Globe Education Online

Shylock [Norbert Kentrup]. Photo: John Tramper

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.

4.1.181-3

Bassanio, needing money to woo Portia, heiress of Belmont, asks his friend Antonio for a loan. With no ready funds and all his ships at sea, Antonio seeks out a Jewish moneylender. Shylock, who hates the merchant for his Christian contempt of usury, proposes a 'merry bond' by which, if the money is not repaid within three months, he may take a pound of Antonio's flesh; foolishly Antonio agrees.

Set in the most celebrated and multi-cultural mercantile city of Renaissance Europe. The Merchant of Venice compares the Christian, Judaic and Hermetic traditions of 16th century Italy and England and weighs them in the balance.

The Merchant of Venice was performed in 1998, during the Season of Justice and Mercy.