It's also the most controversial attempt ever made to resolve one of the most emotionally-charged issues in Shakespeare criticism: the question of anti-Semitism in the characterization of Shylock, the Jewish money lender.

This short book on The Merchant of Venice is a literary experiment, an exploration of an untested idea. It begins with a radically counter-intuitive approach: seeing Shylock -- the classic anti-Jewish stereotype -- in terms of ancient Roman honor and ancient Roman comedy instead of the customary Christian/Jewish moral issues.

Beginning with a narrow focus on a single...