Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Jessica is the daughter of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, in William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" (). In the play, she elopes with Lorenzo, a pennyless Christian, and a chest of her father's money, eventually ending up in Portia and Bassanio's household. In the play's dramatic structure, Jessica is a minor but pivotal role. Her actions motivate Shylock's vengeful insistence on his "pound of flesh" from Antonio; her relationships with Lorenzo and Shylock serves as a mirror and contrast to Portia's with Bassanio and with her father; her conversion to Christianity is the end of
Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Warburton's note—in his 1765 edition: "The commentator should have remarked, that this speech is not, even in his own edition, the speech of the "Jewess"." The lines in question are usually assigned Lorenzo. The next was by Edmond Malone in his 1790 edition. The editor of the "Second Folio" (1632) had emended the line "If a Christian do not / play the knave and get thee, I am much deceived", substituting "did" for "do". This changed the meaning, as an acerbic Malone points out: Malone's position turned out to be somewhat controversial. In his revised edition in 1821, multiple notes