Date and text

Facsimile of the first page of The Merchant of Venice from the First Folio, published in 1623

The date of composition for The Merchant of Venice is believed to be between 1596 and 1598. The play was mentioned by Francis Meres in 1598, so it must have been familiar on the stage by that date, and the title page of the first edition in 1600 states that it had been performed "divers times" by that date. Solanio's reference to his ship the "Andrew" (I,i,27) is thought to be an allusion to the Spanish ship St. Andrew captured by the English at Cadiz in 1596. A date of 1596–97 is considered consistent with the play's style. For other uses, see Fax (disambiguation). ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... Francis Meres (1565 - January 29, 1647), was an English churchman and author. ... This article is about the Spanish city. ...

The play was entered in the Register of the Stationers Company, the method at that time of obtaining copyright for a new play, by James Roberts on July 22, 1598 under the title The Merchant of Venice, otherwise called The Jew of Venice. On October 28, 1600 Roberts transferred his right to the play to the stationer Thomas Hayes; Hayes published the first quarto before the end of the year. It was printed again in a pirated edition in 1619, as part of William Jaggard's so-called False Folio. (Afterward, Thomas Hayes' son and heir Laurence Hayes asked for and was granted a confirmation of his right to the play, on July 8, 1619.) The 1600 edition is generally regarded as being accurate and reliable, and is the basis of the text published in the 1623 in the First Folio, which adds a number of stage directions, mainly musical cues.^[1] The Stationers Register was a journal maintained by the Stationers Company of London. ... The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. ... Not to be confused with copywriting. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1600 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The size of a specific book is measured from the head to tail of the spine, and from edge to edge across the covers. ... False Folio is the term that Shakespeare scholars and bibliographers have applied to the earliest attempt to create a collection of Shakepearean works in a single volume, that being William Jaggards printing of ten Shakespearean and pseudo-Shakespearean plays together in 1619. ... is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ...

The earliest performance of which a record has survived was held at the court of King James in the spring of 1605, followed by a second performance a few days later, but there is no record of any further performances in the seventeenth century.^[2] In 1701, George Granville staged a successful adaptation, titled The Jew of Venice, with Thomas Betterton as Bassanio. This version (which featured a masque) was popular, and was acted for the next forty years. Granville cut the Gobbos in line with neoclassical decorum; he added a jail scene between Shylock and Antonio, and a more extended scene of toasting at a banquet scene. Thomas Doggett was Shylock, playing the role comically, perhaps even farcically. Rowe expressed doubts about this interpretation as early as 1709; however, Doggett's success in the role meant that later productions would feature the troupe clown as Shylock. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary... George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdown (9 March 1666 – 29 January 1735) was an English poet, playwright, and politician who served as a Privy Counsellor from 1712. ... Thomas Betterton (c. ... Costume for a Knight, by Inigo Jones: the plumed helmet, the heroic torso in armour and other conventions were still employed for opera seria in the 18th century. ... The Cathedral of Vilnius (1783), by Laurynas Gucevičius. ... Etiquette is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ... Thomas Doggett (or Dogget), (ca. ... Nicholas Rowe Guilt is the source of sorrow, tis the fiend, Th avenging fiend, that follows us behind, With whips and stings Nicholas Rowe (1674 – 1718), English dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer, was selected Poet Laureate in 1715. ...

In 1741 Charles Macklin returned to the original text in a very successful production at Drury Lane, paving the way for Edmund Kean seventy years later (see below).^[3] Charles Macklin (1697?‑1797) was an actor and dramatist born in the north of Ireland, and one of the most distinguished actors of his day, shining equally in tragedy and comedy. ... Currently home to Lord Of The Rings, the musical. ... Edmund Kean (March 17, 1787 – May 15, 1833) was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever. ...

Performance

Shylock on stage

Jacob Adler and others report that the tradition of playing Shylock sympathetically began in the first half of the 19th century with Edmund Kean^[4], and that previously the role had been played "by a comedian as a repulsive clown or, alternatively, as a monster of unrelieved evil." Kean's Shylock established his reputation as an actor.^[5] Categories: People stubs | Jewish film and theatre | 1855 births | 1926 deaths ... Edmund Kean (March 17, 1787 – May 15, 1833) was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever. ... Clowning redirects here. ...

