Is 'The Merchant of Venice' a racist play?

Is 'The Merchant of Venice' a racist play? Throughout the text 'The Merchant of Venice' presents a main them of anti Semitic racism both anti Jewish and anti Christian. The play is set in Venice, an ancient civic republic and not a nation ruled by a king or queen. However it reflects London in the late 1500's. Venice was also a trading centre of great importance. It presents a father daughter relationship where she will not be accepted to love a Christian. This shows strong racism within the community. However racism is ever present in today's society in many forms. The play centres on the two main characters, Antonio an extremely wealthy merchant and shylock a very wealthy Jew. Here there are negative feelings and attitudes between the two characters. This is mainly to do with the different religions. During the late 1500's in Venice racism was a strong and dramatic issue. The Jews were treated as an inferior race. Harsh laws were passed against them. These stopped the Jews from marriage between non-Jews and Jews. Jews were thought to be bad and were sent to special areas called 'Jewish Ghetto's' or were humiliated or maltreated in public. The conditions in the 'Jewish Ghetto's' were horrific. There was also a Jewish 'synagogue' within the 'Ghetto's'. Curfews were placed and a lack of freedom was given. They could only have a few professions. Shylock is a usurer, a person

  • Word count: 3231
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Merchant of Venice Research

Merchant of Venice research From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merchant_Of_Venice#Themes: The play is frequently staged today, but is potentially troubling to modern audiences due to its central themes, which can easily appear anti-Semitic. Critics still argue over whether the play is itself anti-semitic, or that it is merely a play about anti-Semitism, or whether the foreign setting, including Shylock's ethnicity, is a literary device used to couch uncomfortable truths. The anti-Semitic reading English society in the Elizabethan era has been described as anti-Semitic.[6] English Jews had been expelled in the Middle Ages and were not permitted to return until the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Jews were often presented on the Elizabethan stage in hideous caricature, with hooked noses and bright red wigs, and were usually depicted as avaricious usurers; an example is Christopher Marlowe's play The Jew of Malta, which features a comically wicked Jewish villain called Barabas. They were usually characterized as evil, deceptive, and greedy. During the 1600s in Venice and in some other places, Jews were required to wear a red hat at all times in public to make sure that they were easily identified. If they did not comply with this rule they could face the death penalty. Jews also had to live in a ghetto protected by Christians, supposedly for their own safety. The Jews were

  • Word count: 1422
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The Merchant of Venice: Act V scene I

The Merchant of Venice: Act V scene I The opening 7 speeches all deal with tragedy and betrayal. It seems pretty ridiculous that Lorenzo and Jessica compare their love with the three disastrous love stories. They invoke Troilus and Cressida, Pyramus and Thisbe, and Dido and Aeneus as their models. This is ironic because all the invoked lovers are failures. For example, Pyramus and Thisbe commit suicide, and Dido kills herself when Aeneus leaves her. These seem to be unusually gloomy topics of conversation for two newlyweds. The gloominess of this conversation gives the impression that the marriage has the potential to go tragically wrong. This love story does not seem at all consonant with the other love stories in the play in that their love never underwent any form of test, either with the casket, or with the rings, which Jessica apparently trades for a monkey. Thus they in a sense condemn their love to failure like those of the failed lovers. Also, unlike the other marriages in the play, their marriage is completely illegitimate and not as carefully thought out, for example, as Bassanio and Portia's. The speech by Lorenzo in ll.54-65 and the following one in ll. 70-88 are not really in keeping with the idea of his character that has been built up of him so far, because his thought process' are logical and well thought out in accordance with Plato and are to some extent

  • Word count: 1093
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Racial and Cultural Stereotyping and Bigotry in The Merchant of Venice

