The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare homepage | Merchant of Venice You can buy the Arden text of this play from the Amazon.com online bookstore: The Merchant of Venice (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series) Entire play in one page. ", 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 characterisations. The great thing about Shakespeare and why he's so difficult to pin down is his ambiguity. A room in PORTIA'S house. speech to his brother Władysław in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation in World War II. Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" is a fantastic play and boasts one of Shakespeare's most memorable villains, the Jewish moneylender, Shylock. [69][70], Christopher Moore combines The Merchant of Venice and Othello in his 2014 comic novel The Serpent of Venice, in which he makes Portia (from The Merchant of Venice) and Desdemona (from Othello) sisters. Bassanio does not recognise his disguised wife, but offers to give a present to the supposed lawyer. There were not many Jews in Elizabethan London but those that were there did not have a comfortable time. This page was last edited on 10 May 2021, at 06:34. It was performed in Edinburgh in 1974 and in a revised form at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, in 1977. Also notable is Portia's speech about "the quality of mercy". A room in PORTIA'S house. The eligibility for the award is encapsulated by the inscription on the play's lead casket, "Who chooses me must give and hazard all he hath. Belmont. A street. Avenue to PORTIA'S house. Here to this devil, to deliver you. Are not with me esteemed above thy life; 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." Act 3, Scene 5: The same. Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia is awash with suitors. To some critics, Shylock's celebrated "Hath not a Jew eyes?" Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life by offering the money to Shylock. [28] Jacob Adler was the most notable of the early 20th century: Adler played the role in Yiddish-language translation, first in Manhattan's Yiddish Theater District in the Lower East Side, and later on Broadway, where, to great acclaim, he performed the role in Yiddish in an otherwise English-language production. Fiennes defended his choice, saying "I would never invent something before doing my detective work in the text. In Venice, Antonio and Bassanio approach Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, for a loan. Productions of the play followed in Lübeck (1938), Berlin (1940), and elsewhere within the Nazi territory. David Mirsky, "The Fictive Jew in the Literature of England 1890–1920", in the, "The Three Sallies – Salarino, Solanio, and Salerio", "A Jewish reading of The Merchant of Venice", Information about Sullivan's incidental music to the play, "Venice Film Festival: Lost Orson Welles Film to Get Pre-Opening Showcase", "2 Shakespearean Classics To Be Televised by A.B.C. A room in PORTIA'S house. Antonio, a leading merchant of Venice, is a wealthy, respected, and popular man. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare 163,658 ratings, average rating, 3,984 reviews Open Preview Browse By Tag. I am a Jew. Scene 4. Shylock. Act 2, Scene 6: The same. [74][75][76], This article is about Shakespeare's play. A street. 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 22 July 1598 under the title "the Marchaunt of Venyce or otherwise called the Jewe of Venyce. The same. The Merchant of Venice (c. 1596–97) uses a double plot structure to contrast a tale of romantic wooing with one that comes close to tragedy. He's not saying they're gay or they're straight, he's leaving it up to his actors. Antonio is the title character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.An influential, powerful, and wealthy nobleman of Venice, he is a middle-aged man and a merchant by trade who has his financial interests tied up in overseas shipments when the play begins. One of the reasons for this interpretation is that Shylock's painful status in Venetian society is emphasised. Antonio has already antagonized Shylock through his outspoken antisemitism and because Antonio's habit of lending money without interest forces Shylock to charge lower rates. The Merchant of Venice (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series). Kean's Shylock established his reputation as an actor. Caldecott, Henry Stratford (1895). A court of justice. [72][73], Sarah B. Mantell's Everything that Never Happened is a play first produced in 2017 at the Yale School of Drama. Portia and Bassanio marry, as do Gratiano and Portia's handmaid Nerissa. Salerino'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 Cádiz in 1596. [3] In addition, the test of the suitors at Belmont, the merchant's rescue from the "pound of flesh" penalty by his friend's new wife disguised as a lawyer, and her demand for the betrothal ring in payment are all elements present in the 14th-century tale Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino, which was published in Milan in 1558. Act 2, Scene 7: Belmont. A street. [29], 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. Act 3, Scene 2: Belmont. [56], The rock musical Fire Angel was based on the story of the play, with the scene changed to the Little Italy district of New York. [17] Detractors note that Shylock ends the speech with a tone of revenge: "if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" However, Shylock adamantly refuses any compensations and insists on the pound of flesh. The first suitor, the