Merchant of Venice, (The New Penguin)

by William Shakespeare

Other authorsW. Moelwyn Merchant (Editor)
Paperback, 1981

Status

Checked out
Due Mar 19, 2024

Local notes

822.33 Sha

Barcode

10161

Genres

Publication

Penguin Classics (1981), Paperback, 224 pages

Description

Drama. Fiction. HTML: The Merchant of Venice is classed as one of Shakespeare's comedies, but is more often remembered for its dramatic characters and situations. Though the villain of the piece, the Jewish moneylender Shylock is often the most prominent and well-remembered character of the play. As he can be played and directed either sympathetically or wholly villainous, the play remains a highly contentious piece of theater..

Language

Original publication date

1600: First Quarto
1619: Second Quarto
1623: First Folio

Physical description

224 p.; 4.56 inches

User reviews

LibraryThing member ncgraham
This was the play that always prompted the biggest reaction from me when, as a pint-sized, wannabe Shakespearean, I used to thumb through Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare. “What, he wants a pound of Antonio’s flesh?” I would think.—“Yuck!” Aside from the shock value, I
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couldn’t see why the play was considered one of Shakespeare’s best; Shylock seemed a rather drab villain, and I thought Portia an ugly name for a woman. But having read my old favorite Much Ado About Nothing this past Valentine’s Day (a very sappy thing to do, I know), I was determined to survey some of the Bard’s other plays. Two different friends whose tastes I trust named it as their favorite comedy and (in one case) favorite play, and this led me to pick it up, having never seen it performed on stage or screen.

Baaaaaaaaaaad idea.

I love Shakespeare, and I do think there are benefits to be derived from reading his plays and not only from seeing them performed, but doing the former without having first done the latter can make for difficult reading. I read the first act of Merchant in a single evening, but when I finished I realized that I had struggled through it, something that had not happened with Much Ado. However, I was determined not to give up, so I came up with and enacted a new, hard-hitting strategy. The Charles and Mary Lamb volume came back out—the paperback from all those years before—and when I resumed the play I began to mouth the words as I read them, getting a feel for the sound and rhythm. By these means I was able to get through it, and even greatly enjoy it.

The merchant of the title is one Antonio, a prosperous but perhaps overgenerous businessman who lives amid the hustle and bustle of Venetian life. A young spendthrift friend, named Bassanio, asks for a loan of money so that he may go and woo the “richly left” Portia of Belmont (I.1.161*) in style. All of Antonio’s fortune is at sea, but he goes to the Jewish moneylender Shylock and asks him to take his bond—a loan of three thousand ducats for three months. For his usury the Jew demands no money, but simply a pound of Antonio’s flesh. He and Bassanio take this merely as a jest, thinking anyway that Antonio’s ships will have arrived before then, and Bassanio sets of for Belmont, while Shylock’s hate for Antonio is growing in his heart, and his plans for the merchant’s undoing becoming more and more a reality. Thus Shakespeare begins his interweaving of two basic plot lines—a “love” plot featuring Portia and Bassanio, and a “hate” plot featuring Shylock and Antonio. To give away much more would be to spoil it for those truly new to the play.

Of course, it is a comedy, and so the reader expects a happy ending for at least some of the characters, and as far as that goes the play fits the genre. Otherwise it not what one typically thinks of as a comedy; very little of it is laugh-out-loud funny, and most of the humor found within these pages comes in the guise of wit or irony.

But in its dramatic qualities the play is top drawer. Shylock truly is one of literature’s most fascinating characters. Like many Shakespearean baddies, he is self-admittedly a villain (III.1.66), but he commands our sympathy nevertheless. And I do not think this is simply because of our modern sensibilities, despite reports that the fall of a Jew might be a source of humor for an Elizabethan audience. He has been poorly treated by his fellow men, and learnt his villainy from this treatment, and so we must pity him, even as we feel horror at his response. The most likable character by far is Portia. “You will love Portia,” one of my youth directors predicted when she heard that I was reading this play, “because she is AWESOME!” And, indeed, she is—a fierce, independent woman who is nevertheless in love with Bassanio and will do anything to save the life of his friend. Her speech on mercy in the trial scene (IV.1) is truly the stuff of legend. The other characters are fairly dull, and Shylock’s daughter Jessica needs a good slap or two, but together Shylock and Portia sweep all before them, representing not only hate and love, but legalism and mercy. It is they who made me love this play, and it is they that will cause me to remember it and come back to it.

