The Merchant of Venice
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The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dea
Title page of the first quarto (1600)
Gilbert's Shylock After the Trial, an illustration to The Merchant of Venice
A depiction of Jessica, from The Graphic Gallery of Shakespeare's Heroines
The title page from a 1565 printing of Giovanni Fiorentino's 14th-century tale Il Pecorone
Portia is a female protagonist in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. In creating her character, Shakespeare drew from the historical figure of Porcia – the daughter of Cato the Younger – a
The Merchant of Venice
…demand for a "pound of flesh". The play contains two famous speeches, that of Shylock, "Hath not a Jew eyes?" on the subject of humanity, and that of Portia on "the quality of mercy". Debate exists on whether the play is antisemitic, with Shylock's insistence on his legal right to the pound of flesh being…
Portia by John Everett Millais, 1886
Portia (1888) by Henry Woods
La belle Portia (1886) Alexandre Cabanel
Portia and Shylock, by Thomas Sully