Merchant of Venice, (The New Penguin) - Softcover

The Merchant of Venice has been performed more often than any other comedy by Shakespeare. This edition pays special attention to the expectations of its first audience, and to our modern experience of seeing and hearing the play.

This is one of Shakespeare's darkest comedies, for the romantic story of a young man, Bassanio, who has squandered his fortune and must borrow money to woo the wealthy lady he loves is set against the most disturbing story of the Jewish moneylender Shylock and his demand for the "pound of flesh" owed him by the Venetian merchant, Antonio, who has fallen into Shylock's debt. Here pathos and farce combine with moral complexity and romantic entanglement to display the extraordinary power and range of Shakespeare at his best.