* All line references come from The Complete Pelican Shakespeare.
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LibraryThing member EliSparkie
Money, Love, Pride, Bond,Law. All of the following are points of interest in the Merchant of Venice. Antonio loses Money, Bassanio is in Love with Portia. Shylock has Pride for being a Jew, Antonio makes himself Bond for Bassanio to get money to go court Portia, and the Law which saves
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Antonio's life.

I didn't enjoy it at first because I didn't understand, but after watching the movie, it made more sense. I could relate to Antonio's worry about his money being gone, and I loved it when Portia saved Antonio even though she had to impersonate as a male. The thing I loved the most though was the fact that Antonio loved Bassanio so much that put his own life on the line so Bassanio could be happy. This totally shocked me because I would figure that the rich would be greedy, but I was proven wrong. I would recommend this book to someone who understands Shakespearean language or who will have some guidance in understanding. "Why do tomorrow what you can do today?" Go on, read Shakespeare, and understand the Shakespearean way.
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LibraryThing member Narshkite
I am apparently the only person on the planet who does not believe that Merchant of Venice is anti-Semitic. Shylock is a man living in a world where law and custom consider him as less than human and he is filled with anger. His cruelty is his tiny way of lashing out. He wants revenge, and he
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prizes that above money. Is his intended (though thwarted) violence horrifying and shocking? Sure it is. It is the twisted malignant violence that grows in the heart of a man caged and stunted, of a man forced to be inhuman. When you prick him, he doth bleed. And the true evildoers in this tale are not Jews. Shylock is the victim. (Jessica is a whole separate story.) This is the story of a man stripped of manhood, a man whose essence is ground to dust under the boot heels of people who call themselves Christians. That Shakespeare, he knows a tragedy when he sees one.
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LibraryThing member BrianStone
The Merchant of Venice is about a man named Antonio who is sad at the beginning of the play for no reason, "In sooth, I know not why I am sad; It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a
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want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself." (Act I Scene I). Antonio goes through the novel trying to fix his sadness. Then he finds out that he is sad because he misses his youth. He misses being young so he makes friends with a young man named Bassanio. Bassanio helps Antonio feel young and so does the rest of his friends. Then Bassanio sees Portia and falls in love. Bassanio goes to Antonio for money but all of Antonio's money is at see so they borrow from Shylock, the Jew.
This story is full of dramatic scenes like Shylock wanting his bond, "When it is paid according to thee tenor. It dothbappear you are a worthy judge; You know the law, your exposition Hath been most sound; I charge you by the law, Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar, Proceed to judgment: by my soul I swear There is no power in the tongue of man to alter me: I stay here on my bond." (Act IV Scene I), or like Bassanio giving his ring that was given to him by his wife to the doctor who helped the trial, who was actually Portia, his wife.
I personally didn't enjoy the book because I couldn't comprehend what Shakespeare was writing. I gave this book three and a half stars out of five stars. I recommend this book for high school honors classes only since Shakespeare has a hard language to understand.
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LibraryThing member meandmybooks
Waffling between four and five stars for this. Four and a half, we'll say. The speeches, the characters, the ideas... so much that was beautiful and thought-provoking. I'm afraid that what I'm having a hard time loving is any of the characters. They are too... real. Their flaws are too visible and
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ugly, and their modest virtues fail to compensate. The character who inspires the most compassion, Shylock, is also the one who is most ruthlessly cruel, and Portia, the character who is presented as most clear-thinking, pure, and righteous, is also merciless, petty, and vindictive. The juxtaposition of comic and tragic elements, as when Shylock cries in anguish,

“Out upon her! Thou torturest me,Tubal. It
was my turquoise. I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor.
I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.”

along with the mixture of cruelty and kindness in several characters, makes this, in a way, an exceptionally “realistic” comedy. It ends with weddings, but also with the fall of a larger-than-life character who is too sympathetic to be a proper villain.

