CRITICISM

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.

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.

Cooper, John R. “Shylock's Humanity.” In 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.

Gross, John. “Where Does He Come From?” In Shylock: A Legend and Its Legacy, pp. 15-30. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.

Analyzes the sources Shakespeare used to create Shylock.

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.

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.

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.”

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.