The Merchant of Venice

by William Shakespeare

Overview

The Merchant of Venice is an intriguing drama of love, greed and revenge. At its heart, the play contrasts the characters of the maddened and vengeful Shylock, a Venetian moneylender, with the gracious, level-headed Portia, a wealthy young woman besieged by suitors. At the play's climax, Shylock insists that a binding contract be enforced which will cost the life of the merchant Antonio. Pleading Antonio's case before the Duke of Venice, Portia shrewdly defeats Shylock's evil purpose.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781775412816
Publisher:	The Floating Press
Publication date:	01/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	133 KB

About the Author

William Shakespeare began his career as an actor, writer and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as King’s Men, in London. Often regarded as the ‘Bard of Avon’ he is one of the world’s pre-eminent dramatists. Most of his known works have been produced between 1589 and 1613. His plays demonstrate the expansiveness of his imagination and the extent of his learning. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is one of his most delightful creations. Romeo and Juliet is his most famous romantic tragedy of sexually charged adolescence, love and death. Shakespeare’s sequence of great comedies continue with Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Until about 1608, he mainly wrote tragedies including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus— his last major tragedies, contain some of his finest poetry. A true genius, Shakespeare’s popular characters and plots are studied, performed, reinterpreted and discussed till today.

Date of Death:

2018

Place of Birth:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Place of Death:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Table of Contents

The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare - Edited by Kenneth Myrick Nicholas Rowe: From The Works of Mr. William Shakespeare
William Hazlitt: From Characters of Shakespeare's Plays
Anonymous: 'Henry Irving's Shylock'
Elmer Edgar Stoll: From Shylock
Linda Bamber: The Avoidance of Choice: A Woman's Privilege
Alexander Leggatt: The Fourth and Fifth Acts
Sylvan Barnet: 'The Merchant of Venice' on the Stage and Screen

NEWLY ADDED ESSAYS:
Robert Smallwood: The End of "The Merchant of Venice": Four Versions

Editorial Reviews

Gorgeous new Shakespeare paperbacks.” 
—Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings

“I have been using the Pelican Shakespeare for years in my lecture course—it's invaluable, the best individual-volume series available for students.”
—Marjorie Garber, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University 

From the Publisher

"This translation is easy to read, but retains the iambic pentameter and flow of an original Shakespeare. Overall, very well done."

Seattle Book Review