The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written between 1596 and 1598 and first published in 1600. Although the First Folio of 1623 classifies it as a comedy, it shares with other Shakespearean works a darker and more dramatic tone, and it is remembered above all for its courtroom tension and for the character of Shylock, the Jewish moneylender who demands a pound of flesh as security for a loan.

The main source of the plot is the "First History of the Fourth Day" in Il Pecorone (1378), by Giovanni Fiorentino, to which other versions such as Anthony Munday's Zelauto and the Gesta Romanorum are sometimes linked. Bassanio, a young Venetian of noble birth but little fortune, needs 3,000 ducats to woo Portia, a rich heiress of Belmont. His friend Antonio, a wealthy merchant, has all his capital tied up in ships at sea, so he guarantees a loan from Shylock on the terms that, if the debt is not repaid, the moneylender may take a pound of Antonio's flesh.

Portia is bound by her late father's will, which requires each suitor to choose between three caskets of gold, silver and lead. Bassanio chooses the lead casket and wins her hand, while his friend Gratiano marries Nerissa, Portia's maid. When Antonio's ships are lost, Shylock demands payment and the case goes before the Venetian court. Portia, disguised as a lawyer, saves Antonio by arguing that the bond allows the removal of flesh but not the shedding of blood; Shylock loses much of his wealth and is forced to convert to Christianity.

The ending resolves the romantic plots in a spirit of reconciliation: the rings the couples had sworn to keep are demanded back in a jest that ends in the revelation of the truth, and the play closes with news that Antonio's ships have returned safely.

For centuries the play has provoked debate about whether it is antisemitic. Shylock is subjected to constant abuse and ends humiliated, yet his famous speech, "Hath not a Jew eyes?", asks for the same humanity that is denied to him. Interpretations of the character have changed considerably over time, and it remains one of the most discussed questions in the play.

In Spanish, the first translation was made by Gregorio Amado Larrosa in 1868, followed by versions by Jaime Clark, Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo, Luis Astrana Marín and Vicente Molina Foix, among others. The play has had notable productions in Spain, including those of the Teatro Español in Madrid in 1923 and 1947, the Televisión Española adaptations of 1957 and 1981, and José Carlos Plaza's staging at the Teatro María Guerrero in 1992.

The play has also inspired later adaptations, among them the BBC television version directed by Jack Gold in 1980, Michael Radford's 2004 film, and the operas by Reynaldo Hahn (1935) and André Tchaikowsky (2013).