Spanish Versions of The Merchant of Venice, V.i: Jessica and Lorenzo’s Puzzling Exchange in Moonlit Belmont (1992-2001)

Aware that it is the task of the translator of complex texts to make them accessible to his/her audience —particularly in the case of theatrical texts that await enactment on the part of actors— the present article focuses on two theatrical versions of Molina Foix’s Spanish translation of the love duet in The Merchant of Venice, V.i., looking at the remarks made by the translator to make the text’s complex mythological allusions understandable to the actors performing in J.C. Plaza’s 1992 and H. Heyme’s 2001 Spanish versions of the play. As their versions show opposite approaches to the text —one of them fully romantic; the other completely dark— a thorough analysis of its structure and sources has been undertaken that uncovers the text’s subtle ironies and ambiguities, which any actor or actress should be aware of when attempting a nuanced enactment of the lines.