Shylock and Roderigo Lopez.

Above all is it of interest to note that Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of
Venice' betrays the last definable traces of his discipleship to Marlowe.
Although the delicate comedy which lightens the serious interest of
Shakespeare's play sets it in a wholly different category from that of
Marlowe's 'Jew of Malta', the humanised portrait of the Jew Shylock
embodies distinct reminiscences of Marlowe's caricature of the Jew
Barabbas. But Shakespeare soon outpaced his master, and the inspiration
that he drew from Marlowe in the 'Merchant' touches only the general
conception of the central figure. Doubtless the popular interest aroused
by the trial in February 1594 and the execution in June of the Queen's
Jewish physician, Roderigo Lopez, incited Shakespeare to a new and
subtler study of Jewish character. {68} For Shylock (not the merchant
Antonio) is the hero of the play, and the main interest culminates in the
Jew's trial and discomfiture. The bold transition from that solemn scene
which trembles on the brink of tragedy to the gently poetic and humorous
incidents of the concluding act attests a mastery of stagecraft; but the
interest, although it is sustained to the end, is, after Shylock's final
exit, pitched in a lower key. The 'Venesyon Comedy,' which Henslowe, the
manager, produced at the Rose on August 25, 1594, was probably the
earliest version of 'The Merchant of Venice,' and it was revised later.
It was not published till 1600, when two editions appeared, each printed
from a different stage copy.

'King John.'

To 1594 must also be assigned 'King John,' which, like the 'Comedy of
Errors' and 'Richard II,' altogether eschews prose. The piece, which was
not printed till 1623, was directly adapted from a worthless play called
'The Troublesome Raigne of King John' (1591), which was fraudulently
reissued in 1611 as 'written by W. Sh.,' and in 1622 as by 'W.
Shakespeare.' There is very small ground for associating Marlowe's name
with the old play. Into the adaptation Shakespeare flung all his energy,
and the theme grew under his hand into genuine tragedy. The three chief
characters--the mean and cruel king, the noblehearted and desperately
wronged Constance, and the soldierly humourist, Faulconbridge--are in all
essentials of his own invention, and are portrayed with the same sureness
of touch that marked in Shylock his rapidly maturing strength. The
scene, in which the g