[00:00.30]
[00:00.31]Have you heard any imputation to the contrary?
[00:02.97]Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
[00:04.80]My reason in saying that he's a good man is to have you understand me that he is sufficient
[00:12.79]3,000 ducats. I think I may take his bond
[00:24.39]With any loan, things can go wrong
[00:26.92]Ships can sink
[00:28.34]And that is precisely why anyone who lends money to a merchant
[00:32.37]if only for the duration of an ocean voyage, needs to be compensated.
[00:36.53]We usually call the compensation interest, the amount paid to the lender over and above the sum lent or "principal"
[00:48.09]Overseas trade of the sort that Venice depended on couldn't operate without such transactions
[00:53.50]And they remain the foundation of international trade to this day
[01:06.17]But why does Shylock turn out to be such a villain
[01:10.29]demanding literally "a pound of flesh", in effect Antonio's death if he can't fulfill his obligations?
[01:18.30]Why is Shakespeare's moneylender so heartless,
[01:22.01]the original of that bloodsucking financier who recurs time and again in western literature?
[01:29.09]