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Fact 1: "The Nazis used The Merchant of Venice" as propaganda.

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Fact 1: "The Nazis used The Merchant of Venice" as propaganda.

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Since Shylock, the Jewish villain of the play, is characterized as cruel and cunning, the Nazis believed the play was in line with their malicious anti-Semitism. There were 50 productions of the play in Germany between 1933 and 1939.

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Fact 1: Shakespeare was not an Elizabethan playwright.

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Fact 1: Shakespeare was not an Elizabethan playwright.

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The majority of his plays were written after Queen Elizabeth I’s death, making him a Jacobean writer.

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Fact 1: Nobody drank water in Elizabethan England

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Fact 1: Nobody drank water in Elizabethan England

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Because water was contaminated and not safe to drink,  most British people in the Elizabethan era drank ale, beer, cider or wine instead of water.

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Fact 2: Shakespeare’s father was paid to drink beer.

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Fact 2: Shakespeare’s father was paid to drink beer.

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John Shakespeare was elected the borough “ale taster,” which means that sampled the quality of bread and malt liquors.

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Shakespeare hoarded food, and during times when food was scarce, he would sell it at high prices.

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Shakespeare may have been threatened with jail time for tax evasion.

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Fact 5: Shakespeare had a strange will. 

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Fact 5: Shakespeare had a strange will. 

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The only thing Shakespeare left to his wife, Anne, was the second best bed in the house. His will reads: ‘“I gyve unto my wife my second best bed with the furniture”.

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Fact 6: Some moons were named after Shakespeare’s characters.

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Fact 6: Some moons were named after Shakespeare’s characters.

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Oberon, Ariel, and Juliet, the moons circling around the planet of Uranus,  are named after characters from Shakespeare plays.

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Fact 2: The expression "all that glitters is not gold" originated in The Merchant of Venice.

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Fact 2: The expression "all that glitters is not gold" originated in The Merchant of Venice.

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Other commonly used phrases that came from Shakespeare's play include:

"with bated breath" (with great anticipation)

"a pound of flesh" (something owed that must be paid back, no matter what the cost)

"a blinking idiot" (a fool)

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"Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind."

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"Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind."

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- Queen Elizabeth I of England

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Fact 2: Witch hysteria occurred in Elizabethan England

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Fact 2: Witch hysteria occurred in Elizabethan England

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Similar to the rest of Europe, England went through a phase of witch hysteria during the Elizabethan era. In England, witches found guilty of murder were publicly hanged, whereas in France they were burned at the stake.

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Fact 3: Shakespeare invented the name Jessica in The Merchant of Venice.

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Fact 3: Shakespeare invented the name Jessica in The Merchant of Venice.

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Shakespeare gives Shylock's daughter the name Jessica. Before that time, the name didn't exist.

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Fact 4: Racism is demonstrated throughout this play, and is not limited to anti-Semitism. 

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Fact 4: Racism is demonstrated throughout this play, and is not limited to anti-Semitism. 

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The four suitors Portia discusses in Act 1, Scene 2 and the three suitors who hazard for her hand in marriage, are characterised in very nationalistic terms.

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"What are kings, when regiment is gone, but perfect shadows in a sunshine day?"

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"What are kings, when regiment is gone, but perfect shadows in a sunshine day?"

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- Christopher Marlowe

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Fact 3: Elizabethan Society was Class-Based

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Fact 3: Elizabethan Society was Class-Based

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In Elizabethan times, society was divided into a strict social order that included six classes: the monarchy, the nobility, the gentry, the merchant class, the yeoman class and laborers.

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Fact 4: Elizabethan Era Consumers Did Not Use Paper Money

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Fact 4: Elizabethan Era Consumers Did Not Use Paper Money

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In the Elizabethan Era, money existed as coins comprised of silver and gold. The fineness, or exact weight of the silver or gold of the coin determined its value.