Discuss the presentation of the Christians in 'The Merchant of Venice'

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Holly Anderson

Discuss the presentation of the Christians in ‘The Merchant of Venice’

                Although set in Italy, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ reflects the attitudes of Elizabethan England; it shows many Anti-Semitic traits within the characters and Shylock, a Jew, is viewed as a greedy, manipulative man.  However, the play also looks at whether Shylock is to blame for this or the Christians, who torment him because of his religion throughout the play.  

                The first characters that we are shown in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ are Christians, showing us that Christians will play a very central role within the play.  The characters of Solarino and Solanio appear in the first scene with Antonio and, although they do not play a role within the play that aids the plot evolvement, they do give a very good picture of how the majority of Christians perceive the Jews, which is as “currish” and “harsh”. However, we do not see this dark side to them immediately; they appear to be jovial, comical characters in the first scene when they are trying to cheer Antonio up, and raise the tone by suggesting they all should “laugh like parrots at a bag-piper”.  However, as we see more of them throughout the play their true beliefs become very apparent. Even if they do not state bluntly their opinions towards Jews they express their hatred and prejudice in the language they use. For example, when talking about Shylock, they call him names such as “villain Jew” and “dog”. This is especially insulting to people of the Jewish religion and although he is not present at the time they still describe him as this, showing how it is buried within their mind how much they dislike the Jews and it is as though they naturally insult them even when it is not required or will cause them direct insult.

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        Antonio, in the title role, is a Christian who appears to be much loved within his circle of friends.  They are always praising him by complimenting his spirit and saying to him that they would sacrifice everything “to deliver you”.  They try to take care of him by cheering him up or insulting his enemies.  However, one could argue that Bassanio is only praising him in Scene 1 in order to blackmail him into giving him money.  However, by doing this it also shows that Bassanio knew Antonio would be willing to give the money, showing his generous ...

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