The Merchant of Venice: The Graphic Novel (Campfire Graphic Novels)

My only complaint is a bit of a prissy one: I would have preferred the original text as opposed to a modernization of it but I can see the appeal. I love reading shakespeare but I will be the first to admit that it isn't easy. Most forms of text give you something to aid your visualization but shakespeare has only text with scant stage directions. This would be a wonderful teaching aid for schools!

"The Merchant of Venice", one of William Shakespeare's best-known plays, gets the graphic novel treatment, courtesy of Campfire Classics, adapter John McDonald, and illustrator Vinod Kumar. The play offers a carefully crafted and extremely clever plot and several strongly-developed characters, including Shylock the Jewish money-lender and Portia the beautiful, rich and intelligent heiress. It would be a matter of debate as to whether the play is best characterized as a romantic or a tragic comedy.As the story opens, the merchant Antonio agrees to lend his spendthrift friend Bassanio enough money to woo the rich heiress Portia of Belmont. As Antonio's funds are tied up in several trade ventures at sea, he borrows the money from Shylock, a man whom he openly despises as a moneylender who charges interest. Shylock, no friend of Antonio, inserts a potentially cruel penalty clause in the contract, which Antonio agrees to.Bassanio will hurry on to Belmont to woo Portia. To succeed, he must face a challenging test of judgement devised by Portia's departed father. On the heels of that test will come news that Antonio has forfeited his bond to Shylock, and faces a difficult day in court. There, his life will depend on the skill of a young and unknown lawyer and his law clerk."The Merchant of Venice" includes a number of sub-plots which add to the comedy and to the romance of the basic story. The artwork of this graphic novel is quite good, and it is generally easy to follow the story. This particular version of the play has adapted Shakespeare's Elizabethan English into modern English, which removes an element of the grace inherent in several famous speeches. A second questionable adaptation is the blurring of Shylock's identity as a Jew, which also blurs the rather disturbing anti-Semiticism of the original play and robs the plot of some of its meaning, and its controversy. Cautiously recommended.

Graphic novels and comic books attract children more easily than regular books. In this case, the Merchant of Venice is a wonderful adaptation. The drawings are beautiful and one can really appreciate the story by William Shakespeare.

Reason for Reading: Mostly due to the fact that the publisher sent me a review copy, however, I am familiar with this Shakespeare play and am always interested in graphic or picture book retellings of Shakespeare.Written in modern day English, thankfully! I am one of those who (gasp) appreciate Shakespeare in our own language and can't stand trying to fumble through Elizabethan English. The book starts off with a one page intro to Shakespeare and then a Characters page which is very helpful. It shows the four main characters which one can refer back to as Antonio and Bassanio have a lot of friends with names ending in "io" which could get confusing to some readers and remembering that they are only minor characters helps the reader focus on the four whom the plot centers around. A nice faithful adaption to the play except that the controversial Jewish element has been removed, in fact, Shylock's being a Jew is never mentioned. This does take away what is an important element of discussion/analysis of this play and makes Shylock's famous speech about being the same as others ("if you prick us, do we not bleed?") seem unwarranted and over dramatic when it appears. Nicely illustrated in historical fashion, though I had a bit of a problem with Portia's depiction, she appeared rather manly looking to me, square jawed with broad shoulders. Otherwise, a nice first introduction to the play or a new way to experience a classic.

nice way to introduce a complex play

would use again item as described

Graphics is wonderful..but very poor adaptation strategy. Adaptation from a play to graphic novel needed some different strategy. Authors probably should have first narrated the play into a novel and then made a graphic story out of it. Scenes from the Acts are merely taken as independent unit and then made into graphic part, leaving the flow from scene to scene very absurd. I couldnt get the feel of reading Shakespeare.There is more to Shakespeare than mere plots. But even the plot of the play isnt made very entertaining.I have read couple of Campfire Graphic novels and admired them, but their attempt on Shakespeare, I feel, is failed.This review is for Graphic Novel by Campfire (ISBN : 978-9380028590)

This book was purchased to support a student with language learning difficulties. The story line is clear and the comic format supports understanding.