The Merchant of Venice speeches: It is difficult to know whether the sympathetic reading of Shylock is entirely due to changing sensibilities among readers—or whether Shakespeare, a writer who created complex, multi-faceted characters, deliberately intended this reading. One of the reasons for this interpretation is that Shylock's painful status in Venetian society is emphasised. To some critics, Shylock's celebrated "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech redeems him and even makes him into something of a tragic figure; in the speech, Shylock argues that he is no different from the Christian characters. Detractors note that Shylock ends the speech with a tone of revenge: "if
Shakespeare in Love play from Henslowe. Shakespeare receives helpful advice on his play from rival playwright Christopher "Kit" Marlowe, but becomes despondent when he learns Rosaline is sleeping with Edmund Tilney, the powerful Master of the Revels. Henslowe, who is in debt to the ruthless moneylender Fennyman and in desperate need for a new play, begins auditions anyway. Viola de Lesseps, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, who has seen Shakespeare's plays at court, disguises herself as a man named Thomas Kent to audition. "He" gains Shakespeare's interest when he auditions with a speech from Two Gentlemen of Verona after a series of