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
On the Razzle (play) On the Razzle (play) On the Razzle is a play by Tom Stoppard. It is an adaptation of the Viennese play "Einen Jux will er sich machen" by Johann Nestroy, which had been adapted twice by Thornton Wilder. The first 1938 version, entitled "The Merchant of Yonkers", was faithful to the original material, but the second 1955 version, renamed "The Matchmaker", expanded the previously secondary role of Dolly Gallagher Levi, who later became the heroine of the Jerry Herman musical hit, "Hello, Dolly!". Stoppard's adaptation eliminates the Dolly character. The play's title is a euphemism often used by the British