This research deals with the concept of readership and its influence on the translation of literary texts in general, and figurative language in particular. The research aims to determine the relationship between the readership and the translation process, and to determine the method of translation used by a translator for each type of reader. The research hypothesizes that readership affects the selection of a translation strategy. Therefore, the research suggests an evaluation of the translation in terms of the nature of the reader to highlight the translator's knowledge of this variable. Theoretically, the study presents an account of the concept of readership as well as a brief account of literary texts , especially the figurative language as a representative of such texts. Practically, a group of texts, specifically five types of simile from Shakespeare's comedy The Merchant of Venice and four translations were selected as research samples to determine the extent to which the translators adopt certain strategies towards the intended reader.