Explanatory notes and guidance to help students understand Shakespeare's plays. The Merchant of Venice has fascinated and intrigued audiences and critics ever since Shakespeare wrote it some time around 1597. The play fuses together a host of dramatic elements. It contains romantic courtship, riddling love tests, eloping lovers, comic confusions and a seemingly harmonious final act. These guides help students to evaluate the historical, social and cultural contexts for a broader understanding of Shakespeare’s plays. The content of each book in the series follows the pattern of an introduction; detailed running commentary on the text; insight into historical, social and cultural contexts; analysis of the language; an overview of critical approaches and different interpretations; essay-writing tips and lists of recommended resources. The first Shakespeare A Level study guide series to be published since the major changes to A Levels Rex Gibson as series editor Complements the play editions of both Cambridge School Shakespeare and New Cambridge Shakespeare or any other edition