Word Count: 698 Racial and Cultural Stereotyping and Bigotry in The Merchant of Venice In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare has characters follow certain common stereotypes of certain religions and cultures during the Elizabethan Age. This is done in order to establish a quick understand about characters and their relationship with other characters. The stereotypes of characters and their bigotries become more apparent and amplified as the story progresses. Shakespeare has characters either use allusions to reinforce their bigotries or use metaphors to increase the effect of their prejudices. Shakespeare has his characters follow stereotypes of the time in order to fully develop the theme of stereotyping and bigotry. At the time, only Jews were allowed to lend money with interest. As we learn when Antonio seeks a lender, Shylock is a loan official, following the stereotype of a common Jew. Antonio then falls into the common stereotype of a high-class businessman. He is rich, shown by his amount of wealth he loans to his friends. He is a nobleman, as he did not try and escape Shylock's bond. He could not care less about a lower class citizen or Jew, as stated by Shylock, "You that did void your rheum upon my beard..." (Merchant of Venice 1.3. 113-114). This shows Antonio has no respect for the Jewish community, as they are low classed. Another common stereotype

  • Word count: 706
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

What importance does money assume in The Merchant of Venice?

Q. What importance does money assume in The Merchant of Venice? Referring to its various roles, examine if money takes on any moral significance in the play. In The Merchant of Venice, money takes on many roles as the themes and characters are involved mainly in money. There are many character relationships in the play, mostly reflecting on the theme of love. Yet, there are still many images of commerce portrayed in these relationships. The relationship between Portia and Bassanio, though they both come to love one another, Bassanio, at first, came to seek her hand only because he is monstrously in debt and requires her money to solve his problems. Another relationship is of the 'friendship' involving both Bassanio and Antonio. Although, the latter insists that he lends Bassanio money solely out of love, (as he proclaims to Bassanio, "My purse, my person, my extremest means lie all unlocked to your occasions"), Bassanio looks at the money Antonio lends as an investment, viewing their relationship as a matter of business. The last relationship is that of Shylock and Jessica. In the play, Shylock agonizes over the loss of his ducats and is reported to running through streets crying, "O, my ducats! O, my daughter". The words he used clearly show that he values his money at least as much as his daughter. All the above relationships depict the importance of money over

  • Word count: 823
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

English Coursework- Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

November 8th, 2002 Mallory Warrington English Coursework- Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice In the following essay I will portray my opinion of whether or not Shylock was treated unfairly. To do this I will go through the main scenes concerning Shylock and express my opinion for that particular scene. This is because it would be impossible to sympathise with Shylock on a whole because throughout the play he shows completely different sides to his character. Shakespeare has a great ability to twist complex characters therefore in one scene Shylock is considered the villain and in the next he would be considered the victim. In some scenes he shows his power hungry, manipulative side and in other scenes he shows himself as a broken man, demoralised by the racist, predominately Christian, society of Venice. At the time the play was written, there was great opposition between Christians and Jews. Shakespeare took a big risk in this play as he portrayed the inhumanity showed to Jews and could have lost his life, if he portrayed Jews so well that offended the queen or if the audience disliked it and took offence. The first scene I'm going to look at is Act one, Scene three; this is where Shylock is introduced in the play. In this scene I do not sympathise with Shylock at first because Shakespeare portrays his first appearance as smug, patronizing, confident and in control. He

  • Word count: 2021
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Discuss if Shylock in the play is victim or a villain!

ENGLISH COURSEWORK Discuss if Shylock in the play is victim or a villain! Introduction William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon. He was educated at Stratford grammar school. Shakespeare was a poet who wrote plays, so he always tried to write his verse or prose in ways that would have the greatest dramatic impact. This is the reason why his language isn't like everyday speech. Shakespeare's "The merchant of Venice" was written and first performed in about 1597 and was performed at the theatre in London, this means that the structure of the grammar, the vocabulary and the style of dialogue have changed considerably compared to the present. The words that cause us the most problems are those that have changed such as: . Cozen as in cheat. 2. Peize as in slow down 3. Eche as in add to All this creates a difficulty with regard to understanding the meaning of the play and makes it hard not to use the storyline. In Shakespeare's time, people were more prepared to listen to longer speeches than we are now. We not only have less patience to listen but we require information quickly and visually. The globe theatre also known as Shakespeare globe theatre was not only the famous playhouse of all time, but also the playhouse where Shakespeare performed many of his greatest play. Do I think Shylock is a victim or a villain? The

  • Word count: 2671
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Discuss the way in which Shakespeare dramatizes the prejudices of his own society in the court scene of The Merchant of Venice.

