The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeare's best-known plays, written at an uncertain date between 1594 and 1597. It is a comedy ("comedy" had a very different meaning at the time; see Shakespearean comedies) and is best known for its portrayal of the Jew Shylock, which has raised questions of anti-semitism. Shylock is a tormented character but is also a tormenter, so whether he is to be viewed with disdain or sympathy is up to the reader.
Shakespeare put one of his most eloquent speeches into the mouth of this villain:
Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs
dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means
warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer
as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you
poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
Act III, scene I
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Shakespeare - Merchant Of Venice
