Project Gutenberg 1999-06-01 Public domain in the USA. 63 Shakespeare, William 1564 1616 Shakspeare, William Shakspere, William The Merchant of Venice There is an improved edition of this title, eBook #1515 "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare is a play written during the late 16th century. The work explores themes of love, friendship, prejudice, and mercy, centered particularly on the characters Antonio, a merchant, and his friend Bassanio, who seeks to woo the wealthy heiress Portia. The tension builds around a loan from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, which sets the stage for conflicts that test the bonds of friendship and the nature of mercy. At the start of the play, we are introduced to Antonio, who is strangely melancholic, prompting his friends Salerio and Solanio to speculate on the reasons for his sadness. The audience learns that his wealth is tied up in merchant ships, leading to uncertainty about his financial status. Meanwhile, Bassanio seeks to court Portia, who is bound by her deceased father's will to marry whoever chooses correctly from among three caskets. This complex arrangement sets the stage for future romantic entanglements and dramatic confrontations, particularly with Shylock, who harbors deep resentment towards Christians like Antonio. The opening deftly establishes the themes of risk and sacrifice that will resonate throughout the play. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Comedies Jews -- Italy -- Drama Moneylenders -- Drama Venice (Italy) -- Drama PR Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 203904 204559 2024-09-01T11:00:00.726976 2023-10-01T09:58:59.197343 text/html text/html 203897 204552 2024-09-01T11:00:00.938951 2023-10-01T09:58:59.379347 text/html text/html 117325 2024-09-01T11:00:06.538929 application/epub+zip 119049 2024-09-01T11:00:02.489966 application/epub+zip 119049 2024-09-01T11:00:01.608966 application/epub+zip 241556 2024-09-01T11:00:09.189947 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 214679 2024-09-01T11:00:05.863946 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 204900 2022-08-01T10:32:02.087189 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 165677 166266 2024-09-01T11:00:00.429013 2023-10-01T09:58:58.946347 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 145880 2019-05-22T09:19:20 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 55197 2019-05-22T09:19:30 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 18489 2024-09-01T11:00:09.323898 application/rdf+xml 13451 2024-09-01T11:00:01.965953 image/jpeg 3761 2024-09-01T11:00:01.787977 image/jpeg 117821 2024-09-01T11:00:00.954960 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia