Over the course of five weeks, we will read through and discuss one of William Shakespeare’s more controversial plays: The Merchant of Venice. Each session we will read out loud one act of the play, and then spend the rest of the session discussing the text and contexts. No outside reading will be required.
Active participation will be encouraged, but if you are more of a listener, then you can still join in on the discussion at the end without taking on an “acting” role. Any modern edition of the text is fine (and a free version can be found online through Project Gutenberg). Margo Kolenda-Mason, instructor, is a Ph.D. candidate in the English Language and Literature Department at UM, where she studies medieval and renaissance literature. This Study Group is for those 50 and over and meets Mondays, 3:30–5:00 pm on November 18 – December 16.