Reading Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

Register Now for Reading Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

Price: $55
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Location: University Library, LI 203
Instructor(s): Mark Cirino, PhD

We will read Shakespeare’s fascinating play over the course of five classes – one act per class – and discuss its themes, its famous speeches, its wonderful characters, and its contemporary relevance. In addition to guided discussion and close-reading, we will also consider moments from various cinematic adaptations of the play. Our goal is to make the play accessible to non-specialists and increase your appreciation of Shakespeare’s genius.

As with our previous Shakespeare summer classes, this class will be designed for those who might have had previous frustration with Shakespeare, or who might even be intimidated by the very name “Shakespeare.” Whether you have read this play long ago or never at all, this course will be valuable and enjoyable, and you will become more comfortable reading Shakespeare’s sublime work

Any edition of The Merchant of Venice is acceptable. I recommend an inexpensive paperback copy with accompanying notes, such as the Folger Shakespeare Library or Signet Classics

Materials/Readings: The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare (any edition)

Mark Cirino received his PhD at the Graduate Center-CUNY. Of his eight books about American literature as writer or editor, his most recent is One True Sentence: Writers & Readers on Hemingway’s Art (2022), with Michael Von Cannon. He serves as the General Editor for Kent State University Press's “Reading Hemingway” series, for which he wrote the volume on Across the River and into the Trees (2016) and co-edited Reading Hemingway’s Winner Take Nothing (2021) with former UE student Susan Vandagriff. Dr. Cirino is the host of the popular Hemingway Society-sponsored podcast, One True Podcast.