"For this updated edition of one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays, Tom Lockwood has added a new introductory section on the latest scholarly trends, performance and adaptation practices which have occurred over the last two decades. Investigating the latest critical frames through which the play has been interpreted, the updated introduction also focuses on recent international performances on stage and screen (including Al Pacino's performances...

"Meg Langslow is plying her blacksmith's trade at ''Caerphilly Days,'' a festival inspired by her town's sudden notoriety. The lender has foreclosed on all Caerphilly's public buildings, and evicted all employees - except one. Town clerk Phineas Throckmorton has been barricaded in the courthouse basement for over a year. The fesitval's real purpose is to conceal the existence of the Pre-Civil War tunnel used to bring him supplies. But the lender may...

"The life and times of the wealthiest man who ever lived--Jacob Fugger--the Renaissance banker who revolutionized the art of making money and established the radical idea of pursuing wealth for its own sake. Jacob Fugger lived in Germany at the turn of the sixteenth century, the grandson of a peasant. By the time he died, his fortune amounted to nearly two percent of European GDP. Not even John D. Rockefeller had that kind of wealth. Most people become...

"Beginning in the twelfth century, Jewish moneylenders increasingly found themselves in the crosshairs of European authorities, who denounced the evils of usury as they expelled Jews from their lands. Yet Jews were not alone in supplying coin and credit to needy borrowers. Across much of Western Europe, foreign Christians likewise engaged in professional moneylending, and they too faced repeated threats of expulsion from the communities in which they...

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities.

Heinrich Faust desires enlightenment. He seeks to understand the very nature of life and how the world goes round. Driven by his thirst for knowledge, he unearths corpses and rummages in their guts in search of the soul. He soon meets the racketeer Mauricius, who takes him to the twilight zones of their small town. In a bath house, his attention is caught by the young Margarete, also known as "Gretchen". Later, the two new friends are entangled in...

Clemente is a moneylender and man of few words. Sofia is his new single neighbor. She is devoted to the October worship of Our Lord of the Miracles and hopes that Clemente may be the one for her. The two are brought together over Clemente's newborn baby, whose mother is a prostitute and nowhere to be found. While Clemente looks for her, Sofia cares for the baby. With these two new people in his life, Clemente has the opportunity to reconsider his...

"A stylish, modern adaptation of Shakespeare's dark comedy, with backgrounds drawn on location in Venice. The text is adapted for clarity, and transitions from simple, modern prose to original Shakespearean verse as the play progresses"--Author's web site.

Set in 1860's Venice, a young Venetian borrows money from a Jew who gives him the money on the security of one pound of flesh. Upon default the Jew insists on payment of his bond and the young Venetian is rescued by the heroine disguised as a male lawyer.