The Merchant of Venice

A new edition of William Shakespeare's classic play, The Merchant of Venice. One of Shakespeare's most famous -- and controversial plays, for its depictions of anti-Semitism -- The Merchant of Venice is the story of the Jewish moneylender Shylock and his legal attempts to collect the "pound of flesh" from the merchant Antonio that he pledged as collateral. Antonio, an objectively wealthy by cash-poor trader and merchant had taken out the loan from Shylock to help his friend Basssanio, who needed the money to fund his courtship of the wealthy and beautiful heiress Portia.

This pocket edition is based on the original Cambridge editions, first published for the general public in the 1860s, and is designed for reading ease -- the size of a standard mass market paperback, it is convenient enough to fit in your pocket, briefcase, or purse, but it features font size large enough for easy reading in any setting, margins wide enough to be marked up by students of all ages, and paper durable enough for reading again and again.