The Merchant of Venice is most associated not with its titular hero, Antonio, but with the complex, unforgettable figure of the money-lender, Shylock. It is Shylock who finances Antonio's friend Bassa
′The quality of mercy is not strain′d,It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven′Bassiano, a noble Venetian, hopes to woo the beautiful heiress Portia. However, he requires financial assistance from h
Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, Professor of English Literature, University of Sussex. The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakesp