William Shakespeare (1564-1616)  

                                                                                 webmaster dboje@nmsu.edu (report broken links). 

Analysis: The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare, 1597 - year play is said to be first performed) presents us with a model of Princely Leadership (Boje, 2000) that is relevant to today's Business student; it is a critique applicable to today's global corporate model of financial capitalism, with the relocation of Third World sweat labor and resources to First World consumers and adventurer-investors, who stay-at-home, conveniently oblivious to what goes on. In fact, with David Nerlich's (1968a, b) analysis, we can read Shakespeare's play as a clash of two forms of capitalism, the old feudal ways of lending money to accumulate and hoard principal and interest, and the new merchant class of commercial/financial investment capitalists who bet, gamble and recirculate capital. Accumulation and hoarding to the financial capitalist is the ultimate sin; keep on betting and investing is the way the modern game is to be played. This it the rise of modern bourgeoisie capitalism over the feudal condition of accumulation. There is also much to be learned about leadership, in this case, the alienated leader who makes monetary wagers of high risk, instead of actually going on an adventure. While several scenes set Shylock up as the villain, my own read it is Antonio who is the Princely villain, masquerading as hero. For more see Boje (1999) Merchant of Venice analysis. and Boje & Luhman (1999) Knight Errant.  

CHARCTERS

• THE DUKE OF VENICE
  THE PRINCE OF MOROCCO, suitor to Portia
  THE PRINCE OF ARRAGON, " " "
  ANTONIO, a merchant of Venice
  BASSANIO, his friend, suitor to Portia
  SOLANIO, friend to Antonio and Bassanio
  SALERIO, " " " " "
  GRATIANO, " " " " "
  LORENZO, in love with Jessica
  SHYLOCK, a rich Jew
  TUBAL, a Jew, his friend
  LAUNCELOT GOBBO, a clown, servant to Shylock
  OLD GOBBO, father to Launcelot
  LEONARDO, servant to Bassanio
  BALTHASAR, servant to Portia
  STEPHANO, " " "
  
  PORTIA, a rich heiress
  NERISSA, her waiting-maid
  JESSICA, daughter to Shylock
  
  

TEXTS OF MERCHANT OF VENICE ON LINE

• In one long file; Another same format
• Divided up by acts and scenes; another site with acts and scenes (in Old English). Yet another 
• Another  text of the play on line
• Summary of the plot

TEXTS OF HENRY V

• Shakespeare's Henry V on web. 
• Second source for Henry V.

• Concise Bio of Shakespeare
• The Merchant of Venice may be pre-modern but it contains everything an MBA needs to know about managing. The text provides a stunning portrayal of the clash of mercantile and late modern capitalism. 
• Boje on Merchant of Venice as a text for teaching MBAs the Princely Adventurer Model of Leadership. 
  • Romantic versions of Merchant of Venice miss all the main points of the play
    • One example of missing the point and substituting romantic illusion
    • Example suggesting Antonio is Christ hero. 
    • Antonio as generous and of Christian virtue
    • Other interpretations focus on how Shakespeare demonizes Jews. 
    • Another View: Shakespeare and Anti-Semitism: The Question of Shylock
    • This one almost gets to the point, but reduces the play to Christian morality.
      • Shylock is a stereotypical caricature of a cruel, money-obsessed,
        medieval Jew, but it also suggests that Shakespeare's intentions in Merchant were not primarily anti-Semitic. Indeed, the dominant thematic complex in The Merchant of Venice is much more universal than specific religious or racial hatred; it spins around the polarity between the surface attractiveness of gold and the Christian qualities of mercy and compassion that lie beneath the flesh. 
• ANOTHER VIEWPOINT - My own view is consistent with Michael Nerlich (1968 a, b). That Shakespeare is setting up Antonio in the mask of the hero, only to deliver him to a biting critique of global commercial capitalism of not Venice, but England as it mimics the plantation slave trade practices of Spain, while pretending its trade is more noble than both Spain and the banker (played by Shylock). Shylock is set out as obvious villain, but in the court room scenes with Portia (wearing the lawyers' mask), Shylock delivers the bloody nose critique to Antonio, and grabs away his false heroic mask.  See Boje (1999) Merchant of Venice analysis. and Boje & Luhman (1999) Knight Errant.  Shakespeare's critique of global capitalism still applies to this very day. 
  • Kish-Goodling, Donna M.  "Using The Merchant of Venice in Teaching Monetary
    Economics" Journal of Economic Education Volume 29, No. 4 Issue: Fall 1998: 330-339 
• More links 
  • Scholarly Articles on Shakespeare on Internet 
  • The complete Works of Shakespeare
  • Resource Center
  • 12 books you can order on Merchant of Venice
  • More studies of Merchant of Venice 
  • Personal favorite - See Amazon books, Michael Nerlich's Ideology of Adventure Volumes 1 and 2. 
  • Merchant of Venice, live chat 
  • Shakespeare Bio

  REFERENCE PAPERS

• Boje, D. M. (2000a) Leadership in and Out of The Box: The Leadership of Princes, Heroes, Bureaucrats, and Supermen & Superwomen.

• ^{Boje, D. M. (2000a) "}Merchant of Venice: The Clash of Feudal and Commercial global Capitalism." Update of paper presented to 1999 Academy of Management meetings in symposium on "Reclaiming Indigenous Knowledge."

• Boje, D. M. (2000b) "Global Theatrics of Capitalism." Paper for the 2001 Academy of Management symposium on Theatrics, Washington D.C. August. 

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