A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the award of the Degree" Licence en Pédagogie Appliquée,Agrégé de l' Enseignement secondaire en Anglais"

This work examines the impact of self-interest in William Shakespeare's The Merchant pf Venice. It x-rays characters whose actions and relationship are guided by selfish motive. This self-interest does not only pervade business, love and judiciary among other issues but also cause untold consquences on the characters such as losing credibility, material things, friends, lack of full happiness, etc.

This research consequently anchors on the hypothesis that relationships that are motivated by self-interests bring about many negative consequences.

This play is therefore a reflection of Shakespeare's time, a period when people appreared to be faithful, helpful and merciful with regard to others whereas in reality they were interested in their personal interest and well-being. This hypocrisy makes Shylock victim and leads others into problems.

Using the New Historicism approach, which focuses on historical and cultural background of the production of a text, we have found out that the sixteenth century English society was characterised by self-interest which resulted from capitalism and religious leanings that were in steady growth at that time.