A study of anti-Semitism in 'The Merchant of Venice' it's historical and cultural perspective and possible interpretations and audience reactions from the original time of writing to present day.

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A study of anti-Semitism in 'The Merchant of Venice' it's historical and cultural perspective and possible interpretations and audience reactions from the original time of writing to present day.

'The Merchant of Venice' was written by Shakespeare in 1596 and appeals to both audiences of comedy and tragedy. The play features anti-Semitism which is a response to 1500's Britain as well as other literature of the time. Anti-Semitism is the term used to describe discrimination towards Jews and Judaism. 'The Merchant of Venice' has received both positive and negative comments over the centuries and throughout this essay I will look at some of these. I will also look at reasons why Shakespeare wrote an anti-Semitic play and what other similar literature there was at the time of writing.

At the time of writing Queen Elizabeth the First was in reign and the country was Christian. Protestant more than any other form as Catholicism was banned by the Queen. Some people of the time were also anti-Semitic and this was only heightened by the case of Rodrigo Lopez. He was the Queen's physician and was hung for supposed plotting against the Queen even though he was considered innocent by many. The Judge called him "That vile Jew" and he was hanged for being a Jew. This is an example of the treatment of Jews at the time. It is very important to stress that not everyone was anti-Semitic at the time. Many people of Shakespeare's time did not know what a Jew looked like and only had medieval tales of Jews drinking the blood of Christian children to base their opinions on; despite human sacrifice been against the Jewish faith. This is why so much hostility was held for Rodrigo Lopez and these stories were very much still believed during Shakespeare's childhood and it is thought that an upbringing in this sort of environment brought along the anti-Semitic views expressed in 'The Merchant of Venice.' Many Christians in the 1500's did not have discriminative views of Jews and Judaism which and this was despite the medieval stories and plays.

Shakespeare's inspiration for 'The Merchant of Venice' is believed to have come from other plays and literature which were circulating at the time. The two main influences are 'The Jew of Malta' written by Christopher Marlowe and 'Il Pecorone' written by Giovanni Fiorentino. 'The Jew of Malta' is very similar to 'The Merchant of Venice.' The Jew is called Barabas and he poisons the nuns when his daughter runs away and becomes a nun. The main themes of 'The Jew of Malta' are racial tensions, religious conflict and political unrest which are very similar to the themes of 'The Merchant of Venice'. Barabas is a stereotypical Jew of the time because he is hated, violent and cruel. One of the main differences between the two plays is that Shakespeare's Jew, Shylock, is more of a man than Barabas because Shylock did not kill people. The plot to 'Il Pecorone' is the same as 'The Merchant of Venice' and Shylock is based upon the Jew from 'Il Pecorone'. The story in 'Il Pecorone' tells of a wealthy woman of Belmont who marries an upstanding young gentleman. Her husband needs money and his friend, desperate to help, goes to a money-lender to borrow the required cash for his friend. The money-lender, who is also a Jew in 'Il Pecorone', demands a pound of flesh as payment if the money is not paid back. When the money is not paid in time, the Jew goes to court to ensure he receives what he is owed. The friend's life is saved when the wealthy wife speaks in court of true justice and convinces the judge to refuse the Jew his pound of flesh. Shakespeare adds the casket story line and the Shylock's usury in 'Il Pecorone' the Jew lends the friend money without interest.
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Shakespeare's presentation of Jews in 'The Merchant of Venice' is a mixture of good and bad. In the play there are only three Jews and one of these is converted to Christianity within the play. The first example of Shakespeare making Shylock, the leading Jew, look bad is in act 1 scene 3; Shylock is talking about Antonio in a soliloquy, "I hate him for he is a Christian." This s a very good example of how Shakespeare villified the Jews and creates a feeling of hatred amongst the audience. At the original time of performance the audiences ...

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