Please view the film based on Shakespeare’s play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’. You want the version with Al Pacino. This is a wonderful film as it focuses so well not only on the period itself, but also on the Jewish community in Venice — so relevant to the mercantile structure that dominated Venice, but also, it brings into acute focus the plight of the Jews in Venice — supposedly more “open” than many other areas in Europe, but it offers a good prospective on their status and plight overall in Europe. 

Discuss the relationship between Jessica and Shylock.

Are we meant to sympathize with the moneylender’s daughter?

Is she a tragic figure, caught in the crossroads, and how does she represent the Jew’s lot in life in Europe at the time?