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The Merchant of Venice

by William Shakespeare

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  • Anderson, Douglas. “The Old Testament Presence in The Merchant of Venice.” ELH 52, no. 1 (spring 1985): 119-32. (Contends that Shakespeare's depiction and understanding of forgiveness in The Merchant of Venice is modeled on Shylock's faith.)
  • Barnet, Sylvan, ed. Introduction to Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Merchant of Venice: A Collection of Critical Essays, pp. 1-10. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1970. (Maintains that the overall comic structure of The Merchant of Venice should not be obscured by a sympathetic approach to the characterization of Shylock.)
  • Barthelemy, Anthony G. “Luxury, Sodomy and Miscegenation: English Perceptions of Venice in The Merchant of Venice.” In Shakespeare and Intertextuality: The Transition of Cultures Between Italy and England in the Early Modern Period, edited by Michele Marrapodi, pp. 165-77. Rome: Bulzoni, 2000. (Examines the ways in which The Merchant of Venice explores sexual, racial, and religious otherness, arguing that Shakespeare's Venice is in some ways reflective of Elizabethan England.)
  • Beiner, G. “The Merchant of Venice.” In Shakespeare's Agonistic Comedy: Poetics, Analysis, Criticism, pp. 168-202. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1993. (Evaluates The Merchant of Venice as an agonistic (or “punitive”) comedy, with critical attention principally focused on the bond between Shylock and Antonio, Antonio's apparent defeat, the reversal of fortunes, and Shylock's punishment.)
  • Berkowitz, Joel. “‘A True Jewish Jew’: Three Yiddish Shylocks.” Theatre Survey 37, no. 1 (May 1996): 75-98. (Documents performances and interpretations of Shylock by Yiddish-speaking actors and directors in American theater during the first half of the twentieth century.)
  • Berry, Ralph. "Discomfort in The Merchant of Venice." In Shakespeare and the Awareness of the Audience, pp. 46-26. London: Macmillan, 1985. (Analyzes the play's capacity to disturb and offend an audience and argues that the source of this discomfort is rooted in the depiction of the play's social transactions.)
  • Bloom, Allan and Harry V. Jaffa. "On Christian and Jew: The Merchant of Venice" In Shakespeare's Politics, pp. 13-34. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1964. (States that Shakespeare presents Shylock and Antonio as representatives of Judaism and Christianity, respectively, and argues that Shylock's fate is due in part to his status as a foreigner within the Christian community of Venice.)
  • Boehrer, Bruce. “Shylock and the Rise of the Household Pet: Thinking Social Exclusion in The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Quarterly 50, no. 2 (summer 1999): 152-70. (Traces parallels between Jessica's status in the society of The Merchant of Venice and that of pets (specifically dogs) in Elizabethan England.)
  • Booth, Roy. “Shylock's Sober House.” Review of English Studies 50, no. 197 (February 1999): 22-31. (Observes the symbolic function of Shylock's (i.e. a Jew's) house in The Merchant of Venice with a view to early modern English texts on the subject.)
  • Chaudhuri, Sukanta. “Shakespeare and the Ethnic Question.” In Shakespeare and Cultural Traditions, edited by Tetsuo Kishi, Roger Pringle, and Stanley Wells, pp. 174-87. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1994. (Examines the anti-Semitic discourse of The Merchant of Venice.)
  • Cohen, Stephen. “Is This the Law?: Legal Ambiguity and Its Effects in The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure.” In The Language of Power, the Power of Language: The Effects of Ambiguity on Sociopolitical Structures as Illustrated in Shakespeare's Plays, pp. 80-118. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987. (Discusses the fact that while these two “problem plays” end with marriage—the classic solution to Renaissance comedies—neither ends with complete social harmony.)
  • Cohen, Walter. "The Merchant of Venice and the Possibilities of Historical Criticism." ELH 49 (1982): 765-89. (Offers an overview of the play which combines both historical and structural analysis.)
  • Colley, John Scott. “Launcelot, Jacob, and Esau: Old and New Law in The Merchant of Venice.” The Yearbook of English Studies 10 (1980): 181-89. (Explores elements of The Merchant of Venice that often trouble audiences, in both Shakespeare's time and today.)
  • Coolidge, John S. “Law and Love in The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Quarterly 27, no. 3 (summer 1976): 243-63. (Maintains that The Merchant of Venice may be interpreted as a hermeneutic play which represents the conflict between Christianity and Judaism for ownership of Hebrew scriptures.)
  • Cooper, John R. “Shylock's Humanity.” Shakespeare Quarterly 21, no. 2 (spring 1970): 117-24. (Examines interpretations of Shylock's character from various perspectives, maintaining that he should be viewed neither as a grotesque villain nor as a sympathetic victim.)
  • Crocker, Lester G. “The Merchant of Venice and Christian Conscience.” Diogenes, no. 118 (summer 1982): 77-102. (Investigates why the treatment of Shylock causes uneasiness and distress in the conscience of Christians.)
