ABSTRACT
This chapter reconceptualises the way we understand and respond to unexpected emergence and the uncertain in pedagogical systems, in parallel with an exploration of uncertainty and complex processes of knowing in the narrative of The Merchant of Venice. The incorporation of pedagogical theory and data may seem unexpected or out of place in a monograph on English literature. The chapter illustrates how the unexpected operates within the complex systems of Shakespeare, and is a reaction against the tendency to treat complexity theory as solely theoretical and descriptive. It encompasses a more macroscopic perspective and draws further towards a conceptualisation of the wider Shakespeare system. The chapter analysis the learning process and pedagogical systems which encompass the complex systems – including the plays' internal fictional narrative systems. Processes of learning in The Merchant of Venice are characterised by disturbance and interruption: the unexpected intrudes upon the certainty of knowing. Reflective learning is a key element of responding to the unexpected.
