[.ca] Signet Classics Merchant Of Venice (ISBN 0451526805)

From Amazon.co.uk:
"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

One of Shakespeare's Best:
This play was actually intersting and had superb characterization. I actually found this work riveting - it had a great plot. I highly recommend this play because it is one of Sharkespeare's best. It is a great play to start with because it is easy to understand.

Katherine's book review ( MOV anti semitic? NO WAY!):
How can people say that The Merchant of Venice is an anti semitic book???? Have the people that said this ever actually read the book? How can people call this anti semitic when it contains one of the greatest anti- racist speeches of all time? 'To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.' Think about it. That speech is a masterpiece. One of Shakespeare's best plays.

a problem play:
this is a very difficult play to watch or read. while shakespeare may have intended shylock to be a villain, to a modern sensibility, he is the victim of society's racism. frankly, i had far more sympathy for shylock than for the christian characters. and i'm not jewish. or christian. i found the treatment of shylock appalling, and while i think a "pound of flesh" was too dear a price to pay for forfeiting the bond, i believe antonio deserved to lose his wealth. he - and bassanio and portia and all the rest - are irredeemable bigots, and therefore, thoroughly detestable. mov is a good portrayal of bigotry, but it is an impossible play to like when none of the characters are likeable.

Mixed emotions.:
First off, one thing needs to be made clear: in rating this play a mere "2 stars", I'm rating it as opposed to other Shakespearean plays; if rated against the general run of books available, it would be at least three stars, maybe four. The problem is, there are some very good things to be said about this story, but also some very bad things. A modern reader almost certainly takes a very different message from the story than one in Shakespeare's time, when it was perfectly acceptable to stereotype Jews as venal moneylenders, and when forcing a Jew to convert to Christianity at the end of the play could be considered to be in keeping with the "happy ending for all" required of comedies at the time. Granted, Shylock is not a particularly attractive character, so it is difficult to feel much sympathy for him, but as difficult as it is to make him sympathetic, Shakespeare (apparently unintentionally) manages. The man is not only cheated out of his (contractually due) spiteful revenge, but is not even allowed to accept a lesser payment once it is made apparent that he dare not hold Antonio to his word. He loses his daughter; she not only runs away but steals from him in the process, and yet he is not even allowed to disinherit her. And, of course, he's forced to convert to the religion of the people who did all of this to him. He may have been unappealing, but not enough to deserve all of THAT. Further, although Antonio is shown as being generous and brave enough to accept his fate when he thought it was unavoidable, he is a fool for allowing himself to be in that position to start with, and is all too quick to allow Shylock to be cheated of ANY recompense once he's given leave to do so. A TRUE hero would have INSISTED on paying the man his principle and more once let off the hook for his life, even when the "judge" ruled that Shylock had refused any payment other than his bond. In spite of all of this, the play is not unenjoyable, and is as well-written as one expects from Shakespeare, with some interesting plot twists and some good lines (ironically, some of the best being given to Shylock, making it clear that Shakespeare wasn't COMPLETELY unaware of the humanity of the character). The language is also somewhat less obscure to the modern reader than in some of Shakespeare's work, especially his comedies. Definitely worth reading, but be forewarned that the attitude toward Shylock (and to a lesser extent, toward his daughter) will be downright offensive to most in the modern audience.

Far from his best, but still a worthy read:
Shakespeare borders on anti-Semitism in this play. In nearly every scene, the Jewish Character is either reminded he is a dog, or that he is evil because of being a Jew and this extends to his daughter; Jessica, whom the stupid clown Lancelot considers to be cursed because of the fact that she is a Jewess. I think the racism in the play spoiled what would have been a funny and enjoyable read. I was trying to convince myself that Shakespeare was not trying to group all Jews together and that Shylock was just a greedy and unfeeling person who just happened to be Jewish. This is all very hard to do looking back from our time at all the atrocities committed against the Jews because of such racist propaganda (even the unknowingly racist). Another thing I have issue with is Portia's testing of her husband to see whether he is faithful, and the fact that she forged a document, plus she impersonated another person , lied about devoting her time to God etc... It lessens her status as a heroine and makes her out to be worse than Shylock in that she employed questionable techniques to free the Merchant of Venice; Antonio. The end never justifies the means. The only real hero in this play, to me was Antonio, although I think Shakespeare made his character to be less realistic with his lack of conflict and complete goodness, a trait that is hard to find in human beings. All these are my opinions and I think you have to read the play itself to determine whether it is racist. On the upside, the story is interesting and full of suspense (for something of its length) and very funny in parts. Check out Portia's description of her suitors for example. All in all, a good play but definitely not his best because of the racism and the lifeless Merchant of Venice.