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English Literature   >   Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice

Is the play a comedy?

 
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Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice

In this course, Dr Christie Carson (Royal Holloway, London) explores Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. We begin in the first module by thinking of the play's status as a comedy: is it enough for the play to end with a marriage for us to consider it a comedy? In the second module, we focus on the relationship between the four key characters in the play – Bassanio, Antonio, Portia and Shylock – before moving on in the third module to think about what the play values, focusing in particular on the scenes featuring Portia's chests. In the fourth module, we think about the various kinds of love that are demonstrated in the play, before moving on in the fifth module to consider the treatment of outsiders in the play – the princes of Morocco and Arragon, Lancelot, and Shylock.

Is the play a comedy?

In this module, we think about the extent to which the Merchant of Venice is comedy, focusing in particular on the presentation of Shylock in the play.

Cite this Lecture

APA style

Carson, C. (2018, August 15). Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice - Is the play a comedy? [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/shakespeare-the-merchant-of-venice/is-the-play-a-comedy

MLA style

Carson, C. "Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice – Is the play a comedy?." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 15 Aug 2018, https://massolit.io/courses/shakespeare-the-merchant-of-venice/is-the-play-a-comedy

Lecturer

Dr Christie Carson

Dr Christie Carson

Royal Holloway, London