Merchant of Venice

In Out of Mind, Out of Sight, Cordelia’s English class discuss Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice:

MISS MILLER: (Reading) ‘If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?’ (Stops reading) Okay. So talk to me, people. How does what Shylock says here about being a Jew relate to our discussion about the anger of the outcast in society?
CORDELIA: “Well, how about colour me totally self-involved?”
MISS MILLER: “Care to elaborate?”
CORDELIA: “Yeah. With Shylock it’s whine, whine, whine, like the whole world is about him. He acts like it’s justice, him getting a pound of Antonio’s flesh. It’s not justice, it’s yicky.”

In The Wish, the Master asks Willow and Xander, “What news on the Rialto?” This is a line from Merchant of Venice. The Rialto is a bridge in Venice, and Salanio, who asks the question, is asking for the latest news on the local scene (gathered, in this case, from local gossips, who apparently hung out on the bridge).
In I Only Have Eyes For You, Xander quips “The quality of mercy is not Buffy…” This is a reference to the famous “Quality of Mercy” speech delivered by Portia in Merchant of Venice.

   
Source:› Thanks also to samuelf
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    5 Comments about “Merchant of Venice”

    1. samuelf says:
      March 19th, 2006 at 11:23 pm

      Also, in I Only Have Eyes for You, Xander quips “The quality of mercy is not Buffy…”

      This is a reference to the famous “Quality of Mercy” speech delivered by Portia in Merchant of Venice.

      Just something I picked up on.

    2. Abby M. says:
      March 20th, 2006 at 12:30 am

      I love it when I can make Shakespeare ties or other intellectual ties to Buffy. I feel so smart! :] Go samuelf!

    3. samuelf says:
      March 20th, 2006 at 10:54 pm

      Thanks Abby. And don’t you just love the way Xander seems to execute them perfectly every time?

    4. Abby M. says:
      March 22nd, 2006 at 7:39 am

      Oh yeah. For someone who gets D’s and is proud of it, he makes a lot of references and allusions to great pieces of literature. Gotta love the Xan-Man!

    5. samuelf says:
      March 23rd, 2006 at 3:24 pm

      I guess there really ARE benefits of a Sunnydale education!

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