Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Merchant of Venice
    The Merchant of Venice
    The Merchant of Venice
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    The Merchant of Venice

    By William Shakespeare and GP Editors

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Merchant of Venice is an intriguing drama of love, greed and revenge. At its heart, the play contrasts the characters of the maddened and vengeful Shylock, a Venetian moneylender, with the gracious, level-headed Portia, a wealthy young woman besieged by suitors. At the play's climax, Shylock insists that a binding contract be enforced wh

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGENERAL PRESS
    Release dateJun 29, 2018
    ISBN9789380914497
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death.

    Read more from William Shakespeare

    Related to The Merchant of Venice

    Related ebooks

    Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Life And Times: William Shakespeare

      Jun 9, 2021

      Considered the first English writer to become wealthy from his published output, Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, the son of a trader. Attendance at the local grammar gave him an ample grounding in

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      From Parchment To Performance

      Apr 15, 2021

      In Shakespeare’s time, playwriting was a matter of both perspiration and inspiration. First he had to think up a story, which he would shape into a plot. Usually this meant he had to do a lot of fresh reading, because most of Shakespeare’s plays are

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      All The World’s A Stage

      Apr 6, 2023

      All The World’s A Stage
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Opening And Closing Scenes

      Apr 15, 2021

      William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers of all time, and our longing to know as much as we can about him continues. We know that he was born in 1564 to John and Mary Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and that he was their f

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Michael Wood On…

      May 11, 2023

      Michael Wood On…
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Shakespeare’s LONDON

      Oct 31, 2024

      Shakespeare’s LONDON
      14 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Shakespeare Through The Ages

      Apr 15, 2021

      In 1623, the playwright and poet Ben Jonson wrote that his friend Shakespeare “was not of an age, but for all time”. But Jonson could scarcely have imagined the impact and influence Shakespeare would have on four centuries of thinkers, writers, compo

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Shakespearean Patrons

      Jul 11, 2024

      Shakespearean Patrons
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Last Shakespeare

      Mar 6, 2020

      The Last Shakespeare
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Michael Wood On…

      Jun 6, 2024

      Michael Wood On…
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Key Events

      Jul 11, 2024

      Key Events
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Who Was William Shakespeare?

      Jul 11, 2024

      Who Was William Shakespeare?
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      What If We Never Had The Bard?

      May 6, 2023

      WITHOUT the First Folio, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays that had not previously been printed would have been lost, among them Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and The Tempest. No “friends, Romans and countrymen”, no “brave new world”, no “double, do

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Man of the World

      Sep 6, 2016

      Shakespeare may never have left England, but he became the most global writer who ever lived.

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Love’s Labour’s Found

      Dec 6, 2020

      From late summer 1592 until the end of the following year, the plague was rife in London, and to stop packed crowds from spreading infection, theatres were closed. William Shakespeare, who had just begun to make a name for himself as a playwright, tu

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Every Canvas Is A Stage

      Aug 7, 2024

      Every Canvas Is A Stage
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Was Shakespeare a Woman?

      May 10, 2019

      Was Shakespeare a Woman?
      18 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Samuel Johnson’s Defining Moments

      Feb 17, 2022

      Samuel Johnson was a published author, poet, essayist and biographer by the 1740s, but his career had not taken off or made him money. Certainly the reputation he holds today as a central literary figure of the 18th century, famed for his control of

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Book that Made the Bard: 400 Years of Shakespeare’s Folio

      Nov 8, 2023

      The Folio is our gateway to Shakespeare; it's also a cautionary tale. The post The Book that Made the Bard: 400 Years of Shakespeare’s Folio appeared first on The Millions.

      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Centre Stage

      Mar 24, 2022

      Centre Stage
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Key To Shakespeare’s Heart

      Apr 15, 2021

      In 1827, the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth published a collection simply known as his Poetical Works . Of its contents, one of the most intriguing passages is to be found in his sonnet about sonnets, Scorn Not the Sonnet , which opens with

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Speaking Of Shakespeare

      May 1, 2023

      Speaking Of Shakespeare
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Foul-mouthed Miller And The Prim Prioress

      Jan 3, 2024

      HAT Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘drasty rhyming is nat worth a toord’ (his ‘dirty rhyming isn’t worth a turd’), the Host’s pungent dismissal in Chaucer’s best-known, but incomplete poem The Canterbury Tales, is a verdict that, with good reason, posterity has

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Merchant of Venice

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare

      Cover.jpgFront.jpg

      Contents

      William Shakespeare

      Characters in the Play

      Act 1

      Act 2

      Act 3

      Act 4

      Act 5

      William Shakespeare

      William Shakespeare (1564–1616), an English playwright and poet was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. He is generally considered the greatest dramatist the world has ever known and the finest poet who has written in the English language. Shakespeare has also been the world’s most popular author. Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays, which have traditionally been divided into comedies, histories, and tragedies. No other writer’s plays have been produced so many times or read so widely in so many countries. These plays contain vivid characters of all types and from many walks of life. Kings, pickpockets, drunkards, generals, hired killers, shepherds, and philosophers, all mingle in Shakespeare’s works. His plays are filled with action, his characters are believable, and his language is thrilling to hear or read. His comedies are full of fun. The characters are lively; the dialogues are witty. In the end young lovers are wed; old babblers are silenced; wise men are content. The comedies are joyous and romantic.

