"Do Shakespeare's Characters Mean What They Say?" 
https://www.worldshakesbib.org/entry/bbbo857/
Author:
	Knapp, Jeffrey.
Type:
	Journal Article
Year:
	2025
Publication Information:
	Textual Practice 39, no. 8 (2025): 1347–63.
Annotation:
	Suggests that Shakespeare's characters in Merchant of Venice speak in "proxy forms of expression: that allow them to say indirectly what they would otherwise feel powerless to say"; shows that these proxy languages "alienate characters from themselves" and can be unsuccessful, as with Antonio expressing his love for Bassanio, or can be successful, as with Portia's disguise as Balthazar. English summary, 1347.
Language:
	English
Tags:
	Scholarship, Criticism, History of Criticism, The Merchant of Venice
WSB Update:
	Fall 2025
WSB Record Number:
	bbbo857