Merchants of Venice

In this course we will read Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice from different perspectives, including those of race, religion, gender, staging, and form. We will engage the play at the level of rhetorical analysis, textual history, character analysis, source analysis, and stage history. We will also study contemporary dramas resembling The Merchant of Venice (e.g., Three Ladies of London, Jew of Malta, Othello), and examine its legacy in film adaptations and in works by such authors as Charles Dickens, Philip Roth, Wladislaw Szpilman, and Christopher Moore. At every point, we will consider critical reception and theoretical implications. 3 hrs. sem.