      Shakespeare was born in a middle-class family. His birthplace was the small market town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Shortly after he married at the age of 18, Shakespeare apparently left Stratford to seek his fortune in the theatrical world of London. Within a few years, he had become one of the city’s leading actors and playwrights. By 1612, when he seems to have partially retired to Stratford, Shakespeare had become England’s most popular playwright.

      William’s father – John Shakespeare, was a glove maker who owned a shop in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Stratford lies about 75 miles (120 kilometres) northwest of London in the county of Warwickshire. John Shakespeare was a respected man in the town and held several important positions in the local government. William Shakespeare’s mother was Mary Arden. She was the daughter of a farmer but related to a family of considerable social standing in the county. John Shakespeare married Mary Arden about 1557. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford in 1564, the third of eight children. The register of Holy Trinity, the parish church in Stratford, records his baptism on April 26. According to the custom at that time, infants were baptized about three days after their birth. Therefore, the generally accepted date for Shakespeare’s birth is April 23.

      The Shakespeares were a family of considerable local prominence. In 1565, John Shakespeare became an alderman. Three years later, he was elected bailiff (mayor), the highest civic honour that a Stratford resident could receive. Later, he held several other civic posts. But toward the end of his life, John Shakespeare had financial problems.

      Beginning at about the age of 7, young William Shakespeare probably attended the Stratford grammar school with other boys of his social class. The school’s highly qualified teachers were graduates of Oxford University. Students spent about nine hours a day in school. They attended classes the year around, except for three brief holiday periods. The teachers enforced strict discipline and physically punished students who broke the rules. The students chiefly studied Latin, the language of ancient Rome. Knowledge of Latin was necessary for a career in medicine, law, or the church. In addition, Latin was considered a sign of an educated person. Young Shakespeare may have read such outstanding ancient Roman authors as Cicero, Ovid, Plautus, Seneca, Terence, and Virgil. In spite of the long hours he spent in school, Shakespeare’s boyhood was probably not all boring study. As a market centre, Stratford was a lively town. In addition, holidays provided popular pageants and shows, including plays about the legendary outlaw Robin Hood and his merry men. By 1569, travelling companies of professional actors were performing in Stratford. Stratford also held two large fairs each year, which attracted numerous visitors from other counties. For young Shakespeare, Stratford could thus have been an exciting place to live in.

      Stratford also offered Shakespeare other pleasures. The fields and woods surrounding the town provided opportunities to hunt and trap small game. The River Avon, which ran through the town, had fish to catch. Shakespeare’s poems and plays show a love of nature and rural life. This display undoubtedly reflects his childhood experiences and his love of the Stratford countryside.

      In November 1582, Shakespeare received the licence to marry Anne Hathaway. She was probably the daughter of a farmer who lived in Shottery, a village about one mile (1.6 kilometres) from Stratford. At the time of their marriage, Shakespeare was 18-years old and Anne was 26. Their first child, Susanna, was baptized on May 26, 1583. Early in 1585, Anne Shakespeare gave birth to twins – a boy, Hamnet, and a girl, Judith. No significant factual information exists on Shakespeare’s life for the period between February 2, 1585, when the twins were baptized, and 1592, when evidence indicates Shakespeare was living in London. Scholars sometimes call this period the lost years.

      There is some indication that Shakespeare had become well known in London’s theatrical life by 1592. Sometime after he arrived in London, he probably joined one of the city’s repertory theatre companies. These companies consisted of a permanent cast of actors who presented a variety of plays week after week. The companies were commercial organizations that depended on admission prices for their income. They staged most of the plays Londoners attended. By 1594, at least six of Shakespeare’s plays had been produced.

      From mid-1592 to 1594, London authorities often closed the public theatres because of repeated outbreaks of plague. The need for new plays thus declined. At this time, Shakespeare began to write poems. The Elizabethans considered the writing of poetry much more important than the writing of plays. Shakespeare perhaps believed that by writing poems he might be able to win the praise that mere playwriting never received. In 1593, Shakespeare’s long poem Venus and Adonis was printed by Richard Field, a Stratford neighbour who had become a London printer. Venus and Adonis quickly became a success. Field printed Shakespeare’s next long poem, The Rape of Lucrece, in 1594. Both poems went through many editions during Shakespeare’s lifetime, but their success did not lead Shakespeare to give up playwriting. After the public theatres were reopened in 1594, he began again to write plays.

      From 1594 to 1608, Shakespeare was fully involved in the London theatre world. In addition to his duties as a stockholder and actor in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, he wrote an average of almost two plays a year for his company. During much of this period, Shakespeare ranked as London’s most popular playwright, based on the number of times his plays were performed and published. But his reputation was largely that of a popular playwright, not of a writer of unequalled genius. Few people gave him the praise that later generations heaped

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1