From Kean's time forward, all of the actors who have famously played the role, with the exception of Edwin Booth, who played Shylock as a simple villain, have chosen a sympathetic approach to the character; even Booth's father, Junius Brutus Booth, played the role sympathetically. Henry Irving's portrayal of an aristocratic, proud Shylock (first seen at the Lyceum in 1879, with Portia played by Ellen Terry) has been called "the summit of his career".^[6] Jacob Adler was the most notable of the early 20th century.^{[citation needed]} Adler played the role in Yiddish-language translation, first in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and later on Broadway, where, to great acclaim, he performed the role in Yiddish in an otherwise English-language production.^[7] Edwin Booth as Hamlet. ... Photo of Booth Junius Brutus Booth (May 1, 1796–November 30, 1852) was a British and American actor. ... Sir Henry Irving, as Hamlet, in an 1893 illustration from The Idler magazine John Henry Brodribb (February 6, 1838 – October 13, 1905), knighted in 1895, as Sir Henry Irving, was one of the most famous stage actors of the Victorian era. ... Dame Ellen Terry, GBE (February 27, 1848 – July 21, 1928) was an English stage actress. ... This article is about the decade starting in 1900 and ending in 1909. ... Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Eastern European Ashkenazaic Jewish community. ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... L.E.S. redirects here. ... Note on spelling: While most Americans use er (as per American spelling conventions), the majority of venues, performers and trade groups for live theatre use re. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ...

Kean and Irving presented a Shylock justified in wanting his revenge; Adler's Shylock evolved over the years he played the role, first as a stock Shakespearean villain, then as a man whose better nature was overcome by a desire for revenge, and finally as a man who operated not from revenge but from pride. In a 1902 interview with Theater magazine, Adler pointed out that Shylock is a wealthy man, "rich enough to forgo the interest on three thousand ducats" and that Antonio is "far from the chivalrous gentleman he is made to appear. He has insulted the Jew and spat on him, yet he comes with hypocritical politeness to borrow money of him." Shylock's fatal flaw is to depend on the law, but "would he not walk out of that courtroom head erect, the very apotheosis of defiant hatred and scorn?"^[8] For other uses, see Revenge (disambiguation). ... Pride is the name of an emotion which refers to a strong sense of self-respect, a refusal to be humiliated as well as joy in the accomplishments of oneself or a person, group, nation or object that one identifies with. ... Year 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Some modern productions take further pains to show how Shylock's thirst for vengeance has some justification. For instance, in the 2004 film adaptation directed by Michael Radford and starring Al Pacino as Shylock, the film begins with text and a montage of how the Jewish community is cruelly abused by the bigoted Christian population of the city. One of the last shots of the film also brings attention to the fact that, as a convert, Shylock would have been cast out of the Jewish community in Venice, no longer allowed to live in the ghetto, and would still not be accepted by the Christians, as they would feel that Shylock was yet the Jew he once was. The Merchant of Venice is a 2004 movie based on Shakespeares play with the same name. ... Michael Radford was born February 24, 1946 in New Delhi, India to a British father and Austrian mother. ... Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an Academy, Golden Globe, Tony, BAFTA, Emmy, and SAG award winning American actor who is best known for playing the roles of Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface and Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy . ... The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jewish people were required to live under the Venetian Republic. ...

Synopsis

Portia by Henry Woods

Bassanio, a young Venetian, would like to travel to Belmont to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress Portia. He approaches his friend Antonio, a merchant, for three thousand ducats needed to subsidize his traveling expenditures as a suitor for three months. As all of Antonio's ships and merchandise are busy at sea, Antonio approaches the Jewish moneylender/usurer Shylock for a loan. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 402 × 599 pixels Full resolution (515 × 768 pixel, file size: 115 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 402 × 599 pixels Full resolution (515 × 768 pixel, file size: 115 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... Borders of the Republic of Venice in 1796 Capital Venice Language(s) Venetian, Latin, Italian Religion Roman Catholic Government Republic Doge  - 1789–97 Ludovico Manin History  - Established 697  - Treaty of Zara June 27, 1358  - Treaty of Leoben April 17, 1797 * Traditionally, the establishment of the Republic is dated to 697. ... Principe di Belmonte or Prince Belmonte is the name and senior title of an Italian dynasty, tracing its roots back to the 11th Century. ... Kate Dolan as Portia, painted by John Everett Millais (1829–1896) Portia is a fictional character, the heroine of William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. ... Antonio is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish first name. ... The ducat (IPA: ) is a gold coin that was used as a trade currency throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ...

