You will play the part of a young man
just beginning to come into his own. You are the son of a major
businessman of Venice. As other obligations prevent him from
being there himself, he has sent you to the courtroom to observe
Antonio's trial and to collect intelligence of what may have led up to
this bizarre scene.
The action of the story takes place through a series of discrete steps. In between each step, you will have the opportunity to observe your surroundings and the characters on the "stage", speak to other characters, etc. You may also, if you choose, simply sit back and observe the action. Your youth and lack of social experience will not allow you to have much effect on the grand events that will play out before you. By observing closely and questioning others when you get the opportunity, however, you may gain some new insignts into the web of issues and interrelationships that make up Shakespeare's complex plot. I hope you will also have fun, as you observe the drama played out before your eyes.
The interaction you will engage in is all text-based. Do not fear, though. Manipulating the story is really quite simple. Because you are limited to being an observer in this particular story, you will probably want to make use of only a few simple phrases.
Examine <person or object>
To take a good look at something. You can abbreviate this as "x."
Examples: "examine duke" or "examine torches" or "x me"
LOOK
To survey your surroundings and see who is currently in the room. You can abbreviate this as "L."
Ask <person> about <person or subject>
The most interesting form of interaction. All of the significant characters will have a response on quite a wide variety of topics. This is quite an opinionated bunch, so don't hesitate to experiment. Some of their responses may surprise you, some may amuse you, and perhaps some may even be educational. Note that characters may not be able to respond to your questioning if they are engaged by other events. Don't hesitate to go back to these characters later.
Examples: "ask Antonio about jews" or "ask Shylock about pound of flesh" or "ask Salerio about me."
Some suggested topics of discussion: the Duke; Antonio; Bassanio; Gratiano; Salerio; Lorenzo; Shylock; Tubal; Launcelot; Old Gobbo; Leonardo; Portia; Jessica; Nerissa; Venice; business; law; Jews; Belmont; Christianity; pound of flesh; me.
WAIT
Sit back and watch events unfold without doing anything this move. You can abbreviate this as "z."
SAVE
Bookmark your current position in the story to a local file on your computer.
RESTORE
Pick up from where you previously SAVED your story.
Sometimes the story will display more text than will fit in the window. When this happens, a MORE prompt will appear at the bottom of the window. After reading the text already on screen, just press any key to see the rest.
You may need to click once with your mouse in the story's window to give it keyboard focus and allow it to respond to your inputs. This behavior will vary among different operating systems and web browsers.
The action of the story takes place through a series of discrete steps. In between each step, you will have the opportunity to observe your surroundings and the characters on the "stage", speak to other characters, etc. You may also, if you choose, simply sit back and observe the action. Your youth and lack of social experience will not allow you to have much effect on the grand events that will play out before you. By observing closely and questioning others when you get the opportunity, however, you may gain some new insignts into the web of issues and interrelationships that make up Shakespeare's complex plot. I hope you will also have fun, as you observe the drama played out before your eyes.
The interaction you will engage in is all text-based. Do not fear, though. Manipulating the story is really quite simple. Because you are limited to being an observer in this particular story, you will probably want to make use of only a few simple phrases.
Examine <person or object>
To take a good look at something. You can abbreviate this as "x."
Examples: "examine duke" or "examine torches" or "x me"
LOOK
To survey your surroundings and see who is currently in the room. You can abbreviate this as "L."
Ask <person> about <person or subject>
The most interesting form of interaction. All of the significant characters will have a response on quite a wide variety of topics. This is quite an opinionated bunch, so don't hesitate to experiment. Some of their responses may surprise you, some may amuse you, and perhaps some may even be educational. Note that characters may not be able to respond to your questioning if they are engaged by other events. Don't hesitate to go back to these characters later.
Examples: "ask Antonio about jews" or "ask Shylock about pound of flesh" or "ask Salerio about me."
Some suggested topics of discussion: the Duke; Antonio; Bassanio; Gratiano; Salerio; Lorenzo; Shylock; Tubal; Launcelot; Old Gobbo; Leonardo; Portia; Jessica; Nerissa; Venice; business; law; Jews; Belmont; Christianity; pound of flesh; me.
WAIT
Sit back and watch events unfold without doing anything this move. You can abbreviate this as "z."
SAVE
Bookmark your current position in the story to a local file on your computer.
RESTORE
Pick up from where you previously SAVED your story.
Sometimes the story will display more text than will fit in the window. When this happens, a MORE prompt will appear at the bottom of the window. After reading the text already on screen, just press any key to see the rest.
You may need to click once with your mouse in the story's window to give it keyboard focus and allow it to respond to your inputs. This behavior will vary among different operating systems and web browsers.