Inhalt:
1) Summary

2) Characters

3) Act I
3.1) Relationships
3.2) Marriage in Shakespeare's times
3.3) Jews in renaissance Europe
3.4) The contract
3.5) Is Bassanio a treasure hunter?
3.6) Portia's test

4. Act II
4.1) The three caskets
4.2) The prince of Morocco
4.3) The golden casket
4.4) Jessica
4.5) Belmont <-> Venice
4.6) The prince of Arragon
4.7) The silver casket

5) Act III
5.1) Shylock's speech
5.2) Bassanio's choice
5.3) The lead casket
5.4) Oaths
5.5) The legal system in Venice
5.6) Shylock vs Antonio

7) Act IV
7.1) Shylock and Antonio during and after the trial
7.2) Portia's speech
7.3) Shylock's justification
7.4) Justice <-> Mercy

8) Act V
8.1) Bassanio - Antonio - Portia
8.2) The Ending

9) Drama analysis
9.1) Blank verse
9.2) Aside
9.3) Dramatic structure
9.4) Hidden identities
9.5) The different plots

10) Themes and Interpretation
10.1) Love
10.2) Hatred
10.3) Justice
10.4) Mercy
10.5) Appearance and reality
10.6) Elizabethan views
10.7) Elizabethan symbolism