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Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare
Introduction
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a tragic comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for Shylock and the famous 'pound of flesh' speech.
Main Characters
The title character is the merchant Antonio, not the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who is the play's most prominent and most famous character. This is made explicit by the title page of the first quarto: The mot excellent Hitorie of the Merchant of Venice.
Plot Highlights
With the extreme cruelty of Shylock the Jew towards the merchant, in cutting a pound of his flesh: and the obtaining of Portia by the choice of three chests.