I read the Oxford World's Classics edition of this, which has fine notes, generous margins, readable font, and excellent introductory material. Which I only skimmed because, as always, I started with Marjorie Garber's wonderful chapter on the play in Shakespeare After All. All her analyses are good, but this one seemed to me particularly so. I know I wouldn't have enjoyed the play nearly so much without her insights, anyway. Also, I highly recommend the Arkangel recorded performance of this – it's just fantastic! I'm not a fan of Shakespeare's clowns, as a general rule, but David Tennant's “Lancelot” is irresistible, and the other actors are also marvelous.
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LibraryThing member rybie2
This abridged audio version of Shakespeare's famous play will be of use chiefly to those quite familiar with the original. Others will have to read the play along with listening to this recording, in order to tell the characters apart.
LibraryThing member ethanbis
The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, starts out with Antonio wondering why he is so sad. His best friend Bassanio then tells him that he is in love and needs to borrow money in order to court Portia. With all of his ships away at sea, Antonio has to borrow money from his enemy, Shylock.
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Shylock agrees to lend money to Antonio and they make a deal. If Antonio hasn't paid Shylock in 3 months the Shylock could cut off a pound of flesh; Antonio agrees. Bassanio eventually marries Potia, but Antonio doesn't repay Shylock within 3 months. If you want to find out what happened to Antonio, you'll have to read the book.
I'm not a big Shakespeare fan, because it takes me a while to figure out what he is trying to say. The Merchant of Venice wasn't my favorite of his books, but overall it was pretty good. You never know what happens next in The Merchant of Venice. I would recommend it to any Shakespeare fan or to someone who just wants a good book to read.
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LibraryThing member kenzielynn75
The Merchant of Venice is a short story with a very basic plot, and one of little interest to me. Bassanio comes up with some crazy plan to pay Antonio back the money that he owes. However his plan backfires and Antonio is left to pay for Bassanio's mistakes.

I found the story predictable and hard
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to get into. It isn't hard to follow, but you'll miss what little humor it has if you aren't well read in Shakespearean liturature. I definately would not include this with any of Shakespeare's more renowned plays.
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LibraryThing member seabear
Those hypocritical bastards! Once a comedy, now a tragedy for those of us who aren't anti-Semitic. Although given the global financial crisis, perhaps a comedy once more if you replace "the Jew" with "the banker".
LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
CHRIS-TIANS! CHRIS-TIANS! GOTTA GIVE IT UP FOR CHRIS-TIANS! EVERYTHING GOES GREAT FOR CHRIS-TIANS! There are, as we know, many unresolvable interpretative ourobori in this play--the anti-Semitism thing, the relationship of Antonio and Bassanio, the very vexed question of the Venetian oath, that
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false thing, and what yet makes Bassanio and Portia infinitely cold and clean and Shylock a quintessence of grime--I mean to say, better to rule one's house in the Ghetto than serve in Belmont, right? As Jessica will learn, to her sorrow? The fact that the passionate malice of the Italians is so much more terrifying, here, than the grim legalmindedness of the Jew? These are all interesting things, and this great play is chock-full of more cool thoughts like them--about capitalism, about youth sucking age dry like the New Testament does the Old, about the Prince of Morocco as a secret counterpoint to Shylock--the Semite prince, cartoonishly accipitrine, flourishing a scimitar-world of infinite princehood--versus the Semite moneylender, ever debased below his pecuniary value, from the people who had their princes taken away long ago. And you can get diverted and watch a smartass Hermione Granger type (In the context of Christian and post-Christian hatred, I use the word "progress" with infinite trepidation, but surely the fact that our generation's reincarnation of the bright spark who always has something up her sleeve is a Mudblood fighting Voldemort and his crew of wizard Nazis, and not an abjurer and defender and reinscriber of racial boundaries around the home, possibly that's a small good thing?) break a bitter old man and clear the road for wedding-ring hijinx--and you know that for the happy crew at the middle, somehow the bill for the uneasy edge that their ringplay has in that extraordinary final scene falls at Shylock's door too.

You can do all that but when you stop just watching the sweet show and try to resolve something, close any one of the doors that Shakespeare so suggestively leaves open, you find yourself tying yourself in knots, and getting into some really dark places. Why? Because it doesn't matter how we arrange our interpretations; there is no version of this play where Shylock's not fucked from the beginning, because he's the villain and the groundlings want him to get a kick, and there's no version where he's not the villain--there never will be--why? Because he's the Jew. And suddenly it hits you--it hits generic Gentile me--why the representation of people like you as good and kind that the mainstream culture has always taken for granted is the most essential thing in the world. Because otherwise, on some level, from the earliest age, you're afraid that you're bad. And the rest of it proceeds inexorably outward from that fundamental trauma. Why does Antonio loathe Shylock? He's easy to loathe, because he's never had a role open to him that wasn't loathsome. Why does Shylock loathe Antonio? Because he's just as loathsome, only--roles again--nobody will ever see it, because he's inherited the snowy mantle of lion in winter. It's like how racism isn't wrong because those people we hate didn't have a choice about being hateful; that's not why; it's wrong because we didn't give them a choice. We made them hateful with our stories--and to the degree that they're hateful, it's no wonder, but for the dizzying degree that we've just revealed ourselves as hateful, there's no bond, no pound of flesh. We're just bastards.

