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The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (Early Modern, English, Drama, Shakespeare)
Recorded course taught by Joseph Pearce for High School Renaissance/Shakespeare Literature
Summary

Professor Pearce, author of three books on Shakespeare and editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of The Merchant of Venice, will reveal the deep Christian meaning of one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most controversial plays.

Explore one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most controversial plays alongside Professor Pearce, the author of three books on Shakespeare and editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of The Merchant of Venice. In six classes, you will learn about Shakespeare’s life and Catholicism as well as grappling with the questions the play asks about choice, justice, and joy.

Duration of each class: 55 minutes

Prerequisite: The ability to read and enjoy the book

Suggested Grade Level: 8th to 12th grade

Suggested High School Credit: ½ semester Literature. Add another literature course for full credit (see Unlimited Access.)

Instructor Bio: Joseph Pearce

Course Description: Professor Pearce, author of three books on Shakespeare and editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of The Merchant of Venice, will reveal the deep Christian meaning of one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most controversial plays.

Course Outline:

Class 1: The Bard of Avon and the Church of Rome: Shakespeare’s Catholicism. The Background and Sources of The Merchant of Venice.
Class 2: Act One – Of Jews and Jesuits. Venetian Blindness. Critical Mistakes and Dramatic Errors.
Class 3: Act Two – “I have much ado to know myself”. Portia as the Gate of Virtue. Shylock the Usurer.
Class 4: Act Three – The Right to Choose. Lead, Kindly Light.
Class 5: Act Four – The Vice of Vengeance. The Testing of Shylock.
Class 6: Act Five – The Testing of Bassanio. Light and Lightheartedness.

Course Materials:  The Merchant of Venice (Ignatius Critical Edition, 978-1-58617-320-3). Click on the book title for ordering information.

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Homework: Weekly reading assignments and quizzes (approximately one hour per week).

Course name
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (Early Modern, English, Drama, Shakespeare)
Instructor
Joseph Pearce
Semester
Recorded
Category
Literature ➤ Renaissance/Shakespeare Literature
Grade level
High School
Start time
June 4th, 2024 at 1:00 PM ET
Course type
Recorded, free with subscription
Relative due dates
Relative due dates are disabled for this course.

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Joseph Pearce
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About Joseph Pearce

A native of England, Joseph Pearce is the internationally acclaimed author of many books, which include bestsellers such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis and The Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc.

His books have been published and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Croatian and Polish. He has hosted two 13-part television series about Shakespeare on EWTN, and has also written and presented documentaries on EWTN on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. His verse drama, Death Comes for the War Poets, was performed off-Broadway to critical acclaim. He has participated and lectured at a wide variety of international and literary events at major colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Europe, Africa and South America.

He is Visiting Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University and a Visiting Fellow of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (Merrimack, New Hampshire). He is editor of the St. Austin Review (https://staustinreview.org/), series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions (www.ignatiuscriticaleditions.com), senior instructor with Homeschool Connections, and senior contributor at the Imaginative Conservative and Crisis Magazine.

His personal website is http://www.jpearce.co.  

Testimonies from students:

“I appreciated and enjoyed the class, I understood the teacher even with his accent.”

“I LOVE Mr. Pearce's British accent! I also greatly appreciated the email response that was given when I asked a question.”

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© 2024 Homeschool Connections; Joseph Pearce. All Rights Reserved.

  • This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections or purchasers of the course. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment, and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
  • You may print or download to your own storage extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.
  • Upon completion of the course, you must delete all copies of course materials from any storage on which you saved permissible extracts.

Violation of the above copyright policies may result in expulsion without any refund and/or legal action.