The Merchant of Venice
1600
The Merchant of Venice
1600
In Elizabethan Venice, a merchant named Antonio borrows money from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender he has openly despised. When Antonio's ships fail to return and he cannot repay the debt, Shylock insists on his contractual right to a pound of flesh. What follows is a trial that tests whether mercy will triumph over law, and forces audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about prejudice, justice, and what it means to be human. Bassanio needs funds to court the wealthy heiress Portia, and Antonio's willingness to risk everything for his friend sets the gears in motion. Portia's clever intervention in the courtroom provides the play's theatrical climax, but the real power lies in Shylock's devastating question: "Hath not a Jew eyes?" This turns the play into a razor-sharp examination of how Christians and Jews alike treat one another. The play's final act, where Shylock is stripped of his wealth and forced to convert, leaves a bitter aftertaste that challenges any easy notion of justice. Is this a comedy about love conquering all, or a tragedy about what prejudice costs its victims?
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“You speak an infinite deal of nothing.””
— William Shakespeare
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.””
— William Shakespeare
“All that glisters is not gold;Often have you heard that told:Many a man his life hath soldBut my outside to behold:Gilded tombs do worms enfold.””
— William Shakespeare
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.””
— William Shakespeare
“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?””
— William Shakespeare
“I am not bound to please thee with my answers.””
— William Shakespeare
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.An evil soul producing holy witnessIs like a villain with a smiling cheek,A goodly apple rotten at the heart.O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!””
— William Shakespeare
“The quality of mercy is not strained.It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath. It is twice blessed:It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.'Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomesThe thronèd monarch better than his crown.His scepter shows the force of temporal power,The attribute to awe and majestyWherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings,But mercy is above this sceptered sway.It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings.It is an attribute to God himself.And earthly power doth then show likest God’sWhen mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this-That in the course of justice none of usShould see salvation. We do pray for mercy,And that same prayer doth teach us all to renderThe deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus muchTo mitigate the justice of thy plea,Which if thou follow, this strict court of VeniceMust needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.””
— William Shakespeare
“love is blindand lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit””
— William Shakespeare
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Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-merchant-of-venice-74a0570f-a73b-406e-93ab-17fd972c13f9.Shakespeare, W. (1600). The Merchant of Venice. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-merchant-of-venice-74a0570f-a73b-406e-93ab-17fd972c13f9Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-merchant-of-venice-74a0570f-a73b-406e-93ab-17fd972c13f9.
