The Merchant of Venice – Interesting Literature

A Short Analysis of Shylock’s ‘If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed’ Speech

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Hath not a Jew eyes?’ ‘If you prick us, do we not bleed?’ These are among the most famous lines from William Shakespeare’s comedy, The Merchant of Venice. One of the common misconceptions people who haven’t read or seen The Merchant of Venice fall prey to is the notion that the ‘merchant’ of the title is Shylock, the Jewish moneylender.

It is, in fact, Antonio, who is the merchant of Venice, but The Merchant of Venice has become Shylock’s play, if it wasn’t always his.

A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, and is widely studied and has been subject to considerable analysis. Contrary to what many people think, the ‘merchant’ of the title isn’t Shylock (of whom more below) but the far less famous character, Antonio. So how well do we know The Merchant of Venice? Below, we offer some words of analysis, but first, it might be worth recapping the plot of the play.

Five Fascinating Facts about The Merchant of Venice

Fun facts about Shakespeare’s play

1. Contrary to popular belief, the ‘merchant of Venice’ in the title of Shakespeare’s play isn’t Shylock. In the popular consciousness – i.e. among those who are aware that Shakespeare’s play contains a character named Shylock but who haven’t read or seen the play – Shylock is the merchant of Venice referred to in Shakespeare’s title. But of course the merchant is really Antonio, and Shylock the Jewish man who makes him a loan; as the scholar Stephen Greenblatt has observed, this popular misunderstanding says a great deal about how Shylock comes to dominate the play in which he appears, eclipsing all other characters.