The Merchant of Venice | Act2 Scene 9 | William Shakespeare | ICSE Class10 | English | #MOV #Act2

#MerchantofVenice #Literature #EnglishLiterature Merchant of Venice Act2 Scene1 and 2 |William Shakespeare|ICSE Class10 English Merchant of Venice Act2 Scene1 and 2 |William Shakespeare|ICSE Class10 English _________________________________________________________ Notes Link The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play written by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Although classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare&other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and his famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech on humanity. Also notable is Portia&speech about "the quality of mercy". Bassanio, a young Venetian of noble rank, wishes to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress Portia of Belmont. Having squandered his estate, he needs 3,000 ducats to subsidise his expenditures as a suitor. Bassanio approaches his friend Antonio, a wealthy merchant of Venice, who has previously and repeatedly bailed him out. Antonio agrees, but since he is cash-poor – his ships and merchandise are busy at sea to Tripolis, the Indies, Mexico and England – he promises to cover a bond if Bassanio can find a lender, so Bassanio turns to the Jewish moneylender Shylock and names Antonio as the loan&guarantor.