Shylock, who hates Antonio because he had insulted and spat on him for being a Jew a week previously, proposes a condition. If Antonio is unable to repay the loan at the specified date, Shylock will be free to take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Although Bassanio does not want Antonio to accept such a risky condition, Antonio, surprised by what he sees as the moneylender's generosity (no "usance" — interest — is asked for), accedes and signs the contract. With money at hand, Bassanio leaves for Belmont with another friend Gratiano. Look up pound in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

At Belmont, Portia has no lack of suitors. Portia's father, however, has left a will stipulating each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets – one each of gold, silver, and lead – before he could win Portia's hand. In order to be granted an opportunity to marry Portia, each suitor must agree in advance to live out his life as a bachelor were he to select wrongly. The suitor who correctly looks past the outward appearance of the caskets will find Portia's portrait inside and win her hand. In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... This article is about the chemical element. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series Post-transition metals or poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Standard atomic weight 207. ... A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married (see single). ...

After two suitors, the Princes of Morocco and Aragon, choose incorrectly, Bassanio makes the correct choice, that of the leaden casket. The other two contain mocking verses, including the famous phrase all that glisters [glistens] is not gold. Capital Zaragoza Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 4th  47,719 km²  9. ...

At Venice, all ships bearing Antonio's goods are reported lost at sea, leaving him unable to satisfy the bond. Shylock is even more determined to exact revenge from Christians after his daughter Jessica flees his home to convert to Christianity and elope with the Christian Lorenzo, taking a substantial amount of Shylock's wealth with her. With the bond at hand, Shylock has Antonio arrested and brought before court. Converso (Spanish and Portuguese for a convert, from Latin conversus, converted, turned around) and its feminine form conversa referred to Jews or Muslims or the descendants of Jews or Muslims who had converted to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal, particularly during the 1300s and 1400s. ...

At Belmont, Portia and Bassanio have just been married, along with his friend Gratiano and Portia's handmaid Nerissa. He receives a letter telling him that Antonio has defaulted on his loan from Shylock. Shocked, Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice immediately, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life. Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia and Nerissa leave Belmont to seek the counsel of Portia's cousin, Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua. For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... Padua, Italy, (Italian: IPA: , Latin: Patavium, Venetian: ) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, the economic and communications hub of the region. ...

The dramatic center of the play comes in the court of the Duke of Venice. Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer, despite Bassanio increasing the repayment to 6000 ducats (twice the specified loan). He demands the pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unwilling to set a dangerous legal precedent of nullifying a contract, refers the case to Balthasar, a young male "doctor of the law" who is actually Portia in disguise, with "his" lawyer's clerk, who is Nerissa in disguise. Portia asks Shylock to show mercy in a famous speech (The quality of mercy is not strained—IV,i,185), but Shylock refuses. Thus the court allows Shylock to extract the pound of flesh. Grand Procession of the Doge, 16th century Doges Palace Complex For some thousand years, the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice was the Doge (Duke). ...

At the very moment Shylock is about to cut Antonio with his knife, Portia points out a flaw in the contract (see Quibble (plot device)). The bond only allows Shylock to remove the flesh, not blood, of Antonio. If Shylock were to shed any drop of Antonio's blood in doing so, his "lands and goods" will be forfeited under Venetian laws. A quibble is a common plot device, used to fulfil the exact verbal conditions of an agreement in order to avoid the intended meaning. ...

Defeated, Shylock accedes to accept monetary payment for the defaulted bond, but is denied. Portia pronounces none should be given, and for his attempt to take the life of a citizen, Shylock's property will be forfeited, half to the government and half to Antonio, and his life will be at the mercy of the Duke. The Duke pardons his life before Shylock can beg for it, and Antonio asks for his share "in use" (that is, reserving the principal amount while taking only the income) until Shylock's death, when the principal will be given to Lorenzo and Jessica. At Antonio's request, the Duke grants remission of the state's half of forfeiture, but in return, Shylock is forced to convert to Christianity and to make a will (or "deed of gift") bequeathing his entire estate to Lorenzo and Jessica (IV,i). The Republic of Venice was a city-state in Venetia in Northeastern Italy, based around the city of Venice. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is...

Bassanio does not recognize his disguised wife, but offers to give a present to the supposed lawyer. First she declines, but after he insists, Portia requests his ring and his gloves. He gives the gloves away without a second thought, but gives the ring only after much persuasion from Antonio, as earlier in the play he promised his wife never to lose, sell or give it away. Nerissa, as the lawyer's clerk, also succeeds in retrieving her ring from Gratiano.

