There is also a prominent use of verse in “The Merchant of Venice.” For example, when Bassanio confesses his love to Portia, he says “‘Confess and love’ had been the very sum of my confession. O happy ...

Portia asks Bassanio to spend some time with her before ... I am lock'd in one of them: If you do love me, you will find me out. Nerissa and the rest, stand all aloof.

Murray Abraham untangles the controversies surrounding “The Merchant of Venice ... you are in love. -Fie Fie. -[ Laughs ] -Actually, I think he could be in love with Bassanio.

As with most romantic comedies it has a handsome, noble lover, in this case Bassanio who, with help from his friend Antonio pursues and wins Portia, the love ... The Merchant of Venice goes ...

Getting a firm grasp on The Merchant of Venice is a Sisyphean task ... into this arrangement with Shylock because of his love for young Bassanio, who needs the money to court Portia of Belmont.

So, it's to director and writer Michael Radford's credit that he makes good go of "William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice ... true love are the centerpiece of the film. Young Bassanio ...

“The Merchant of Venice,” onstage at Shakespeare ... upon the relationship of Antonio and Bassanio, suggesting that there’s an unrequited love at the heart of it. This nuanced detail ...

“The Merchant of Venice,” rooted in Elizabethan antisemitism, is a notable exception. To finance his friend Bassanio’s wooing ... their husbands to give away love tokens they promised ...

Blessed, maybe. “The Merchant of Venice” is a fairy tale with a corrosive center, a chocolate filled with battery acid. Its plot joins two folk tales, three love stories and a nerve ...