The Merchant of Venice

by William Shakespeare

Overview

Deception and Pride-- Bassanio, a Venetian nobleman, wishes to woo the beautiful and wealthy Portia, but he is short on funds. So he turns to his friend Antonio, a wealthy merchant. Antonio agrees to help, but currently he is cash strapped as all of his ships are at sea. He agrees instead to guarantee a loan for Bassanio. Bassanio turns to Antonio's rival and enemy Shylock for the loan. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano,- A stage, where every man must play a part; And mine a sad one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627556989
Publisher:	Wilder Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	06/10/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	220 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