Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) critics have historically viewed the character negatively, highlighting her theft of her father's gold, her betrayal of his trust, and her apparently selfish motivations and aimless behaviour. In her 1980 survey, "In Defense of Jessica: The Runaway Daughter in "The Merchant of Venice"", Camille Slights calls out Arthur Quiller-Couch's opinion in the 1926 "The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare" as an extreme but representative example: Slights sees this as a consequence of sympathetic readings of Shylock, where the play is seen primarily as exposing Christian hypocrisy, and his actions merely natural responses to ostracism and prejudice. In such a reading Jessica's
Jessica Merchant Jessica Merchant Jessica Merchant (born 1983) is an American softball coach and former softball player. She is currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team. She previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts. She played professional softball in the National Pro Fastpitch league (NPF) for the New England Riptide (2005, 2007-2008) and Connecticut Brakettes (2006). In 2006, she was named NPF Offensive Player of the Year. Merchant also played college softball for the Michigan Wolverines softball team from 2002 to 2005. She was the captain of the 2005 Michigan Wolverines softball team that