The Merchant of Venice: Difference between revisions
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File:STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68 O3v-O4r.jpg|The title page of ''The Merchant of Venice'' printed in the 1623 First Folio. STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68.
File:STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68 O3v-O4r.jpg|The title page of ''The Merchant of Venice'' printed in the 1623 First Folio. STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68.
File:STC 22298 Copy 1 title page.jpg|The title page of the 1637 Third Quarto edition of ''The Merchant of Venice''. STC 22298 Copy 1.
File:STC 22274 Fo.2 no.07 o4r.jpg|The 1632 Second Folio title page of ''The Merchant of Venice''. STC 22274 Fo.2 no.07.
File:STC 22296 copy 1 title page.jpg|The title page of ''The Merchant of Venice'' printed in the 1600 First Quarto. STC 22296.
File:STC 22297 copy 3 title page.jpg|The 1600 [i.e. 1619] Second Quarto title page of ''The Merchant of Venice''. STC 22297 copy 3.
File:STC 22298 Copy 1 title page.jpg|The title page of the 1637 Third Quarto edition of ''The Merchant of Venice''. STC 22298 copy 1.
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Revision as of 20:57, 31 January 2015

In The Merchant of Venice, one of William Shakespeare's plays, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father's will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all.

Bassanio and Portria also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because he was a Jew. Yet he gives powerful expression to his alienation due to the hatred around him that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero.

Portia is most remembered for her disguise as a lawyer, Balthazar, especially the speech in which she urges Shylock to show mercy that "droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven".

Shakespeare is believed to have written The Merchant of Venice in 1596-97. It was published in 1600 as a quarto. He drew on several works as sources, but chiefly on a story from Ser Giovanni Fiorentino's Il Pecorone (The Dunce).[1]

Productions at the Folger

Early editions

First Folio

LUNA: First Folio: O4r - Q2v
Hamnet: STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68

Second Folio

LUNA: Second Folio: o4r - Q2v
Hamnet: STC 22274 Fo.2 no.07

First Quarto

LUNA: First Quarto
Hamnet: STC 22296 Copy 1

Second Quarto

LUNA: Second Quarto
Hamnet: STC 22297 Copy 1

Third Quarto

LUNA: Third Quarto
Hamnet: STC 22298 Copy 1
  • The title page of The Merchant of Venice printed in the 1623 First Folio. STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68.

    The title page of The Merchant of Venice printed in the 1623 First Folio. STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68.

  • The 1632 Second Folio title page of The Merchant of Venice. STC 22274 Fo.2 no.07.

    The 1632 Second Folio title page of The Merchant of Venice. STC 22274 Fo.2 no.07.

  • The title page of The Merchant of Venice printed in the 1600 First Quarto. STC 22296.

    The title page of The Merchant of Venice printed in the 1600 First Quarto. STC 22296.

  • The 1600 [i.e. 1619] Second Quarto title page of The Merchant of Venice. STC 22297 copy 3.

    The 1600 [i.e. 1619] Second Quarto title page of The Merchant of Venice. STC 22297 copy 3.

  • The title page of the 1637 Third Quarto edition of The Merchant of Venice. STC 22298 copy 1.

    The title page of the 1637 Third Quarto edition of The Merchant of Venice. STC 22298 copy 1.

Modern editions

Merchant of Venice Folger Edition.jpg

The Merchant of Venice can be read online with Folger Digital Texts and purchased from Simon and Schuster.

Hamnet link to Folger Edition: PR2753 .M6 2002 copy 2 v.23





In popular culture

Film

Watch the trailer for the 2004 adaptation of this challenging work, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and Joseph Fiennes.

Translations

Performance materials

Other media

Notes

<references>

  1. ↑ Adapted from the Folger Library Shakespeare edition, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. © 1992 Folger Shakespeare Library.