Reviews

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

moreale's review against another edition

challenging funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

mittland's review against another edition

3.0

gonna be honest here yes this is ripe for analysis and debate but I think a lot of people are giving old Shakey a lot of leeway on the antisemitism. yes there's the barest amount of humanity shown in the villain but I think the same could be said for any Shakey villain really, he's great at writing complex characters but that complexity just doesn't measure up against the constant violent antisemitism coming from literally all the other characters no matter their role in the play. no amount of goofy dick jokes can distract from that.
depressed now. feeling sick

saraimbriani's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

alexlogiudice's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

amourose's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

aydon's review against another edition

2.0

gotta respect billy the man, but i just hate reading plays. it feels like i'm missing the actual experience

dharma_s's review against another edition

4.0

I read this for my Shakespeare class, and thank goodness my teacher was there to explain things. If I had read this on my own, I probably would have not understood a lot of it, but because it was in a class, I felt that I understood crucial aspects of the play, as well as Shakespeare himself.

koalabear's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

numinoso's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

kellyrenea's review against another edition

5.0

Enjoyed this comedy so much. I love how Shakespeare takes topics that most people would not make fun of (religion) and be so irreverent in his observations. He takes our main character Antonio, who is a Christian, and puts him against Shylock, the Jew who is determined to destroy Antonio. Shylock claims that Antonio has taken all his business and he hates him because he is Christian. But Antonio had a good friend, Bassanio, who needs money to woe a rich heiress named Portia.
Long story short, Antonio borrows money and doesn’t pay it back to Shylock. So Shylock wants a boon instead of payment back; a pound of flesh!
Everything ends well and no one dies. Just love how the women come in and save the men.