A Guide to William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

This book offers a pedagogical analysis of Shakespeare's complex and controversial play in its Elizabethan and modern contexts.

The author discusses Shakespeare's life, education, and literary career; the genre of romantic comedy; the characters of the play; the themes and tropes of otherness, loss and gain, xenophobia, flesh and blood, caskets and cultural codes, love and money,' The quality of mercy' and' Parchment bonds.'