Great Britain: Merchant of Venice medal (ND); struck in silver; by Philip Nathan; ...

Great Britain: Merchant of Venice medal (ND); struck in silver; by Philip Nathan; 44.25mm, 40.85g: obverse bears quotation from the play, [the heroine Portia to the Jew Shylock, before the court]: "Tarry a little… This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood", surrounded by flowers around the edge and at top the emblem of the Royal Shakespeare Company. On reverse, the scene from Act IV, Scene I of the play. Numbered 71 and part of a series issued by the RSC; in Proof state (frosted), with a few handling marks. The continuation of Portia's words to Shylock are: "Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh, but in the cutting it if thou dost shed one drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods rre by the laws of Venice confiscate unto the state of Venice." (summarized: "But wait a moment. There’s something else. This contract doesn’t give you any blood at all. The words expressly specify "a pound of flesh". So take your penalty of a pound of flesh, but if you shed one drop of Christian blood when you cut it, the state of Venice will confiscate your land and property under Venetian law.") Critics say the character of Shylock is not an anti-Semitic one but rather an exposition about anti-Semitism in Elizabethan England.