Overview

After his ships and money are lost at sea, Antonio, a prominent Venetian merchant, cannot repay a loan to Shylock, the Jewish moneylender and long-suffering target of his ridicule. Antonio must rely on an unexpected source, Shakespeare’s first great heroine, to save his skin—quite literally—in this intriguing tale of love, law, mercy, and revenge. The Merchant of Venice is perhaps best known for its controversial depiction of Shylock. Originally conceived as a bloodthirsty villain, Shylock has been later understood to be a far more sympathetic character who challenges cultural stereotypes while reminding audiences to look beyond the barrier of ethnocentricity. AmazonClassics brings you timeless works from the masters of storytelling. Ideal for anyone who wants to read a great work for the first time or rediscover an old favorite, these new editions open the door to literature’s most unforgettable characters and beloved worlds. Revised edition: Previously published as The Merchant of Venice, this edition of The Merchant of Venice (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

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9781542049313

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William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, to a middle-class glover and landowner’s daughter. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and moved to London to work with a theatrical troupe ten years later. Since little has been learned of his early life, nearly all of what we know about Shakespeare begins—on the London stage—in 1592. In the wake of his critical and public success, Shakespeare helped build the Globe theater on the River Thames. Regarded as the world’s preeminent dramatist, his extant works include thirty-eight plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets, and two narrative poems, and have been translated into every major language. To this day, his plays have been performed more often than those of any other playwright—adapted for film and television, updated, deconstructed, and transfigured into ballets, operas, and musicals. Though his formal education exceeded no further than grammar school, William Shakespeare became the most transcendent and influential writer in all of world literature.

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