Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) misfortune, is unable to repay and is subjected to an onerous default (a literal "pound of flesh" cut from his body). In addition, the play contains subplots regarding Bassanio's courtship of Portia; Launcelot Gobbo's humorous interactions with his father, and his change of allegiance from Shylock to Portia and Bassanio; and Jessica and Lorenzo's elopement, with Shylock's casket of Ducats. The role of Jessica is a relatively minor one. She speaks a grand total of 660 words over the play's five acts. In the dramatic structure of the play, the role is, however, pivotal: her elopement with Lorenzo, and her
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