Explore the web links below to find out more about The Merchant of Venice and other Shakespeare plays

Portia in a puffy silk dress playing a harpsichord as Nerrisa looks on, also in a silk dress with puffy sleeves
Nerissa (Prunella Scales) plays the keyboard as Portia (Margaret Johnston) watches in The Merchant of Venice 1956
Photo by Angus McBean © RSC Browse and license our images

RSC related websites 

The RSC's archive is held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. You can visit the Library and Archives there to look at production related information, including photos, videos of shows and stage management documents:

Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive homepage

You can search the RSC catalogue here: 

RSC performance database

For further reading lists, synopses and more information about each of the plays, visit the RSC Shakespeare editions website: 

RSC Shakespeare website 

Discover how Patsy Ferran, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, 2015, found her pathway to Shakespeare:

Patsy Ferran

Other websites 

The BBC's series on Shakespeare in collaboration with the RSC: 

Shakespeare Unlocked 

The Bodleian's Library have digitised their edition of Shakespeare's First Folio so you can see the play in the 1623 form: 

Bodleian Library's digitised first folio 

Explore the leading American Shakespeare Library, their digital image collection and their digital text project: 

The Folger Shakespeare Library 

The Folger's Digital Image Collection 

Folger Digital Texts 

You can search the whole of Shakespeare's plays for quotes or specific words on Rhymezone: 

Search Shakespeare's plays 


For more advanced searching of Shakespeare's plays, look at Open Source Shakespeare: 

Open Source Shakespeare 

For a humorous summary of The Merchant of Venice and other plays, try Good Tickle-Brain:

Good Tickle-Brain

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