The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare · first published 1600
13% recommend83% neutral4% critical
In this lively comedy of love and money in sixteenth-century Venice, Bassanio wants to impress the wealthy heiress Portia but lacks the necessary funds. He turns to his merchant friend, Antonio, who is forced to borrow from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. When Antonio's business falters, repayment becomes impossible--and by the terms of the loan agreement, Shylock is able to demand a pound of Antonio's flesh. Portia cleverly intervenes, and all ends well (except of course for Shylock).
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…like product of a brain injury to me. I wonder what has changed since the 16th century, as obviously Shakespeare's humor was genuinely popular back then. It is a different story with the tragedies. The Merchant of Venice was very visceral even for 21st century audience. As if troubles of people (be it debt or anti-Semitism) changed less over time.
on “Making Elizabethan plays understandable and fun to read” ↗Seems I'm in the minority but I loved the literature we read in school - still remember Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, The Merchant of Venice, ... with great affection many years later. I was already a prolific reader though; perhaps I had good teachers (I don't remember them as such, not bad, but not great).
on “Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita” ↗…classes don't have field trips. Going to an actual Shakespeare play would probably change many people's minds than having to direct it in book form. What clicked for me was after being forced to read The Merchant of Venice in grade 9, I suddenly saw all the cultural references ("I want my pound of flesh" or "All that glisters is not gold") in movies, music, etc. I remember watching Strange Brew and somebody mentioned that…
on “I like 'em thick OR: an apology to my English teachers” ↗So, the complete works of Shakespeare are banned because they contain "The merchant of Venice"?
on “Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay” ↗…invest. They really don't care how they get it. It can be from capital gain or operating revenue but they always want 10 for 1........ Things haven't really changed all that much since Shakespeare wrote "Merchant of Venice".
on “The “Crisis” In Venture Capital” ↗…always meant as entertainment, go and enjoy! I think you are right about the classification of the plays, Comedy, Tragedy, etc, don't necessarily fit our modern sensibilities. In Shakespeare's time, "Merchant of Venice" was called a "comedy", but in our era we'd say it's more tragic than not. I'd agree familiarity with the play is more important than its categorization.
on “William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52” ↗That explains a recent conversation from work. “”” They want their pound of flesh. That’s from Shakespeare or something. Macbeth I think. Me: headdesk. Merchant of Venice. “””
on “Why Read the Classics? (1986)” ↗That's common with a lot of Shakespeare. A lot of his plotlines and humour are marginal at best. If Shakespeare was alive and writing these plays today, he would be pilloried. The Merchant of Venice is blatantly anti-Semetic. The Comedy of Errors has a whole scene that's just fat shaming for no good reason. There's plenty of other examples of things that would be problematic if written in a modern…
on “Why Read the Classics? (1986)” ↗They have a strong argument along the lines of copyright fair use for academic purposes. If I properly quote Wm Shakespeare “You speak an infinite deal of nothing.” (Merchant of Venice) then within various limitations designed for academic quotation use, I don't owe ole bill a penny nor do I need a copyright license for that academic purpose quotation. On the other hand if I were a…
on “To study possibly racist algorithms, professors have to sue the US” ↗The word order "All that gli[t]ters is not gold" is taken from Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice), so that gives it quite a bit of staying power in English.
on “A Closer Look at North Korea’s Ullim Tablet” ↗…it: http://verisimilitudes.net/2022-06-17 > Sorry for my part in that, most people don't find me interesting. I didn't intend the remark as an insult. It's interesting to mention Shakespeare so much. I'm reading The Merchant of Venice lately. > It seems to me like for the most part only the best connected, ruthless, garrulous, overly vocal people get their ideas heard. Yes. > I've tried business development orgs (including personal…
on “Ted Nelson on What Modern Programmers Can Learn from the Past (2018)” ↗…over others; and Jewish people obtaining all the disrepute that comes with being a loan shark. You can see how all 3 things would breed resentment/jealousy from other ethnic groups. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice cuts to the heart of the matter. Shylock offers the financing needed by the protagonists - but such financing by necessity comes with brutal collateral ('a pound of flesh'). People see the heartless lender…
on “Jewish problems” ↗…radicalism that used to suffuse hacker culture in the early naughts. The Seuss estate should have the same power to limit publication of these books as Shakespeare’s heirs would have to stop publication of the Merchant of Venice. And if that sounds like it’s going to far can they at least have no say in the right to resale?
on “Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay” ↗…a list of so called pinnacles of civilization, even if they are often read literally and not critically, without placing in context. Not that they’re bad books, mind you. But it’s like reading “The Merchant of Venice” and assuming Shylock represents a Jew, and not the xenophobia of British society at Shakespeare’s time. tl;dr it’s what retrvn guys pretend to read.
on “Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program” ↗…plain text of the clause, unless said license includes a clawback provision that the author/inventor can unilaterally initiate. But I also believe that the founders knew about the Sophists, Shakespear's Merchant of Venice, and the like, as well as some of the arguments at the time over what to include in the Constitution. And that if they wrote ambiguity into Constitutional provisions, they likely did so on purpose. Definitional…
on “Cloudflare defeats patent troll Sable at trial” ↗