"Good signors all, when shall we laugh, say when?", exclaims Bassanio on his entrance in the first Act of The Merchant of Venice.
This line contains the key to the entire play. In this presentation, I reveal secrets that have been hidden in this play for 400 years.
Bassanio and Anthonio, the two male leads of the play, stand for Democritus and Heraclitus, the "Laughing" and the "Weeping" Philosophers.
They also represent Francis and Anthony Bacon. Merchant of Venice is a veiled story with many ingeniously concealed hidden layers.
At its heart likes a joke which has not been cracked in four hundred years.
Below you can watch the video of this talk given to the Francis Bacon Society in 2014, read the notes and slides, and an article.
You can also read the Notes and slides of the presentation.
Finally, here is an article I wrote for sirbacon.org in which I outline a preliminary version of these ideas.
"When shall we laugh? Say, when?": Francis Bacon and the Merchant of Venice
