The Merchant of Venice August 14, 2010

Shylock, a moneylender from Venice's Jewish ghetto, makes a loan, interest-free, to an upper-class Christian merchant. When the deal goes bad, years of discrimination surface as Shylock makes a harsh demand for repayment. If this is comedy, it is a fearless, ironic one in which, amidst comic moments, the quality of mercy is cross-examined and complex issues of difference are unmasked.