At Belmont, Portia and Nerissa taunt their husbands before revealing they were really the lawyer and his clerk in disguise.

After all the other characters make amends, all ends happily (except for Shylock) as Antonio learns that three of his ships were not stranded and have returned safely after all.

Themes

Shylock and Jessica by Maurycy Gottlieb

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (400x705, 38 KB) [edit] Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): The Merchant of Venice Shylock User:DONeil/Images Uploaded/Art Maurycy Gottlieb List of Shakespearean... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (400x705, 38 KB) [edit] Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): The Merchant of Venice Shylock User:DONeil/Images Uploaded/Art Maurycy Gottlieb List of Shakespearean...

Shylock and the anti-Semitism debate

The play is frequently staged today, but is potentially troubling to modern audiences due to its central themes, which can easily appear anti-Semitic. Critics today still continue to argue over the play's stance on anti-Semitism. Image File history File links Ambox_emblem_question. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

The anti-Semitic reading

English society in the Elizabethan era has been described as anti-Semitic.^[9] English Jews had been expelled in the Middle Ages and were not permitted to return until the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Jews were often presented on the Elizabethan stage in hideous caricature, with hooked noses and bright red wigs, and were usually depicted as avaricious usurers; an example is Christopher Marlowe's play The Jew of Malta, which features a comically wicked Jewish villain called Barabas. They were usually characterized as evil, deceptive, and greedy. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... Usury (from the Latin usus meaning used) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. ... This article is about the English dramatist. ... The Jew of Malta is an antisemetic play by Christopher Marlowe, probably written in 1589 or 1590. ...

During the 1600s in Venice and in some other places, Jews were required to wear a red hat at all times in public to make sure that they were easily identified. If they did not comply with this rule they could face the death penalty. Jews also had to live in a ghetto protected by Christians, supposedly for their own safety. The Jews were expected to pay their guards. ^[10]

Readers may see Shakespeare's play as a continuation of this anti-Semitic tradition. The title page of the Quarto indicates that the play was sometimes known as The Jew of Venice in its day, which suggests that it was seen as similar to Marlowe's The Jew of Malta. One interpretation of the play's structure is that Shakespeare meant to contrast the mercy of the main Christian characters with the vengefulness of a Jew, who lacks the religious grace to comprehend mercy. Similarly, it is possible that Shakespeare meant Shylock's forced conversion to Christianity to be a "happy ending" for the character, as it 'redeems' Shylock both from his unbelief and his specific sin of wanting to kill Antonio. This reading of the play would certainly fit with the anti-Semitic trends present in Elizabethan England. Quarto has several meanings: In bookbinding and publishing, quarto indicates the book size which results when four leaves of the book are created from a standard size sheet of paper. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      In Christianity... A forced conversion occurs when someone adopts a religion or philosophy under the threat that a refusal would result in negative non-spiritual consequences. ... Happy ending may refer to: Happy ending in fiction, when everything turns out well in the end Happy Ending (story), a science-fiction story by Henry Kuttner Happy Ending (song), a song by London-based singer Mika Happy Ending (Fredric Brown), a science-fiction story and title of a collection...

Hyam Maccoby argues that the play is based on medieval morality plays in which the Virgin Mary (here represented by Portia) argues for the forgiveness of human souls, as against the implacable accusations of the Devil (Shylock). On this reading, the Merchant is notably more anti-Semitic than The Jew of Malta, in which there are no good Christian characters and the Jewish villain seems to be regarded by the author with a certain covert sympathy. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Morality plays are a type of theatrical allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a godly life over one of evil. ...

The sympathetic reading

Shylock and Portia (1835) by Thomas Sully

Many modern readers and theatregoers have read the play as a plea for tolerance as Shylock is a sympathetic character. Shylock's 'trial' at the end of the play is a mockery of justice, with Portia acting as a judge when she has no real right to do so. Thus, Shakespeare is not calling into question Shylock's intentions, but the fact that the very people who berated Shylock for being dishonest have had to resort to trickery in order to win. Shakespeare puts one of his most eloquent speeches into the mouth of this "villain": Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Thomas Sully, daguerrotype by Mathew Bradys studio of an oil painting, between 1851 and 1860. ...