Prince of Morocco, chooses the gold casket, interpreting its slogan, "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire", as referring to Portia. Among his many friends is a young man named Bassanio, who owes Antonio a good deal of money. Though based in part on Shakespeare's play, it was also based on, This was the first "big-screen" adaption of the play. [8] English Jews had been expelled under Edward I in 1290 and were not permitted to return until 1656 under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Portia says the Duke may waive the state's share, but not Antonio's. [22] In 1701, George Granville staged a successful adaptation, titled The Jew of Venice, with Thomas Betterton as Bassanio. What's that good for? He finally agrees to lend the sum to Bassanio without interest upon one condition: if Antonio were unable to repay it at the specified date, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio's flesh. I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all This version (which featured a masque) was popular, and was acted for the next forty years. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Antonio agrees, but since he is cash-poor – his ships and merchandise are busy at sea to Tripolis, the Indies, Mexico and England – he promises to cover a bond if Bassanio can find a lender, so Bassanio turns to the Jewish moneylender Shylock and names Antonio as the loan's guarantor. ", "How do you make Shakespeare work on the radio?". Shylock has Antonio brought before court. Weber played Portia and Smalley, her husband, played Shylock. As the court grants Shylock his bond and Antonio prepares for Shylock's knife, Portia deftly appropriates Shylock's argument for "specific performance". Shylock: I am a Jew. [67], The Pianist is a 2002 film based on a memoir by Władysław Szpilman. A room in PORTIA'S house. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? This summary of Act One of "The Merchant of Venice" guides you through the play's opening scenes in modern English. Having squandered his estate, he needs 3,000 ducats to subsidise his expenditures as a suitor. From “Merchant of Venice,” Act 4, Scene 1: The quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; [15], The depiction of Jews in literature throughout the centuries bears the close imprint of Shylock. 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? speech to Nazi soldiers. "Our English Homer; or, the Bacon-Shakespeare Controversy". Shylock has become more determined to exact revenge from Christians because his daughter Jessica eloped with the Christian Lorenzo and converted. 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. The last suitor is Bassanio, whom Portia wishes to succeed, having met him before. Both Antonio and Shylock, agreeing to put Antonio's life at a forfeit, stand outside the normal bounds of society. A street. qq音乐是腾讯公司推出的一款网络音乐服务产品，海量音乐在线试听、新歌热歌在线首发、歌词翻译、手机铃声下载、高品质无损音乐试听、海量无损曲库、正版音乐下载、空间背景音乐设置、mv观看等，是互联网音乐播放和下载的优选。 Venice. [68], In the 2009 spy comedy OSS 117: Lost in Rio, a speech by the nazi Von Zimmel parodies Shylock's tirade. BASSANIO: But life itself, my wife, and all the world If you prick us, do we not bleed? There was, states Auden, a traditional "association of sodomy with usury", reaching back at least as far as Dante, with which Shakespeare was likely familiar. Act 1, Scene 3: Venice. Act IV. Act V. Scene 1. "[66], One of the four short stories comprising Alan Isler's The Bacon Fancier (1999) is also told from Shylock's point of view. Act 2, Scene 9: Belmont. The Merchant Of Venice: ACT I Volume I Book VI 7 BASSANIO In my school-days, when I had lost one shaft, I shot his fellow of the self-same flight The self-same way with more advised watch, To find the other forth, and by adventuring both I oft found both: I urge this childhood proof, Because what follows is … Before SHYLOCK'S house. 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". Bassanio warns his companion to exercise self-control, and the two leave for Belmont. 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".[16]. Act 2, Scene 4: The same. Whether Bassanio had not once a love. [11] 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 early 1590s work The Jew of Malta. Shylock, re-threatened with death, accepts with the words, "I am content." Characters (23 total) Click on a name to see all of that character's speeches. A room in PORTIA'S house. Act 2, Scene 5: The same. [71], Naomi Alderman's The Wolf in the Water is a radio-play first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2016. Similarly, it is possible that Shakespeare meant Shylock's forced conversion to Christianity to be a "happy ending" for the character, as, to a Christian audience, it saves his soul and allows him to enter Heaven. They cite as evidence that Shylock's "trial" at the end of the play is a mockery of justice, with Portia acting as a judge when she has no right to do so. [59] In this retelling, Shylock and Antonio are friends and share a disdain for the crass anti-Semitism of the Christian community's laws. For other uses, see. Avenue to PORTIA’S house. Act 3, Scene 1: Venice. merchant of venice; merchant of v; merchant; Search Tips: Use double quotes to search as a phrase: "global warming: Use * as a wildcard: polic*, comput* Use 'and', 'or', … Gratiano is a likeable young man, but he is often flippant, overly talkative, and tactless. A garden. (Auden sees the theme of usury in the play as a comment on human relations in a mercantile society. 