Il mercante di Venezia

Venice, 1596. The noble Bassanio wants to ask the young Portia in marriage, but he does not have enough money to woo her. So he asks for help from the merchant Antonio, a wealthy friend of his, who however has invested the majority of his possessions in cargo ships still on their way. Antonio then asks for a loan from the moneylender Shylock, who he repeatedly mocked for his Semitic origins. Seeing the possibility of revenge, Shylock agrees to give him the requested money, as long as he returns it in three months: otherwise, Antonio will have to give him a pound of his own flesh. When the news of the shipwreck of the merchant ships arrives, Antonio is unable to pay his debt and Shylock demands his pound of flesh: but a young and mysterious lawyer arrives to defend the merchant in front of the Doge.