The Merchant of Vanice

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) was born at Stratford-upon-Avon in a house in Henley Street

His mother, Mary Arden, was one of the daughters of Robert Arden, a yeoman farmer of Wilmcote: his father, John Shakespeare, was a glover and wool dealer of good standing who held the office of Bailiff of the Borough in 1568. At the age of 18 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. He then became actor-manager and part-owner in the Blackfriars and afterwards the Globe Theatres. Shakespeare's acting career was spent with the Lord Chamberlain's Company, where he was a first-rate actor. The company was renamed the King's Company in 1603 when James succeeded to the throne. Among the actors in the group was the famous Richard Burbage. The partnership acquired interests in two theatres in the Southwark area of London, near the banks of the Thames - the Globe and the Blackfriars. Shakespeare returned to Stratford for his latter years where he died at the age of 52 and now lies at rest in his special grave at Holy Trinity Church.

The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, probably written in 1596 and 1597, and forms one of a group of such comedies, along with The Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night.

Romantic comedy was a popular and much-preferred type in Elizabethan theatre, and all the trappings of such are present in The Merchant of Venice. First, the romantic involvement is represented not by one couple only, but by three (Portia and Bassanio, Gratiano and Nerissa, and Jessica and Lorenzo). Also Elizabethans expected in their romantic comedies certain characters and situations and a certain kind of plot development: the chief element and central motive was love; the heroine was frequently disguised as a man through part of the play, thus providing opportunities for comic misunderstanding; and comedy was also provided by the wit of the heroine herself, who was always more clever...