The Merchant of Venice (Wordsworth Classics) - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1840224312 ISBN 13: 9781840224313

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions, 2000

Synopsis

Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, Professor of English Literature, University of Sussex.

The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare's works. The textual editing takes account of recent scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal.

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, but it remains deeply controversial.

The text may seem anti-Semitic; yet repeatedly, in performance, it has revealed a contrasting nature.

Shylock, though vanquished in the law-court, often triumphs in the theatre. In his intensity he can dominate

the play, challenging abrasively its romantic and lyrical affirmations. What results is a bitter-sweet drama.

Though The Merchant of Venice offers some of the traditional pleasures of romantic comedy, it also exposes

the operations of prejudice. Thus Shakespeare remains our contemporary.

About this title

Review:

"Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?" Shylock's impassioned plea in the middle of The Merchant of Venice is one of its most dramatic moments. After the Holocaust, the play has become a battleground for those who argue that the play represents Shakespeare's ultimate statement against ignorance and anti-Semitism in favour of a liberal vision of tolerance and multiculturalism. Other critics have pointed out that the play is, after all, a comedy that ultimately pokes fun at a 16th-century Jew. In fact, the bare outline of the plot suggests that the play is far more complex than either of these characterisations. Bassanio, a feckless young Venetian, asks his wealthy friend, the merchant Antonio, for money to finance a trip to woo the beautiful Portia in Belmont. Reluctant to refuse his friend (to whom he professes intense love), Antonio borrows the money from the Jewish moneylender. If he reneges on the deal, Shylock jokingly demands a pound of his flesh. When all Antonio's ships are lost at sea, Shylock calls in his debt, and the love and laughter of the first scenes of the play threaten to give way to death and tragedy. The final climactic courtroom scene, complete with a cross-dressed Portia, a knife-wielding Shylock, and the debate on "the quality of mercy" is one of the great dramatic moments in Shakespeare. The controversial subject matter of the play ensures that it continues to repel, divide but also fascinate its many audiences. --Jerry Brotton

Review:

'The introduction and commentary reveal an author with a lively awareness of the importance of perceiving the play as a theatrical document, one which comes to life, which is completed only in performance ...' --The Review of English Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1840224312
• ISBN 13: 9781840224313
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128
• Editor: Watts M.A. Ph.D. Professor Cedric