The Merchant of Venice "play Antonio as gay". Joseph Fiennes, however, who plays Bassanio, encouraged a homoerotic interpretation and, in fact, surprised Irons with the kiss on set, which was filmed in one take. Fiennes defended his choice, saying "I would never invent something before doing my detective work in the text. If you look at the choice of language … you'll read very sensuous language. That's the key for me in the relationship. The great thing about Shakespeare and why he's so difficult to pin down is his ambiguity. He's not saying they're gay or they're straight, he's leaving it up to his
Merchant of Venus Merchant of Venus Merchant of Venus is a board game, published in 1988 by Avalon Hill, set in an unexplored part of the galaxy during a reawakening of galactic civilization. Players move around the board as traders discovering long forgotten pockets of civilization and buying and selling goods. The game can be played by one to six players. In tournaments it is usually played by four players. The solitaire version, which relies heavily on combat with a militaristic race, has different game mechanics. The name of the game is a pun on the Shakespeare play "Merchant of Venice". The planet