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. "[6] On 28 October 1600 Roberts transferred his right to the play to the stationer Thomas Heyes; Heyes published the first quarto before the end of the year. The cast included. With this film, Weber became the first woman to direct a full-length feature film in America. About Us. 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 created complex, multi-faceted characters, deliberately intended this reading. Act 1, Scene 1: Venice. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. As Balthazar, Portia in a famous speech repeatedly asks Shylock to show mercy, advising him that mercy "is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes" (Act IV, Sc 1, Line 185). A street. [24], Arthur Sullivan wrote incidental music for the play in 1871. The climax of the play is set in the court of the Duke of Venice. A garden. Scene 2. His play Shylock, first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in December 1889, had incidental music by the French composer Gabriel Fauré, later incorporated into an orchestral suite of the same name. And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge He identifies himself as Balthazar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario. Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. A public place. One example is the Shakespeare-aficionado Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), a Klingon, who quotes Shylock. Jewish critic Harold Bloom suggests that, although the play gives merit to both cases, the portraits are not even-handed: "Shylock's shrewd indictment of Christian hypocrisy delights us, but ... Shakespeare's intimations do not alleviate the savagery of his portrait of the Jew..."[19], Antonio's unexplained depression – "In sooth I know not why I am so sad" – and utter devotion to Bassanio has led some critics to theorise 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. A room in SHYLOCK'S house. That's the key for me in the relationship. 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 17th century. Antonio, says Auden, embodies the words on Portia's leaden casket: "Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath." Antonio's frustrated devotion is a form of idolatry: the right to live is yielded for the sake of the loved one. Thomas Doggett was Shylock, playing the role comically, perhaps even farcically. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh. The 1600 edition is generally regarded as being accurate and reliable. Similar to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the play occurs in the gaps between scenes of the canonical The Merchant of Venice, with the characters gradually recognizing how conflicts over assimilation and anti-Semitism recur throughout past, present, and future. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. [9] 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, and had to live in a ghetto. In this film, Henryk Szpilman reads Shylock's "Hath Not a Jew eyes?" [57][58], Arnold Wesker's play The Merchant (1976) is a reimagining of Shakespeare's story. At Venice, Antonio's ships are reported lost at sea, so the merchant cannot repay the bond. A street. Scene 5. If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. The forfeit of a merchant's deadly bond after standing surety for a friend's loan was a common tale in England in the late 16th century. As Bassanio ponders his choice, members of Portia's household sing a song that says that "fancy" (not true love) is "engend'red in the eyes, / With gazing fed";[2] Bassanio chooses the lead casket and wins Portia's hand. Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death; At Belmont, Portia and Nerissa taunt and pretend to accuse their husbands before revealing they were really the lawyer and his clerk in disguise (V). [63], In David Fincher's 1995 crime thriller Seven, a lawyer, Eli Gould, is coerced to remove a pound of his own flesh and place it on a scale, alluding to the play. They were outcasts and suffered extreme discrimination. The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unable to nullify a contract, refers the case to a visitor. The Christians in the courtroom urge Shylock to love his enemies, although they themselves have failed in the past. Act 5, Scene 1: Belmont. "Arnold Wesker, 83, Writer of Working-Class Dramas, Dies", "Arnold Wesker: the radical bard of working Britain", "French Spy Spoof Set in Swinging '67 Rio", "The Merchant of Venice: what happened next", "Review: 'Everything That Never Happened' reconsiders 'The Merchant of Venice' through a Jewish perspective", "Everything That Never Happened – Boston Court Pasadena", The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Merchant_of_Venice&oldid=1022384889, Articles with incomplete citations from June 2020, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Gratiano – friend of Antonio and Bassanio; in love with Nerissa; later the husband of Nerissa, Lorenzo – friend of Antonio and Bassanio; in love with Jessica; later the husband of Jessica, Nerissa – Portia's waiting maid – in love with Gratiano; later the wife of Gratiano; disguises herself as Portia's clerk, Launcelot Gobbo – servant of Shylock; later a servant of Bassanio; son of Old Gobbo, Duke of Venice – authority who presides over the case of Shylock's bond, Salarino and Salanio (also known as Solanio) – friends of Antonio and Bassanio, Salerio – a messenger from Venice; friend of Antonio, Bassanio and others, Magnificoes of Venice, officers of the Court of Justice, gaolers, servants to Portia, and other attendants and Doctor Bellario, cousin of Portia.
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