Join The Merchant of Venice
A self-paced 9-week pre-recorded class for IGCSE/GCSE students
Printable resources
Worksheets and activity sheets to print for every lesson.
9 video lessons
Pre-recorded lessons to watch whenever suits — as many times as you like.
Watch any time
Instant access on any device — pause, rewind and rewatch at your own pace.
The book we’re reading
In Venice, the merchant Antonio borrows money to help his friend Bassanio court Portia, a wealthy and clever heiress. With his own fortune tied up in ships at sea, Antonio secures the loan from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender he has publicly scorned — agreeing to a fateful bond: if the debt isn't repaid, Shylock may cut a pound of flesh from his body. Bassanio wins Portia by solving the riddle of three caskets, but word arrives that Antonio's ships are lost and the debt has fallen due.
As Shylock, embittered by years of mistreatment and by his daughter's elopement with a Christian, demands his bond in court, Portia disguises herself as a young lawyer and turns the case on a technicality — the flesh may be taken, but not one drop of blood. Antonio is saved and Shylock is ruined, stripped of his wealth and forced to convert. The play ends with reconciliation and a playful subplot of rings back at Portia's estate — though its darker currents never fully lift.
