MERCHANT OF VENICE, THE (pb)2006

MERCHANT OF VENICE, THE (pb)2006 Author: SHAKESPEARE ISBN: 0393925293 Publisher: W.W.NORTON & COMPANY Category: GENERAL INTEREST  >-- DRAMA  >-- DRAMA If you think any change in category please advise us Series: A NORTON CRITICAL EDITION Language: ENGLISH Pages: 347  PRICE 8 $

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The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare s most beautiful plays and conversely his ugliest. Juxtaposed within the same conceptual frame are heavenly and musical harmonies romantic love materialism and racism. This Norton Critical Edition has been carefully edited to make The Merchant of Venice its surrounding history and the history of its critical reception and rewritings accessible to readers. The text of this edition is based on the 1600 First Quarto with light editing and substantial explanatory annotations by Leah S. Marcus. Sources and Contexts largely focuses on the character of Shylock and the issue of anti-Semitism in the play. Materials included are diverse and at times contradictory allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Examples include seventeenth-century anti-Semitic literature an essay from the same period defending Jews and arguing for their repatriation in England an examination of the Christian theology of the play and readings of The Merchant of Venice as exclusionary for Jews women and people of color. Criticism collects twenty-one diverse interpretations. In addition to Shylock and the question of anti-Semitism these essays address The Merchant of Venice in the context of postcolonial feminist and queer theory and explore relevant issues of economic status and organization. Rewritings and Appropriations includes excerpts from dramatic musical and other literary adaptations of The Merchant of Venice as well as a selection of poems most of them from the twentieth century on the character of Shylock. A Selected Bibliography is also included. About the Series: No other series of classic texts equalsthe caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing first-rate translation and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2 000 universities worldwide.