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

—Act III, scene I

Influence on anti-semitism

Regardless of what Shakespeare's own intentions may have been, the play has been made use of by anti-Semites throughout history. One must note that the end of the title in the 1619 edition "With the Extreme Cruelty of Shylock the Jew…" must aptly describe how Shylock was viewed by the English public. The Nazis used the usurious Shylock for their propaganda. Shortly after Kristallnacht in 1938, "The Merchant of Venice" was broadcast for propagandistic ends over the German airwaves. Productions of the play followed in Lübeck (1938), Berlin (1940), and elsewhere within the Nazi Territory.^[11]

The depiction of Jews in English Literature throughout the centuries bears the close imprint of Shylock. With slight variations much of English literature up until the 20th century depicts the Jew as "a monied, cruel, lecherous, avaricious outsider tolerated only because of his golden hoard". ^[12]

Character study

It is difficult to know whether the sympathetic reading of Shylock is entirely due to changing sensibilities among readers, or whether Shakespeare, a writer who clearly delighted in creating complex, multi-faceted characters, deliberately intended this reading.

One reason for this interpretation is that Shylock's painful status in Venetian society is emphasised. To some critics, Shylock's celebrated "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech (see above) redeems him and even makes him into something of a tragic figure. In the speech, Shylock argues that he is no different from the Christian characters. Detractors note that Shylock ends the speech with a tone of revenge: "if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" However, those who see the speech as sympathetic point out that Shylock says he learned the desire for revenge from the Christian characters: "If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction."

Even if Shakespeare did not intend the play to be read this way, the fact that it retains its power on stage for audiences who may perceive its central conflicts in radically different terms is an illustration of the subtlety of Shakespeare's characterizations.

Religious interpretations

Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Shylock, painted by Charles Buchel (1895–1935).

Sympathy for Shylock can be derived from an understanding of the difference between the concept of forgiveness of sins in Judaism and Christianity. In Christianity, like in Judaism, forgiveness comes only to those who "truly repent"; this repentance comes about through faith in Christ, and does not involve any specific ritual. (See Justification.) In Judaism, Jews who seek to atone for their sins (Teshuvah) are called to a deep reckoning and soul-searching, of which confession, though of paramount importance, is but one aspect. Judaism draws heavily on the exhortations of the prophets, most notably Isaiah and Jeremiah, that the repentance be an intensely personal experience; any and all associated ritual is but the means of formalizing the deeper, inner dimension of Teshuvah.^[13] This theme is brought out with particular force in the ritual of Yom Kippur, the annual Day of Atonement. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (700x912, 111 KB) This image reproduces a portrait by Charles Buchel (1895-1935) and it was painted in 1914. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (700x912, 111 KB) This image reproduces a portrait by Charles Buchel (1895-1935) and it was painted in 1914. ... Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (December 17, 1853 - July 2, 1917) was an English actor-manager. ... Repentance in Judaism known as Teshuva (literally means Returning in Hebrew), is the way of atoning for sin in Judaism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Isaiah the Prophet in Hebrew Scriptures was depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo. ... For other uses, see Jeremiah (disambiguation). ... Yom Kippur (Hebrew:יוֹם כִּפּוּר ) is a Jewish holiday, known in English as the Day of Atonement. ...

According to this interpretation, Shylock is the most morally upright character (of the main characters) in the play. Supporters of this interpretation tend to describe the other main characters in negative terms: Antonio as a repressed homosexual (immoral by the standards of the day); Bassanio as a prodigal who does no work except capitalize on his looks and live off of other people, and who ends up with Portia, who, at the end, realizes that Bassanio only ever wanted her money despite all his charms; and Jessica as an ungrateful daughter who steals her father's possessions and runs away to marry Lorenzo, a proselytizing hypocrite. The Return of the Prodigal Son (1773) by Pompeo Batoni The Prodigal Son, also known as The Lost Son is one of the best known parables of Jesus of Nazareth. ...

Directors such as John Neville who support this interpretation tend to show the '"young love" story in which Jessica escapes her father to marry Lorenzo, ending unhappily, a reading that may be justified by careful reading of the text. John Neville as the Well Manicured Man in the TV-series The X-Files John Neville, C.M., OBE (born May 2, 1925) is an English theatre and film actor who moved to Canada in 1972. ...

In this reading, though the play is light and funny on the surface, the Christian characters' lives are collapsing because of their immoral behavior and disrespect for duty to God and the law. Meanwhile, Shylock does not deceive, trick, lie, kill, steal, or do anything mischievous. The promise of a pound of flesh upon default of the loan was something Antonio freely agreed to. Still it can hardly be moral for Shylock to demand a pound of flesh from Antonio. Shylock knows this will kill Antonio, but according to this theory his desire for vengeance is not only justified but in a sense moral as well.

