Venice series of books, co-written by Rustichello da Pisa and titled "Il Milione" provided important knowledge of the lands east of Europe, from the Middle East to China, Japan, and Russia. Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) was a prolific writer and adventurer best remembered for his autobiography, "Histoire De Ma Vie" ("Story of My Life"), which links his colourful lifestyle to the city of Venice. Venetian playwrights followed the old Italian theatre tradition of "Commedia dell'arte". Ruzante (1502–1542), Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793), and Carlo Gozzi (1720–1806) used the Venetian dialect extensively in their comedies. Venice has also inspired writers from abroad. Shakespeare set "Othello"
The Merchant of Venice 1989, and follows the events in "The Merchant of Venice". In this play Shylock gets his wealth back and becomes a Jew again. The "Star Trek" franchise sometimes quote and paraphrase Shakespeare, including "The Merchant of Venice". One example is the Shakespeare-aficionado Chang in "" (1991), a Klingon, who quotes Shylock. Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" (1993) depicts SS Lieutenant Amon Göth quoting Shylock's "Hath Not a Jew eyes?" speech when deciding whether or not to rape his Jewish maid. In David Fincher's 1995 crime thriller "Seven", a lawyer, Eli Gould, is coerced to remove a pound of his own flesh