The Merchant of Venice

The moon’s bright tonight. I think that on a night like this, when the wind blew the trees so gently that they didn’t make a sound,

Troilus

Troilus was the son of King Priam of Troy. His lover, Cressida, was sent to the Greek camp, where she betrayed him.

Troilus climbed up onto the walls of Troy and sighed for Cressida in the Greek camp.

On a night like this,

Thisbe

Thisbe had agreed to meet her lover Pyramus, but was frightened away by a lion. Pyramus killed himself because he thought the lion had eaten her, and Thisbe killed herself when she found Pyramus dead.

Thisbe saw the lion’s shadow and ran away in fear.

On a night like this,

Dido

Dido, the queen of Carthage, was abandoned by her lover Aeneas.

Dido stood holding a willow branch on the seashore, begging her lover to come back to her in Carthage.

On a night like this,

Medea

Medea used her magic to help her lover, Jason’s father. Later, Jason betrayed her, and she murdered their children in revenge.

Medea gathered magic herbs to rejuvenate old Aeson.