The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare Festival, the play also marked that 500 years had passed since the Venetian Ghetto was instituted. The Merchant of Venice The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play written by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice (Antonio) must default on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and the famous
The Father (Strindberg play) her way to oppose injustice, and the play also demonstrates how factors can lead one to become fiercely determined. At the time the play was written, Strindberg's marriage was deteriorating with his wife Siri von Essen, and situations in the play could have very loosely resembled situations occurring in his failing marriage. Different religions, Methodist, Baptist, and an occult spiritualism, exist in the household and vie for Bertha's acceptance. There are also references in the play to Greek Mythology and Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" and "Hamlet". Strindberg was aware of the literary discussions regarding what constituted naturalism in drama, and