Merchant of Venice Study Guide - The New American Shakespeare ...

Merchant Study Guide Pg 4Shakespeare A to Z by Charles BoyceOriginal Practice Theatre:Does directly addressing the audience affectwhat you think and feel about thecharacters? Does it affect yourunderstanding of what is going on onstage?Does it interfere? Why do you thinkShakespeare wrote his plays this way?What are the benefits to the actor and/oraudience? What are the risks?Words Invented by Shakespeareand Used for the First Time in thisPlay:CompromiseGreen –EyedLaughableRivalUndervalueFind for yourself where they appear in theplay! Can you spot them inperformance? Do they mean what youthought they meant?For Further Information/Exploration:Websites:Mr. William Shakespeare and The Internet:http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/- this sitecontains excellent resources and is a greatmetasite.Shakespeare’s Globe websitewww.shakespeares-globe.orgBooks:The Merchant of Venice Folger EditionShakespeare and the Jews James ShapiroShakespeare: The Invention of the Humanby Harold BloomAsimov’s Guide to Shakespeare by IsaacAsimovStaging In Shakespeare’s Theatres byAndrew Gurr and Mariko IchikawaOur performance text is:The Applause First Folio of Shakespeare inModern Type, Neil FreemanFor more information on the First Folio ofShakespeare go to:http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Annex/DraftTxt/index.htmlMovie Versions:The Merchant of Venice, 2004, with AlPacino as Shylock, and Joseph Fiennes asBassanio.Definitions of Words Invented for Merchant:Compromise- to bind by mutual agreement; to come totermsGreen-eyed- Jealous – WS was the first to modifyjealous with “Green-eyed” and the term has remainedhyphenated to this day.Laughable- humorous or funny; ridiculous or sillyRival- having or making the same claim; competing.Undervalue- to rate as inferior; to rate below the realworth.