The Barnes English Texts GENERAL EDITOR EDWIN FAIRLEY HEAD OF THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, JAMAICA HIGH SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY GENERAL EDITOR EDWIN FAIRLEY Head of the Department of English, POE, LONGFELLOW, WHITTIER: The Raven, The Courtship of Miles Standish, Snowbound. One volume. Edited by CHARLES ELBERT RHODES, Head of the Department of English, Lafayette High School, Buffalo, N.Y. STEVENSON: Treasure Island ELIOT: Edited by FERDINAND Q. BLANCHARD Silas Marner By the GENERAL EDITOR HAWTHORNE: The House of the Seven Gables Edited by EMMA F. LOWD, Head of Department of English, Washington Irving High School, New York SHAKESPEARE: Julius Cæsar Edited by CHARLES ADDISON DAWSON, Ph.D., Merchant of Venice Edited by CHARLES ROBERT GASTON, Ph.D., Head of the Department of English, Richmond Hill High School, New York City Macbeth Edited by CLARENCE W. VAIL, Manual Training High School, Brooklyn, N.Y. AMERICAN POEMS: Edited by ERNEST CLAPP NOYES, Department of English, Peabody High School, Pittsburgh, Pa. THE MERCHANT OF VENICE BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE EDITED BY CHARLES ROBERT GASTON, PH.D. HEAD OF THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, RICHMOND HILL HIGH AL NEW YORK THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY 1914 PREFATORY NOTE In the preparation of this edition of a Shakespearian play, the editor has had constantly in mind the reading of the play as a play. Shakespeare meant that his audiences should have some rollicking fun out of The Merchant of Venice. It would be a shame for boys and girls to read the play in school without feeling something of the spirit of fun in the comedy. Hence, in the introductory material and in the comments, topics, and questions at the back of the book there is nothing that ought to take the pupil's mind away from the great, outstanding point that The Merchant of Venice is a good lively comedy to be enjoyed today as well as it was enjoyed by the happy Elizabethan audiences. The editor wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Variorum edition of Furness and to the useful suggestions given to him by his wife during the preparation of the present edition. 284398 |
