Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for Shylock and the famous ‘Hath not a Jew eyes?’ speech. Also notable is Portia’s speech about the quality of mercy. The title character is the merchant Antonio, not the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who is the play’s most prominent and most famous character.
“Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadowed livery of the burnished sun,
To whom I am a neighbor and near bred.
Bring me the fairest creature northward born,
Where Phoebus’ fire scarce thaws the icicles,
And let us make incision for your love
To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine.”
–William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
