"For this updated edition of one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays, Tom Lockwood has added a new introductory section on the latest scholarly trends, performance and adaptation practices which have occurred over the last two decades. Investigating the latest critical frames through which the play has been interpreted, the updated introduction also focuses on recent international performances on stage and screen (including Al Pacino's performances...

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities.

Blending tragedy and comedy, this play presents contrasts and ambiguities, the complexities of which lie in the character Shylock, its captivating villain. Is he a villain, a buffoon, or tragic hero?

Set in 1860's Venice, a young Venetian borrows money from a Jew who gives him the money on the security of one pound of flesh. Upon default the Jew insists on payment of his bond and the young Venetian is rescued by the heroine disguised as a male lawyer.

In sixteenth-century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead. Presented in comic book format.