I saw Merchant the other night, and the dude who played Shylock didn't do this scene this way, but it came to me in the middle with an awful shiver and became, for me, this play's fearsome core: the speech? "Hath not a Jew hands?" Imagine Shylock, not defiant, not roaring, not cold as ice, not looking for pity, but gnawing his fingers, hitting himself in the head, throwing himself against the walls, saying "Is not a Jew bad--bad--BAD--just like a Christian? And will he not revenge, as a way of stopping himself from going home in the mirror and driving a toothpick into his face?" His defiance becomes his heroism, the refusal to make that traumatic break with himself. Antonio's not that strong, and I bet he goes to his guest room at Belmont and hears the young cavorting and looks at the lines on his face and does something horrible to himself. Every time Shylock walks out of that courtroom and we leave him for the winners, it's unforgivable, because behind the scenes somewhere there's the mutilated self, the violated body. Our great art shows us that body--but our greatest art makes us complicit in not wanting to see it, but being aware it's there. This is no happy ending, nor even a clean tragedian sleep of death. This is a bunch of damaged and undermined people walking away to sow the crimes of the future.
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LibraryThing member Anagarika
This play was hilarious. I enjoyed it.
LibraryThing member brianinbuffalo
Probably my favorite Shakespeare play. I loved it even as an assigned reading mission in high school. I've since read it again and have it seen performed on several stages. Shylock remains one of the most memorable literary characters in the "theater" of my mind.
LibraryThing member paradox98
One of my favorite plays. I love the Shylock "hate not a Jew eyes" speech. I feel, being Mormon, I can relate to that.
LibraryThing member frazier193
Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is a terrific play. Although the title references Antonio, Shylock is the most intriguing character. Shylock, being Jewish, is abused at the hands of the Christians of Venice. His mistreatment elicits sympathy, yet Shylock is also an abuser. He loans money to
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Antonio, knowing he will not be able to repay. When Antonio fails to pay, Shylock demands a pound of flesh, as agreed upon by both parties. Shylock finds himself unable to claim his pound of flesh. Rather, he loses his property and is forced to convert to Christianity. It is possible to read The Merchant of Venice with sympathetic feeling for Shylock, even though he is the villain of the play.
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LibraryThing member kaboomcju
My favorite Shakespearean work. He wrote it as a comedy, and it fits...but is it really entertaining? In this day and age, the subject matter may not be as "happy" as it once was thought. I particularly find it interesting to think about how Shylock might be portrayed: as a stereotypical Jew or as
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a prominent Venetian merchant.
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LibraryThing member silverwing2332
This is a classic, and a great piece. I often think about the book, its very memorable and quotable. Even if you hate Shakespeare, at least you'll be able to recognize any allusions to it in other books. The plot is really good, and the characters are amazingly well made. The writing is impeccable
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and it is surprisingly easy to understand (for Shakespeare that is).
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LibraryThing member duck2ducks
Wonderful; one of Shakespeare's best. Shylock and the Merchant are fascinatingly complex characters - they each have motives and reasons that makes it hard to dismiss either one as simply a villain. Light, dark, comic, tragic, wonder, ribaldry - this one has it all.
LibraryThing member jnajack
This small volume is in reasonably good condition. It includes a chronological list of all of Shakespeare's plays, etc. on pages 153-
LibraryThing member joshberg
I read Merchant exactly 25 years ago and recently had the opportunity to read it again. I mostly enjoyed the play and was all set to give a solid four-star rating, when that foolish final scene left a bad taste in my mouth. After the profound pathos of Shylock's defeat, the silly-at-best
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conventions of Shakespearean comedy make for a particularly discordant ending.
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LibraryThing member Michelle_Lynn
If you are looking for a book that contains predjudice, greed, disobedience, forbidden love, and overwhelming devotion to friends; than The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare might be exactly what you are looking for. This 4 star book follows the tale of a story that is made extremely
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complicated by the hatred that the predjudice between Christians and Jews has caused. Complicating the story even more is the forbidden love between Jessica, a Jew, and Lorenzo, a Christian. This gripping tale comes to a dramatic climax when Antonio, a Christian, can not pay back Shylock, a Jew. Shylock is greedy and all he demands is his bond, 1 pound of flesh from Antonio. It seems that Antonio is going to pay this debt for his friend with his life...or is he? This gripping tale is enticing till the end. Though this book focuses on the faults of christianity quite a bit, not that Christianity doesn't have it's faults, this book is still extremely interesting and tells a familiar tale with a nice twist.
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LibraryThing member TaylorReynolds
This book is about Antonio, the merchant of Venice, is trying to help his dear friend, Bassiano. Bassiano wants to go try to win his love, Portia's hand in marriage. Antonio goes to Shylock, a Jew, to lend him three thousand ducats for Bassiano. Shylock, who seeks revenge on Antonio for mocking him
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and his religion, agrees only if Antonio signs a bond saying that if Antonio fails to pay the three thousand ducats in a month, then Antonio will give Shylock one pund of his flesh.
While this is going on Shylock's daughter, Jessica, plans on leaving her father to run away with her love, Lorenzo, and convert to a Christian. That night Shylock leaves Jessicain charge of the house, while he goes out. Jessica then steals all his money and succeeds in leaving her father. When Shylock returns, he sees that Jessica has left with all his money. It never clearly says whether Shylock was upset over the money or his daughter leaving.
Portia is waiting for suitors to come and take her father's test, which is to pick from 3 caskets:gold, silver, and lead which one has a picture of Portia in it. Prince Morroco comes first and picks the gold casket, which holds a skull. Then Prince of Aargon comes and picks the silver casket, which holds the head of a blinking idiot. Then comes her prince charming, Bassiano, come and pick the lead casket, which holds her picture in it, and wins her hand in marriage. Nerissa, Portia's servant, and Gratiano, Bassiano's friend, have a double wedding with Portia and Bassiano. But after the wedding, Bassiano and Gratiano get news that Antony's ship will not make it and he could not pay Shylock. They leave immediately and Portia and Nerissa try to figure out a way to help. Portia and Nerissa decide to dress up as men and go to Venice.
Bassiano and Gratiano are in the court room and Bassiano offers Shylock six thousand ducats to not hurt Antonio, but Shylock denies it. When Portia and Nerissa get to the court room, Portia tells Shylock that he could have his bond, but if one drop of Antonio's blood comes with it he would be killed. Shylock then tries to take the six thousands ducats, but Portia tells him he must have his bond. So Shylock gives up, and Portia informs him that he was an alien and tried to kill a Venice s=citizen, which is against the law. He must now, when he dies, give half his goods to Jessica and her new husband and the other half to Antonio. Shylock also could not lend anymore money with interest. Antonio tells Shylock that he has to convert to Christianity and instead of him getting the goods, they would go to the city of Venice. Right after this Antonio learns that he is rich again, because his ships came.

