Merchant of Venice (Penguin Shakespeare) [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0141013958 | ISBN-13: 978-0141013954

A noble but impoverished Venetian asks a friend, Antonio, for a loan to impress an heiress. His friend agrees, but is forced to borrow the sum from a cynical Jewish moneylender, Shylock, and signs a chilling contract to honour the debt with a pound of his own flesh. A complex and controversial comedy, The Merchant of Venice explores prejudice and the true nature of justice.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright of the 16th and 17 centuries, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the word's pre-eminent dramatist. Stanley Wells, the Series Editor of the Penguin Shakespeare, is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Peter Holland is McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre, at the University of Notre Dame. He is editor of Shakespeare Survey, general editor of the series Redefining British Theatre History, and co-general editor of Oxford Shakespeare Topics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (April 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141013958
• ISBN-13: 978-0141013954
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,210,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.