The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a play written by William Shakespeare. The date the play was written in unknown, but the play was mentioned in 1598 in Francis Mere's Wit's Treasury. A date of 1596-1597 is now accepted. Shakespeare's source was Il Pecorone by Ser Giovanni, a 14th-century Florentine writer.

The Merchant of Venice was first published in 1600. It was again published in 1619, and then in 1623 in the First Folio, a collection of all of Shakespeare's plays. The play has been made into television programs many times and also into some movies. Three operas are based on the play.

Story

Bassanio is an aristocratic but poor young man from Venice. He has fallen in love with Portia, a beautiful young lady of Belmont. Bassanio needs money to woo the lady. He asks his friend Antonio, the merchant of Venice, for a loan.

Antonio's money is tied up in business ventures. Antonio borrows money from a Jewish moneylender named Shylock. Antonio signs a bond agreeing to give Shylock a pound of his flesh if the money is not repaid on a certain date. Bassanio uses the money to travel to Belmont. He wins Portia's love.

Antonio cannot repay the borrowed money on time. Shylock insists on the pound of flesh as stated in the bond. The case goes to court. Portia disguises herself as a lawyer. She says that Shylock's bond is cruel. His insistence on the terms of the bond is just, but justice must be softened with mercy but Shylock does not relent. Portia then traps Shylock in the loopholes of his own bond and thus Shylock is not only forced to release Antonio but also give away his wealth and religion.

The Merchant Of Venice Media

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  Gilbert's Shylock After the Trial, an illustration to The Merchant of Venice

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  A depiction of Jessica, from The Graphic Gallery of Shakespeare's Heroines

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  The title page from a 1565 printing of Giovanni Fiorentino's 14th-century tale Il Pecorone

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  The first page of The Merchant of Venice, printed in the Second Folio of 1632

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  Shylock and Jessica (1876) by Maurycy Gottlieb

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  Shylock and Portia (1835) by Thomas Sully

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  Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Shylock, painted by Charles Buchel (1895–1935)

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  The playbill from a 1741 production at the Theatre Royal of Drury Lane

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  A print of Edmund Kean as Shylock in an early 19th-century performance