The Merchant of Venice live in a ghetto protected by Christian guards. Shakespeare's play may be seen as a continuation of this tradition. The title page of the Quarto indicates that the play was sometimes known as "The Jew of Venice" in its day, which suggests that it was seen as similar to Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta". One interpretation of the play's structure is that Shakespeare meant to contrast the mercy of the main Christian characters with the vengefulness of a Jew, who lacks the religious grace to comprehend mercy. Similarly, it is possible that Shakespeare meant Shylock's forced conversion to Christianity to
The Masque at Kenilworth and the ancient Greek poet Arion, who arrives astride a dolphin. A performance of the "summer night" scene from "The Merchant of Venice" is given, and then the Queen is sung lovingly to sleep. The "Merchant of Venice" scene is anachronistic, since Shakespeare was a young boy in 1575, but Chorley notes in his preface that Scott had also anachronistically used Shakespeare material. Chorley's effort was ridiculed as "trivial". In addition, Chorley faced much criticism over a misquote of "The Merchant of Venice" in No. 7, "Scene from "The Merchant of Venice"". Chorley's line reads: "Still quiring to the young-eyed