Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Jessica is the daughter of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, in William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" (). In the play, she elopes with Lorenzo, a pennyless Christian, and a chest of her father's money, eventually ending up in Portia and Bassanio's household. In the play's dramatic structure, Jessica is a minor but pivotal role. Her actions motivate Shylock's vengeful insistence on his "pound of flesh" from Antonio; her relationships with Lorenzo and Shylock serves as a mirror and contrast to Portia's with Bassanio and with her father; her conversion to Christianity is the end of
The Jew (play) Shylock in William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and Barabas in Christopher Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta". In a series of articles called "Observer", first published in 1785, Cumberland created a character named Abraham Abrahams who would later serve as a template for Sheva, the title character in "The Jew". In one instalment of "Observer", Abrahams is quoted as saying, "I verily believe the odious character of Shylock has brought little less persecution upon us, poor scattered sons of Abraham, than the Inquisition itself." A decade later, in writing "The Jew", Cumberland sought to create a positive image of a