  • Echeruo, Michael J. C. “Shylock and the ‘Conditioned Imagination’: A Reinterpretation.” Shakespeare Quarterly 22, no. 1 (winter 1971): 3-15. (Explores the influence of Marlowe's The Jew of Malta on The Merchant of Venice, and suggests that an antecedent tradition, such as Il Pecorone, influenced both dramatists.)
  • Fischer-Lichte, Erika. “Theatre as Festive Play: Max Reinhardt's Production of The Merchant of Venice.” In Venetian Views, Venetian Blinds: English Fantasies of Venice, edited by Manfred Pfister and Barbara Schaff, pp. 169-80. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1999. (Discusses Reinhardt's radical 1905 production of The Merchant of Venice at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, in which he centered the setting of the play, rather than the characters, as the focus of the drama.)
  • Gaudet, Paul. “‘A Little Night Music’: Intertextuality and Status in the Nocturnal Exchange of Jessica and Lorenzo.” Essays in Theatre 13, no. 1 (November 1994): 3-14. (Probes allusions to classical romantic tragedies (stories such as those of Troilus and Cressida, Aeneas and Dido, and Jason and Medea) in the ostensibly comic interlude between Jessica and Lorenzo at the beginning of the final scene of The Merchant of Venice.)
  • Geary, Keith. “The Nature of Portia's Victory: Turning to Men in The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Survey 37 (1984): 55-68. (Investigates Portia's role in The Merchant of Venice—particularly while she is disguised as a man in the latter portions of the drama—in the context of the play's theme of love versus friendship.)
  • Gross, John. Shylock: A Legend and Its Legacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, 386 p. (Examines the treatment of the character Shylock in Shakespeare's play, in performances throughout the history of the play, and in popular culture.)
  • Halio, Jay L. Introduction to The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, pp. 1-84. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. (Presents a detailed introduction to the play, focusing on Shakespeare's attitude toward Jews, literary sources for the play, and discussion of the plot, characters, and performance history.)
  • Hamill, Monica J. "Poetry, Law, and the Pursuit of Perfection: Portia's Role in The Merchant of Venice." Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 18, no. 2 (Spring 1978): 229-43. (Analyzes the relationship between Portia's use of poetic language and her interpretation and obeying of the law.)
  • Hassel, R. Chris, Jr. “‘I Stand for Sacrifice’: Frustrated Communion in The Merchant of Venice.” In Faith and Folly in Shakespeare's Romantic Comedies, pp. 176-207. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1980. (Investigates elusive and ironic references to the religious holiday of Shrovetide and doctrinal controversies related to Christian Communion in The Merchant of Venice.)
  • Holderness, Graham. “Comedy and The Merchant of Venice.” In New Casebooks: The Merchant of Venice, 1993. Reprint, edited by Martin Coyle, pp. 23-35. London: Macmillan, 1998. (Studies the play's resistance to generic classification and underscores its comic aspects.)
  • Holmer, Joan Ozark. "'Give and Hazard': Friends and Lovers." In The Merchant of Venice: Choice, Hazard and Consequence, pp. 95-141. London, Macmillan, 1995. (Explores the meaning and difference between "wise love and foolish desire" and argues that the relationship between these two elements is the factor which unifies the play's various plots.)
  • Holmer, Joan Ozark. The Merchant of Venice: Choice, Hazard and Consequence. London: Macmillan, 1995, 369 p. (Book-length examination of The Merchant of Venice that examines the play’s aesthetic, religious, and economic contexts, and includes an extensive textual analysis.)
  • Holmer, Joan Ozark. “‘Joy be the consequence’: Union and Reunion.” In The Merchant of Venice: Choice, Hazard and Consequence, pp. 246-84. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1995. (Analyzes the rings episode in the play as the second and final “trial” necessary to make all the characters repentant.)
  • Holmer, Joan Ozark. “‘Pardon this fault’: Antonio and Shylock.” In The Merchant of Venice: Choice, Hazard and Consequence, pp. 142-82. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1995. (Looks at the complex relationship between Antonio and Shylock, noting their similarities and differences as well as their struggle for power over one another.)
  • Japtok, Martin and Winfried Schleiner. “Genetics and ‘Race’ in The Merchant of Venice.” Literature and Medicine 18, no. 2 (fall 1999): 155-72. (Appraises the ethnic categories of Jew and Moor in The Merchant of Venice, while acknowledging the anachronism of applying such terms as race and genetics to a Shakespearean text.)
  • Jefferey, Chris. “The Merchant of Venice at the Tivoli Amphitheatre (Port Elizabeth, South Africa).” Shakespeare in Southern Africa (2001): 104-07. (Maintains that director Helen Flax presented a surface-level interpretation of The Merchant of Venice in her 2001 production for the Port Elizabeth Shakespearean Festival.)
  • Jensen, Hal. Review of The Merchant of Venice. Times Literary Supplement, no. 5022 (2 July 1999): 20. (Reviews the 1999 Royal National Theatre production of The Merchant of Venice, observing that director Trevor Nunn's bleak interpretation illuminated the nuances of Shakespeare's characters, but obliterated the light-hearted qualities of the play.)