I personally did not like this book. I thought there was too much going on at once and hard to comprehend Shakepeare's writing style. I would recommend this book only o high school honors classes, sonce it was a hard read.
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LibraryThing member ALiSHABAiLEY
[The Merchant of Venice] is a story of love, honor, pride, and loyalty all wrapped up in one. You will experience everthing from a Jew's daughter betraying him by marrying a Christian, Bassanio putting a pound of his friend's flesh on the line to go court a woman, Bassanio finding and marrying the
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love of his life, Shylock almost getting a pound of flesh from Antonio, Portia and Nerrisa portraying men to save Antonio, and trick their men into giving up their rings. There is action in every page each and every character will grab your attention and hold it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who can understand Shakespearean language, or who is willing to try. As for myself, I have a hard time figuring out what is going on. Honestly, I didn't understand this story until I watched the movie, and that film pulled everything together for me. I don't think this is one of Shakespeare's best plays therefore I give it 2 stars.
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LibraryThing member cierramarinko
The Merchant of Venice was an amazing play. It was a brilliantly told story that explores all of Shakespeare normal themes. You experience a little love, a little humor, and a lot of revenge. It was filled with many different characters and many different plots that intertwined. I enjoyed this more
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after I watched to movie. Anyone who has read and liked Shakespeare will love this play.
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LibraryThing member Roxyite4life
The Merchant of Venice is fraught with risk and sacrifice. Antonio risks his life so his dearest friend, Bassanio, may risk his chances with other suitors to woo the beautiful Portia. Portia risks being caught disguised as a man in order to save Antonio's life. Shylock's daughter, Jessica,
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sacrifices her religion and her relationship with her father so she may marry the christian, Lorenzo. Since Shylock is jewish, he disowns Jessica who has converted to christianity in order to marry Lorenzo. And, in the end, Shylock sacrifices his religion, loses acceptance of the jewish community, and loses all of his money in order to save his life. With such action going on, you would think the play is hard to follow, but it is probably one of the most understandable plays of Shakespeare. However, I had hoped it would have have proved more suspenseful. With that said, I would recommend this book to anyone wishing to start reading Shakespeare as this book would do well to ease you into Shakespeare's language and style of writing. It would also make a nice read for those interested in race relations during the Elizabethan era.
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LibraryThing member Crowyhead
Fascinating in terms of its portrayal of Shylock and what we can glean from it about attitudes at the time. I also love Portia, one of Shakespeare's more witty and intelligent heroines.

Pages

224

Rating

½ (1849 ratings; 3.8)
Page: 2.444 seconds