Discuss the way in which Shakespeare dramatizes the prejudices of his own society in the court scene of The Merchant of Venice In this essay the theme of prejudice will be carefully analysed, by focusing on Act 4 scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice, or as it is also known as the court scene. Though this play is a 'Romantic Comedy' it also highlights the darker sides of human nature: greed, prejudice, hatred and deception. Prejudice was typical of Elizabethan culture, especially anti-Semitism, the hatred of Jews. This is well shown in the play as the stereotypical twisted and evil bad guy is in fact a Jew himself! In the court the judge, the god like figure is the Duke of Venice. Though he has a lot of power and respect he is as biased as anyone else towards Antonio, the accused in this case: "I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer A stony adversary," Not only is he biased towards Antonio as he sees Shylock as "stony" and cold like a rock, or perhaps he sees his heart as "stony", unable of feel pity or remorse. Furthermore he feels pity for Antonio and that pity would definitely lean the case in favour of Antonio in the Duke's point of view. Shylock chooses to take Antonio's life rather than have three thousand ducats, which would not only make him a merciless wretch but also put him against the stereotypical Jewish money loving man. Shakespeare's design of this

  • Word count: 1947
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

In your opinion, is Shylock presented as a villain or a victim of the society he lives in? A Merchant of Venice.

First Draft In your opinion, is Shylock presented as a villain or a victim of the society he lives in? In my opinion Shylock has been presented as a victim but at times, he is made a villain because he has been treated so unequally that he has no other option besides applying the bond on Antonio. Society was very different 400 years ago. Shylock was living in the Elizabethan era, where anti-Semitism was very open. The majority of people at that time were Christians who were against Jews and treated them inhumane, because the Christians knew that it is the Jews who were responsible for the murder of Jesus Christ and they are still in the process of completely eliminating Christianity. Shylock was one of the many Jews who were subjected to brutality and insults throughout their lives. Shylock wasn't ever treated compassionately from the start, he wasn't considered as a human and we get to realise that when Shylock (in Act 3 Scene 1, Page 35, Line 54) asks Antonio: "I am a Jew. Hath not a Jews eyes, hath not a Jews hands, organs dimensions, senses, affections, passions" Antonio has subjected Shylock to insults and inequality all his life, one instance is at the beginning when in Act 1 Scene 3, Shylock reviews what Antonio has said to him: "And spit upon my Jewish gabardine" " You call me a misbeliever, cut-throat dog" "Hath a dog money, is it possible?" In this

  • Word count: 1687
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Write about a play, film, poem or book which has altered your outlook on life.

NAME: CHEN MEIJIE SHERYL CLASS: 2B 4. Write about a play, film, poem or book which has altered your outlook on life. Talking about different genres of literary works, I have come across many. But few fails to secure any place in my memory, much less, teach me anything meaningful or significant. (Yet teachers in school talk about reading more books and improving both our languages and characters?). Oh well, true or not, I think it differs in many individuals. Personally, I have come across (finally!) a play, which greatly moved me, and eventually changed my outlook on life. This work of wonders that muscled its way to the number one spot is a play by William Shakespeare, entitled "The Merchant of Venice". When it first made its 'debut appearance' during one of my Literature lessons, boy was it a total bore! Few bothered to pay attention to the teacher, and poor Shakespeare probably wondered why his play did not receive as much attention and popularity as he expected! Of course, beautiful works as such could not possibly go unappreciated. Gradually, this play began to appeal to me as I started to comprehend the depth of it. Ancient English words did hinder me, but looking beyond them made me feel the true meaning of the words... It talks about a Jew, Shylock, being condemned in a Venetian society, whereby his money-lending business was seen as some sort of sin. And so, he

  • Word count: 1651
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay