The Merchant of Venice

by Shakespeare

First published 1600

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Bassanio needs money to court the wealthy Portia and turns to his friend Antonio, a Venetian merchant whose capital is tied up at sea. Antonio borrows from the Jewish moneylender Shylock and agrees to a bond requiring a pound of flesh if the debt is not repaid.

The romantic plot at Belmont and the commercial dispute in Venice converge when Antonio’s ships appear lost and Shylock demands enforcement of the bond. Portia enters the courtroom disguised as a lawyer and turns the law against him. The comedy examines credit, religious hostility, mercy, marriage and the precarious place of outsiders within a wealthy trading society.