The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice has always been regarded as one of Shakespeare's most interesting plays. Before the nineteenth century critical reaction is relatively fragmentary. However between then and the late twentieth century the critical tradition reveals the tremendous vitality of the play to evoke emotion in the theatre and in the study. Since the middle of the twentieth century reactions to the drama have been influenced by the Nazi destruction of European Jewry. The first volume to document the full tradition of criticism of The Merchant of Venice includes an extensive introduction which charts the reactions to the play up to the beginning of the twenty first century and reflects changing reactions to prejudice in this period. Material by a variety of critics appears here for the first time since initial publication. Reactions are included from: Malone, Hazlitt, Jameson, Heine, Knight, Lewes, Halliwell-Phillips, Furnivall, Irving, Ruskin, Swinburne, Masefield, Gollancz and Quiller-Couch.

William Baker is Trustee Professor, Distinguished Research Professor, Department of English and University Libraries, at Northern Illinois University, USA. He is the author/editor of numerous books and his co-authored Harold Pinter: A Bibliographical History and his The Letters of Wilkie Collins were honoured by Choice as the year's most outstanding books (2006 and 2000).

Brian Vickers is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Distinguished Senior Fellow in The School of Advanced Study, University of London.