Explore how Shakespeare influences audience opinion of Shylock in the play 'The Merchant of Venice'

The first 200 words of this essay...

Explore how Shakespeare influences audience opinion of Shylock in the play 'The Merchant of Venice'

"Merchant of Venice" was written by Shakespeare in the sixteenth century. The action of the play takes place in Venice and in Belmont. Belmont is imaginary, but Venice is real. In the sixteenth century, Venice was the centre for international trade, importing goods from different corners of the earth, and exporting them in the same way. Jews were often forbidden to own land or to trade; therefore the only lacerative profession open to them was money-lending. There were not many Jews in England, but in the middle ages English Christians hated the Jews. The Elizabethans also hated the traditional Jewish profession of usury. If we are prejudice, we may dislike someone for no other reason than they are a different colour, race, nationality or social class to us. In England today there are laws that attempt to control the effects of prejudice. If an employer refuses to give an applicant a job simply because they are coloured, female or Jewish then they are breaking the law. Therefore this play is not relevant to today's audience as their responses to Shylock would be different compared