Some actors who are trained in early modern drama will, for the above reason, identify the Merchant of Venice as not an anti-Jewish play, but an anti-Christian play. This is not reflected in the history of the production and is a recent phenomenon. This does not necessarily mean that Shakespeare himself was anti-Christian, but rather that he was using the story of Shylock to attack prevailing hypocrisies.

A Catholic reading

In 2004 Clare Asquith published her analysis of Shakespeare's writing from the perspective of Catholics toiling under the nascent Reformation movement in England, in her book^[14]Shadowplay. Asquith maintains that Shakespeare was a recusant Catholic whose sympathies are covertly woven within his works. Queen Elizabeth I was the third monarch to reign over the Church of England's split from Rome (succeeding her Catholic half-sister Queen Mary who had attempted to undo their younger half-brother Edward's consolidation of Henry VIII's original schism). Asquith's thesis posits that the dramatis personae mask actual persons in the politics of England at the end of the 16th century. Portia can be seen to represent Queen Elizabeth I herself, while Shylock represents a patriarch of the Puritan merchant classes who had suffered under Queen Mary's persecutions. The relevance of the legal setting to the plot calls to mind the conviction that Christ's new Law of Love fulfills the Old Covenant, the natural law revealed to Moses (defended by Shylock in the speech quoted above) whereby an eye-for-an-eye is a reasonable measure, superior to the lawlessness of barbarian rape and pillage, but inferior to peaceful reconciliation dispensed with Christ-like mercy. Clare Asquith is an independent scholar and author of Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare, which posits that Shakespeare was a recusant Catholic whose works contain code which was used by the Catholic underground, particularly the Jesuits, in Reformation England. ... William Shakespeare (National Portrait Gallery), in the famous Chandos portrait, artist and authenticity unconfirmed. ... Elizabeth I redirects here. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[3] in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communions thirty-eight independent national churches. ... Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 6 July 1553 (de facto) or 19 July 1553 (de jure) until her death on 17 November 1558. ... Edward Tudor redirects here. ... Henry VIII redirects here. ... For the record label, see Puritan Records. ... The Beatitudes (from Latin, beatitudo, happiness) is the beginning portion of the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel of Matthew. ... For other uses, see Ten Commandments (disambiguation). ...

The question remains, does Portia dispense a Christian portion of Divine mercy? Or does she deal out a punishment harsher than any that Shylock could have come up with? The final act contains many allusions to Catholic rituals for the celebration of solemnities in the three days before Easter, the Triduum, banned in England at the time the play was published, but still celebrated elsewhere in Catholic Europe, certainly in Venice. As Asquith^[14] points out Easter Triduum (or Paschal Triduum) is a term used by some Christian churches, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, to denote, collectively, the last three days before Easter Sunday. ...

"The opening love-duet between Lorenzo and Jessica in Act V repeats the phrase "in such a night" eight times: exactly the same number that the phrase "this is the night" is repeated in the great Easter hymn, the Exultet. "

Catholics in England continued to be persecuted for more than two centuries before regaining their religious freedoms, albeit with concessions to the civil rights of their Irish brethren, under the second Catholic Relief Act. Antonio is reprieved by Portia's comprehension of the Christian Mystery: Christ the Pascal Lamb shed blood for us all, justice does not require a second blood-shedding. The Catholic Relief Act 1829 (10 Geo IV c. ...

Sexuality in the play

Image File history File links Ambox_emblem_question. ...

Antonio, Bassanio and homosexuality

Antonio's unexplained depression—"In sooth I know not why I am so sad"—and utter devotion to Bassanio has led some critics to theorize that he is suffering from unrequited love for Bassanio and is depressed because Bassanio is coming to an age where he will marry a woman. In his plays and poetry Shakespeare often depicted strong male bonds of varying homosociality, which has led some critics to infer that Bassanio returns Antonio's affections despite his obligation to marry^{[citation needed]}: Unrequited love is love that is not reciprocated, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. ...

ANTONIO: Commend me to your honorable wife:

Tell her the process of Antonio's end,

Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death;

And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge

Whether Bassanio had not once a love.

