The Merchant of Venice

Bassanio asks his friend Antonio, a wealthy merchant of Venice, for a loan so he can afford to woo Portia, a beautiful heiress. Antonio’s fortune is tied up in his trading ships, but he agrees to act as guarantor, if Bassanio can borrow from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. Shylock hates Antonio, but loans the money. Pretending that this is a jest, Shylock specifies the penalty for failure to pay on time as a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Bassanio wins Portia’s hand, after undergoing a trial specified by her late father. Antonio’s ships are unexpectedly delayed and he cannot repay on time, and Shylock demands his pound of flesh at the Duke of Venice’s court. Portia and her companion Nerissa disguise themselves as men - a learned lawyer and her clerk - and travel to Venice, where Portia uses brilliant legal argument to confound Shylock’s malicious intentions, and save Antonio’s life.