The Merchant of Venice
1600
The Merchant of Venice
1600
Shakespeare's most uncomfortable comedy confronts us with a question it cannot fully answer: what happens when mercy becomes a weapon? Set in the glittering Venetian marketplace where money flows like water and flesh becomes collateral, the play follows Antonio, a merchant who sacrifices his body to fund his friend's pursuit of a wealthy heiress. But the real heart of the play is Shylock, the Jewish moneylender whose famous speech - 'Hath not a Jew eyes?' - transforms him from villain to victim, forcing audiences to confront their own capacity for cruelty. Portia, witty and resourceful, poses as a lawyer to argue for mercy while ultimately enforcing a Christian victory that feels less like justice than revenge. The Merchant of Venice endures not because it offers easy answers about prejudice and forgiveness, but because it refuses to let us look away from the damage inflicted by those who believe themselves righteous. It remains essential reading: a play that has been weaponized throughout history to justify antisemitism, yet also offers some of Shakespeare's most piercing critiques of Christian hypocrisy.
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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-ed320c6d-2eb8-488a-9514-d5f9abe87151.Shakespeare, W. (1600). The Merchant of Venice. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-merchant-of-venice-ed320c6d-2eb8-488a-9514-d5f9abe87151Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-merchant-of-venice-ed320c6d-2eb8-488a-9514-d5f9abe87151.
