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
The Maori Merchant of Venice The Maori Merchant of Venice The Maori Merchant of Venice () is a 2002 New Zealand drama film in the Māori language (with English subtitles), directed by Don Selwyn. The play "The Merchant of Venice" was translated into Māori in 1945 by Pei Te Hurinui Jones, and his translation is used for the film. It is the first Māori-language film adaptation of any of William Shakespeare's plays. The film was shot in Auckland, but "recreate[d] 16th century Venice, with costumes and surroundings to fit the original setting". Almost all the film's actors are Māori, many of them acting for the