The Merchant of Venice

For the mirror universe counterpart, see The Merchant of Venice (mirror).

The Merchant of Venice was a play written by William Shakespeare during the late 16th century.

In 2293, General Chang paraphrased lines from play, saying "Tickle us, do we not laugh? Prick us, do we not bleed? Wrong us, shall we not revenge?" while his bird-of-prey, the IKS Dakronh, attacked the USS Enterprise-A over Khitomer. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

In 2364, under the influence of polywater intoxication, Data used a slightly rephrased quote from the play to finish his explanation of his similarity to Humans saying, "I have pores. Humans have pores. I have fingerprints. Humans have fingerprints. My chemical nutrients are like your blood. If you prick me, do I not...leak?" (TNG episode: "The Naked Now")

In The Annotated Shakespeare, there was an illustration based upon an engraving by W. Hodges (1744-97). It depicted the character Lorenzo saying, "How sweet the moonlight sleeps..." In 2364, this illustration was on display in Captain Jean-Luc Picard's ready room on the USS Enterprise-D. (TNG episode: "The Battle")

Later that year, in "The Annotated Shakespeare", there was a frontispiece for this play. The frontispiece was based upon an engraving made by W.M. Craig. This illustration was on display in Picard's quarters. (TNG episodes: "The Arsenal of Freedom", "We'll Always Have Paris", "The Child")

In 2375, Luther Sloan explained to Senator Kimara Cretak that "the phrase 'never say die' was originally from a 19th century poem based on Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. It has since passed into the vernacular as an exhortation never to give up, no matter what the cost." (DS9 episode: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges")

Appendices

References

• TNG episode: "The Child"

External link

• The Merchant of Venice article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.