The Merchant Of Venice -- Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare, Literary Companion Series, c. 2000.

The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare, The Everyman Shakespeare, c. 1991.

Shylock takes on a life of "his" own -- separate from the play -- p. 57,  Literary Companion Series, c. 2000, just as in the Henry IV plays. This was demonstrated by the alternate title of the play when registered in 1958: "a booke of the Marchaunte of Venyce ortherwise called the Jewe of Venyce."

Wow.

Essex's Rebellion: 

Essex's Rebellion was an unsuccessful rebellion led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, in 1601 against Queen Elizabeth I of England and the court faction led by Sir Robert Cecil to gain further influence at court.

From Chapter 1, page 58, of the Literary Companion Series, c. 2000:

The play mingles the immediate and the faraway, the fairy-tale with the commercial.

Its connection with the world around it is easily demonstrated. It draws upon for instance, the popular hostility to Jews that had been whipped up in 1594 by the earl of Essex and his supporters in prosecuting a Portuguese Jew, called Lopez, for treason.

Lopez was a physician who had been in the service of the earl of Leicester before being taken on the by the queen herself. He became involved in political conspiracy, especially after the arrival in London in 1592 of Don Antonio, a claimant of the Portuguese throne.

But Essex sought to use him in his own intrigues, as a means of cultivating a source of intelligence about Spain and Portugal not available to his gray-bearded colleagues on the Privy Council.

Lopez went along with this, but made sure the queen was informed of any new developments before Essex was. This gave rise to bad feeling between the men, and eventually Essex denounced him as traitor, plotting to poison both Don Antonio and the queen.....in February Lopez was tried and found guilty of plotting the queen's death, and several accomplices were also convicted.