Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare The merchant of venice•The taming of the shrew•Twelfth Night•Much Ado About Nothing•Julius Caesar•A Midsummer Night's Dream•Romeo and Juliet•King Lear•Hamlet•Antony and Cleopatra•The Tempest•Macbeth•Shakespeare’s Greatest Stories - as you like it•Shakespeare’s Greatest Stories - othello•Shakespeare’s Greatest Stories - macbeth•Shakespeare’s Greatest Stories - a midsummer night's dream•Greatest Tragedies of Shakespeare (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)•Greatest Comedies of Shakespeare (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)•The Merchant of Venice (pocket classics)•romeo and juliet (Pocket Classics)•hamlet (Pocket Classics)•julius caeser (Pocket Classics)•as you like it (Pocket Classics)•macbeth (Pocket Classics)
This early work of Shakespeare is considered to be the finest and most thought-provoking of all comedies of his time. Being so, it carries the universal theme of good triumphing over evil,as it depicts the interplay of vengeance and shrewdness. Antonio, the merchant of Venice borrows money from the money-obsessed loan shark Shylock to help his friend Bassanio marry Portia, his lady love. He in fact offers himself as collateral for the loan, agreeing to Shylock’s terms-to cut a pound of flesh from his body- on failure to repay the loan, and now Shylock demands his flesh. Portia comes to Antonio’s rescue. How she outwits Shylock forms the rest of the story. The play can be well studied as a commentary on the racial and religious interactions of the English society of the 16th century. In terms of themes, the play reiterates along its course, the divine qualities of mercy and compassion that lie beneath the flesh.
This early work of Shakespeare is considered to be the finest and most thought-provoking of all comedies of his time. Being so, it carries the universal theme of good triumphing over evil,as it depicts the interplay of vengeance and shrewdness. Antonio, the merchant of Venice borrows money from the money-obsessed loan shark Shylock to help his friend Bassanio marry Portia, his lady love. He in fact offers himself as collateral for the loan, agreeing to Shylock’s terms-to cut a pound of flesh from his body- on failure to repay the loan, and now Shylock demands his flesh. Portia comes to Antonio’s rescue. How she outwits Shylock forms the rest of the story. The play can be well studied as a commentary on the racial and religious interactions of the English society of the 16th century. In terms of themes, the play reiterates along its course, the divine qualities of mercy and compassion that lie beneath the flesh.