The Merchant of Venice
By William Shakespeare
Cover: Portia and Bassanio (c. 1826) by Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828) · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (artist died 1828)
To help his friend Bassanio court Portia, the merchant Antonio borrows money from the moneylender Shylock and signs a bond for a pound of his own flesh. When his ships fail, the case goes to court, and Portia appears in disguise to argue it. This book uses the racial and other slurs of its period as written; the Book Guide explains these words where they occur.
Summary written with Claude Sonnet 5.5.