BASSANIO: But life itself, my wife, and all the world

Are not with me esteemed above thy life;

I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all

Here to this devil, to deliver you. (IV,i)

In his essay "Brothers and Others", published in The Dyer's Hand, W.H. Auden describes Antonio as "a man whose emotional life, though his conduct may be chaste, is concentrated upon a member of his own sex." Antonio's feelings for Bassanio are likened to a couplet from Shakespeare's Sonnets: "But since she pricked thee out for women's pleasure,/ Mine be thy love, and my love's use their treasure." Antonio, says Auden, embodies the words on Portia's leaden casket: "Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath." Antonio has taken this potentially fatal turn because he despairs, not only over the loss of Bassanio in marriage, but also because Bassanio cannot requite what Antonio feels for him. Antonio's frustrated devotion is a form of idolatry: the right to live is yielded for the sake of the loved one. There is one other such idolator in the play: Shylock himself. "Shylock, however unintentionally, did, in fact, hazard all for the sake of destroying the enemy he hated; and Antonio, however unthinkingly he signed the bond, hazarded all to secure the happiness of the man he loved." Both Antonio and Shylock, agreeing to put Antonio's life at a forfeit, stand outside the normal bounds of society. There was, states Auden, a traditional "association of sodomy with usury" with which Shakespeare was likely familiar. (Auden sees the theme of usury in the play as a comment on human relations in a mercantile society.) Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Wystan Hugh Auden (February 21, 1907–September 29, 1973) was an English poet. ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Other interpreters of the play regard Auden's conception of Antonio's sexual desire for Bassanio as questionable. Michael Radford, director of the 2004 film version starring Al Pacino, explained that although the film contains a scene where Antonio and Bassanio actually kiss, the friendship between the two is platonic, in line with the prevailing view of male friendship at the time. Jeremy Irons, in an interview, concurs with the director's view and states that he did not "play Antonio as gay". Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an Academy, Golden Globe, Tony, BAFTA, Emmy, and SAG award winning American actor who is best known for playing the roles of Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface and Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy . ... Jeremy John Irons (born September 19, 1948) is an Academy Award, Tony Award, Screen Actors Guild, two-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning English film, television and stage actor. ...

Bassanio, Portia and fidelity

Portia and Bassanio marry, with the promise that he will never give up her ring. The ring is a symbol of marital fidelity. The Elizabethans were obsessed with wifely fidelity, and a whole subgenre of jokes were devoted to the subject.^{[citation needed]} An Elizabethan audience may have seen the significance of Bassanio giving Portia's "ring" back to her as an emblem of his potential for fidelity.

Adaptations and cultural references

Film adaptations

The Shakespeare play has inspired several films.

• 1914—silent film directed by Lois Weber
  • Weber, who also stars as Portia, became the first woman to direct a full-length feature film in America with this film.
  • The Merchant of Venice at the Internet Movie Database
• 1973—television film directed by John Sichel
  • The cast included Sir Laurence Olivier as Shylock, Anthony Nicholls as Antonio, Jeremy Brett as Bassanio, Joan Plowright as Portia, Louise Purnell as Jessica.
  • The Merchant of Venice at the Internet Movie Database
• 1980—A BBC television film directed by Jack Gold
  • The cast included Warren Mitchell as Shylock and John Rhys-Davies as Salerio
  • The Merchant of Venice at the Internet Movie Database
• 1996—A Channel 4 television film directed by Alan Horrox
  • The cast included Paul McGann as Bassanio and Haydn Gwynne as Portia
  • The Merchant of Venice at the Internet Movie Database
• 2001—A BBC television film directed by Trevor Nunn
  • Royal National Theatre production starring Henry Goodman as Shylock
  • The Merchant of Venice at the Internet Movie Database
• 2004—The Merchant of Venice directed by Michael Radford.
  • The cast included Al Pacino as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as Antonio, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio, Lynn Collins as Portia, Zuleikha Robinson as Jessica.
  • The Merchant of Venice at the Internet Movie Database
• 2007(?)— The Merchant of Venice (2007 film) written by John Logan (writer)
  • The cast will include Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart and be set in a Las Vegas casino.^[15]
  • Filming to start in late 2006.

