Shakespeare and the politics of culture in late Victorian England

In Shakespeare and the Politics of Culture in Late Victorian England, Linda Rozmovits considers how and why The Merchant of Venice came to exercise such a powerful hold on late Victorian society. From debates about Portia and the politics of the New Woman to emerging concerns about the changing nature of citizenship, capital, and the longstanding "Jewish question," The Merchant of Venice served as a lens through which people filtered their experience of social life and social change.

The relationship between the play and the people who studied it, read it, and watched it being performed was extraordinarily dynamic, and it is the nature of this strange and dynamic relationship that this book explores.