Introduction to the play
In The Merchant of Venice, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father’s will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all.
Bassanio and Portia also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because he was a Jew. Yet he gives such powerful expression to his alienation due to the hatred around him that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero.
Portia is most remembered for her disguise as a lawyer, Balthazar, especially the speech in which she urges Shylock to show mercy that “droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.”
The Folger Shakespeare
Our bestselling editions of Shakespeare's plays and poems
… Hath not
a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions,
senses, affections, passions?
—Shylock
Act 3, scene 1, lines 57–59
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.
—Portia
Act 4, scene 1, lines 190–193
The Merchant of Venice in our collection
A selection of Folger collection items related to The Merchant of Venice. Find more in our digital image collection
Essays and resources from The Folger Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice
Learn more about the play, its language, and its history from the experts behind our edition.
About Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
An introduction to the plot, themes, and characters in the play
Reading Shakespeare’s Language
A guide for understanding Shakespeare’s words, sentences, and wordplay
An Introduction to This Text
A description of the publishing history of the play and our editors’ approach to this edition
Textual Notes
A record of the variants in the early printings of this text
A Modern Perspective
An essay by Alexander Leggatt
Further Reading
Suggestions from our experts on where to learn more
Shakespeare and his world
Learn more about Shakespeare, his theater, and his plays from the experts behind our editions.
Shakespeare’s Life
An essay about Shakespeare and the time in which he lived
Shakespeare’s Theater
An essay about what theaters were like during Shakespeare’s career
The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays
An essay about how Shakespeare’s plays were published
Related blog posts and podcasts
Michelle Ephraim on Discovering Shakespeare and Reevaluating The Merchant of Venice
Michelle Ephraim’s memoir Green World refracts The Merchant of Venice through the changing dynamics of her own family, as her Holocaust-survivor parents age and she becomes a mother herself.
Patrick Stewart on a Life Shaped by Shakespeare
We talk to Sir Patrick Stewart about his Yorkshire youth, auditioning for the RSC, and his most famous roles on the stage and screen.
A Bill of Lading and a Merchant of London (and of Venice)
Teaching The Merchant of Venice
Use the Folger Method to teach The Merchant of Venice. Become a Teacher Member to get exclusive access to lesson plans and professional development.
Early printed texts
The Merchant of Venice was first printed as a quarto in 1600 (Q1). That text seems to have served as the basis for the 1619 quarto (Q2), the 1623 First Folio (F1), and the 1637 quarto (Q3). Most editions of the play, including the Folger, are based on Q1.
