Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) banter in the gardens of Belmont; Gobbo claiming that she is tainted by the sins of her father, and she can only hope that she was an illegitimate child and not actually related to Shylock. Jessica protests that then she would be visited by the sins of her mother, and Gobbo concurs that she would be damned either way. Jessica argues that she has been saved by her husband who has converted her to Christianity, to which Gobbo replies that Bassanio of contributing to the raised price of pork by the conversion of Jews (who may not eat pork) to
James S. Shapiro His most recent book, "The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606," was awarded the James Tait Black Prize for Biography as well as the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography. He is currently at work on a book about Shakespeare in a divided America. He is married, has a son, and lives in New York City. Shapiro presented a three-part series on BBC Four called "The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History" about Shakespeare, King James VI and I and the Jacobean era. James S. Shapiro James S. Shapiro (born September 11, 1955) is Professor of English and Comparative