  • Katz, David S. “Shylock's Gender: Jewish Male Menstruation in Early Modern England.” Review of English Studies 50, no. 200 (November 1999): 440-62. (Concentrates on Shylock's character in light of the medieval and early modern myth that Jewish men menstruated.)
  • Kuhns, Richard and Barbara Tovey. "Portia's Suitors." Philosophy and Literature 13, no. 2 (October 1989): 325-31. (Suggests that the passages in the play in which Portia's suitors are discussed are references to writers whom Shakespeare admired and was indebted to for plots and inspiration.)
  • Legatt, Alexander. “The Merchant of Venice.” In Shakespeare's Comedy of Love, pp. 117-50. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1974. (Demonstrates how Shakespeare experiments in this play with more complex characters whose natures change during the course of the action.)
  • Lerner, Laurence. “Wilhelm S and Shylock.” Shakespeare Survey 48 (1995): 61-68. (Argues that the interpretation of the play as either anti-Semitic or critical of those who are anti-Semitic depends upon the audience.)
  • Lyon, John. “Complicating Matters.” In Harvester New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, pp. 53-72. New York: Harvester, Wheatsheaf, 1988. (Discusses the complicated set of events and characters that appear in the second act of The Merchant of Venice.)
  • Nash, Ralph. “Shylock's Wolvish Spirit.” Shakespeare Quarterly 10, no. 1 (winter 1959): 125-28. (Interprets Gratiano's trial scene speech in which he compares Shylock to a wolf.)
  • Newman, Karen. “Portia's Ring: Unruly Women and Structures of Exchange in The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Quarterly 38, No. 1 (Spring 1987): 19-33. (Observes that even in the love scenes, the play emphasizes economics, material exchange, and power.)
  • Normand, Lawrence. "Reading the body in The Merchant of Venice." Textual Practice 5, no. 1 (Spring 1991): 55-73. (Discusses how the play's language creates as many problems as it addresses and examines in particular how "bodily discourse" may be read in many ways, such as legal, theological, or amatory.)
  • Palmer, Daryl W. “Merchants and Miscegenation: The Three Ladies of London, The Jew of Malta, and The Merchant of Venice.” In Race, Ethnicity, and Power in the Renaissance, edited by Joyce Green MacDonald, pp. 36-66. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1997. (Evaluates practices of sixteenth-century merchants and their relationship with the contemporary discourse on “alien races.”)
  • Patterson, Steve. “The Bankruptcy of Homoerotic Amity in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Quarterly 50, no. 1 (spring 1999): 9-32. (Reads Antonio as “a prototype of the lovesick homosexual.”)
  • Rosen, Alan. "The Rhetoric of Exclusion: Jew, Moor, and the Boundaries of Discourse in The Merchant of Venice." In Race, Ethnicity, and Power in the Renaissance, edited by Joyce Green MacDonald, pp. 67-79. London: Associated University Presses, 1997. (Examines the rhetoric of Shylock and the Prince of Morocco and argues that the discourse of the two characters emphasizes their shared status as outsiders.)
  • Shapiro, James. “Shakespur and the Jewbill.” Shakespeare Survey 48 (1995): 51–60. (Surveys the influence of The Merchant of Venice on the public debate of England's Jewish Naturalization Act of 1753.)
  • Shell, Marc. "The Wether and the Ewe: Verbal Usury in The Merchant of Venice." The Kenyon Review 1, no. 4 (Fall 1979): 65-92. (Argues that the play offers a "political and economic critique of human production.")
  • Simon, John. Review of The Merchant of Venice. New York 33, no. 6 (14 February 2000): 141. (Comments on director Trevor Nunn's “problematic” updates to The Merchant of Venice for his National Theatre production.)
  • Sokol, B. J. “Constitutive Signifiers or Fetishes in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice?” International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 76, no. 2 (1995): 373-87. (Psychoanalytic discussion of The Merchant of Venice that explains character anxieties in terms of post-Freudian object obsession.)
  • Sokol, B. J. “Prejudice and Law in The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare Survey 51 (1998): 159-73. (Examines The Merchant of Venice from the perspective of legal history, and asserts that the play depicts ironic portrayals of social prejudice—images which were offensive in terms of Elizabethan notions of decency and fairness.)
  • Spinosa, Charles. “The Transformation of Intentionality: Debt and Contract in The Merchant of Venice.” English Literary Renaissance 24, no. 2 (spring 1994): 370-409. (Legalist-literary analysis of the trial scene in The Merchant of Venice that takes into account social developments related to English law courts at the beginning of the seventeenth-century.)
  • Tucker, E. F. J. “The Letter of the Law in The Merchant of Venice.” In Shakespeare Survey 29 (1976): 93-101. (Surveys various views of the notion of equity in Elizabethan England and examines the basis in Common Law for Portia's case against Shylock.)

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