Beginning of article One play in the canon of world theatre will always arouse unease and controversy - Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Other plays have caused a stir in their time: Ibsen's Ghosts, shocking! Beckett's Waiting For Godot, meaningless! Genet's The Maids, irreverent!
The character of Shylock has been the subject of modern scholarly debate over whether the playwright displaysanti-Semitismor religious tolerance in his characterization, for, despite his stereotypicalusuriousnature, Shylock is depicted as understandably full of hate, having been both verbally and physicall...
Antonio, a Venetian merchant, the title character of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Ostensibly the subject of the play, Antonio serves rather as a foil to Shylock, who is one of Shakespeare’s best-known and most discussed