The Merchant of Venice: ‘The Quality of Mercy is not Strained’

Episode 164Fate, as in Romeo and Juliet, plays a large part in ‘The Merchant of Venice’, as do deep seated grudges, but these are more societal than familial.  We are still in Italy, but no longer in close knit Verona, but mercantile and outward looking Venice.  As Shakespeare wrote this play London was becoming orientated around increasing global trade and English trading ships were regularly making their way to Venice as a major trading hub, so perhaps it is no surprise that Venice, with its eyes on commerce and profit, was a suitably exotic setting for this tale of greed, love and a clash of cultures. The dating of the playThe printed history of the playThe sources of the play including earlier theatrical ‘Jew’ playsA brief outline of the plotThe different views of the character of Shylock – stereotype or sympatheticThe Jewish experience in Elizabethan LondonThe comic elements of the playThe character of AntonioPortia’s role in the playPortia’s ‘mercy’ speechThe performance history of the play Support the podcast at:www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.comwww.patreon.com/thoetpwww.ko-fi.com/thoetp Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.