Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare - Folger mm)

Author: William Shakespeare

ISBN: 9780743477567

Binding: mass market paperback

Section: Drama-Plays

In The Merchant of Venice, 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 Portia also face a magnificent villain: the Jewish moneylender Shylock. However, he gives such powerful expression to his alienation that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero. Portia herself 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.”