DIGITAL FORUM ACADEMY

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: LAW, MERCY AND THE FINE PRINT

Online - Zoom

March 10, 2027 – March 24, 2027

11 a.m. to noon

SCHEDULE & TICKETS

Digital Forum Academy: Shakespeare Deep-Dive

Back by popular demand! Study up on each of the Shakespeare plays coming to Stratford this 2027 season. Pull up your tights and leap merrily into the text to explore genre, Shakespeare’s sources, dramatic structure and each play’s central images and motifs. Over this three-week online series, you'll read the full text of the play, contextualizing it within Shakespeare’s life and times through guided instruction and class discussion with Professor Jonathan Ullyot.

No experience is required, except an interest (and maybe love) of Shakespeare. Each series is a maximum of 15 students and will offer the same content.

Jonathan Ullyot is a writer, scholar, and teacher of literature and philosophy. He is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and earned his doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago. He has taught many courses in ancient and modern literature. His YouTube channel, Jonathan Ullyot: The Literature Lab, features hundreds of lectures and teaching videos on literature.

The Merchant of Venice: Law, Mercy and the Fine Print

The Merchant of Venice walks a delicate line between comedy and tragedy, driven by some of Shakespeare’s most intense debates over justice, mercy, and debt. We’ll explore how Shakespeare uses rhetorical sparring, courtroom drama, and conflicting human motives to create a deeply provocative play.

The Merchant of Venice: Law, Mercy and the Fine Print (Series A)