Lois Weber (June 13, 1881 - November 13, 1939) was an American silent film actor and producer and director, and was the first woman to direct a full-length feature film when she directed The Merchant of Venice in 1914. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... John Sichel (died 2005-04-05) was a British director of film, stage and television, and, later in life, a television and theatre trainer. ... Laurence Olivier, as photographed in 1939 by Carl Van Vechten Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (May 22, 1907 – July 11, 1989) was an English actor and director, esteemed by many as the greatest actor of the 20th century. ... Anthony Nicholls (born October 16, 1902 - February 22, 1977[1]) was an English film, television, and stage actor. ... Peter Jeremy William Huggins (November 3, 1933 – September 12, 1995), better known as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor famous for his portrayal of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the British television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier DBE, née Plowright (born October 28, 1929), known professionally as Dame Joan Plowright is a British actress and widow of Laurence Olivier. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... British Director, part of the British Realist Tradition that followed Free Cinema. ... Warren Mitchell (born 14 January 1926) is an English actor. ... John Rhys-Davies (born May 5, 1944) is an English actor best known for his supporting roles as the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films, and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (in which he also voiced the towering Ent, Treebeard). ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... This article is about the British television station. ... Paul McGann (born November 14, 1959 in Liverpool) is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role. ... Haydn Gwynne is a British actress best known for her roles in Drop the Dead Donkey, Peak Practice and Merseybeat. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Sir Trevor King (born 14 January 1940) is a loser and film director. ... The Royal National Theatre from Waterloo Bridge The Royal National Theatre is a building complex and theatre company located on the South Bank in London, England immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge. ... Henry Goodman is a theatre actor. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... The Merchant of Venice is a 2004 movie based on Shakespeares play with the same name. ... Michael Radford was born February 24, 1946 in New Delhi, India to a British father and Austrian mother. ... Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an Academy, Golden Globe, Tony, BAFTA, Emmy, and SAG award winning American actor who is best known for playing the roles of Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface and Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy . ... Jeremy John Irons (born September 19, 1948) is an Academy Award, Tony Award, Screen Actors Guild, two-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning English film, television and stage actor. ... Joseph Alberic Fiennes (IPA: ) (born May 27, 1970) is an English film and stage actor. ... Lynn Collins (born June 1, 1979) is an American actress. ... Zuleikha Robinson is a British actress born in 1978 best known for playing Yves Adele Harlow in the X-Files spin-off, The Lone Gunmen. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... John Logan is a noted American screenwriter of the 1990s and early 2000s. ... Sir Ian McKellen takes a day out at Universal Studios, Hollywood, April 2000. ... This article is about the actor. ... For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Cultural references

Arnold Wesker's play The Merchant tells the same story from Shylock's point of view. In this retelling, Shylock and Antonio are fast friends, and make the bond as a joke against the Christian establishment. Shylock is manipulated into the position of having to enforce it, and is grateful when Portia cuts the knot by showing that the wording is ambiguous and unenforceable. Arnold Wesker (born 24 May 1932) is considered one of the key figures in 20th Century drama. ...

One of the four short stories comprising Alan Isler's Op Non Cit is also told from Shylock's point of view. In this story, Antonio was a boy of Jewish origin kidnapped at an early age by priests...

Pastime

• The device of three caskets with riddles has been used for logic puzzles in works like What is the name of this book? by Raymond Smullyan. The coffers make assertions about the truthfulness of their and the other inscriptions (e.g. the golden casket has the portrait, two of the caskets are lying"), to discover the portrait of Portia, and the reader of the pastime has to find which is telling truth.

A logic puzzle is a puzzle deriving from the mathematics field of deduction. ... Raymond Merrill Smullyan (born 1919) is a mathematician, logician, philosopher, and magician. ... A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. ...

Notes

Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 219th day of the year (220th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Adler, Jacob, A Life on the Stage: A Memoir, translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, Knopf, New York, 1999, ISBN 0-679-41351-0.
• Rob Smith, Cambridge Student Guide to The Merchant of Venice. ISBN 0-521-00816-6.

Categories: People stubs | Jewish film and theatre | 1855 births | 1926 deaths ...

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Merchant of Venice

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Merchant of Venice

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The Merchant of Venice

• The Merchant of Venice — plain vanilla text from Project Gutenberg
• The Merchant of Venice — HTML version of this title.
• Thesis statements & important quotes from The Merchant of Venice
• CliffsNotes
• SparkNotes: Study Guide
• Filmschatten — film The Merchant of Venice (1910) online
• Lesson plans for The Merchant of Venice at Web English Teacher
• Overview of Clare Asquith's analysis of the Merchant of Venice, as an example of Shakespeare's works containing hidden references to persecution of Roman Catholicism, published in her 2005 book Shadowplay.

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