Shakespeare's representation of themes relating to power, discrimination and vengeance helps account for many drama critics arguing that 'The Merchant of Venice' remains as relevant to modern audiences as it ways to those in Elizabethan England. The nexus between individual and collective human experiences is strengthened by the bard's representation of enduring human qualities, values, beliefs and motivations linked to notions of justice and honour. Students also have the benefit of having access to a wealth of critical analysis of the play's contentious issues and ambiguities.
I have taught this play several times and am enjoying working with it again as a 'Human Experiences' text.

A good contextual documentary for this film can be found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRrDYE74ZE
http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/index.htm
The Yale site is also an excellent resource.

'Language is never neutral but carries within it, within in the cultural and attitudinal meanings embedded, a way of seeing the world.' 'Language is not a transparent medium in which we simply name and describe reality, but is influential in constructing our attitudes to the world.'

I loved teaching and writing about Crime Fiction as well as creating this tribute clip. Hope you enjoy it. 

Orwell created his novel as a warning to society about the dangers of totalitarianism. Students need to be able   gauge Orwell's contextual motivations and worldview. Orwell asserted, 
​‘What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make political writing into an art. My starting point is always a feeling of partisanship, a sense of injustice. When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, “I am going to produce a work of art.” I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience.”
Contextual resources can reinforce student understanding of the didactic purpose of the novel's confronting political satire. An audio version of the text is available on a site listed below. Contextual articles such as contemporaneous reviews and examining Orwell's articles and essays help clarify Orwell’s political purpose.