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
Billy S. Billy S. "Billy S." is a song recorded by Canadian musician Skye Sweetnam. It was released as her debut major label single in 2003, and was the first single from her album, "Noise From the Basement". The song was also featured on the soundtrack to the movie "How to Deal". The song's title, "Billy S." stands for "Billy Shakespeare", a reference to William Shakespeare, whom Skye refers to throughout the song. Sweetnam thought that the title "Billy Shakespeare" was too long, and decided to shorten it. The music video for "Billy S.", filmed in Southern California, features Skye Sweetnam recording