The Merchant of Venice is an Effective Tool for Spreading Anti-Semitism
The Merchant of Venice can be an effective tool for spreading anti-Semitism depending on the type of reader. Since Shakespeare’s play is an “ambiguous” work, everyone can have different interpretations depending on their knowledge, thoughts and background. In this essay, we will answer to the question by analyzing the character of Shylock.
Although Shylock takes action only in five scenes of the play, he is the cornerstone of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Shylock, “referred as ‘the Jew’ over sixty times”, is the key to the play: he shows not only the anti-Semitism sentiment of his time, which depicts Christians as brutal and harsh (Herbert Bronstein, 1969). Indeed, from the very beginning Shylock is mistreated by Antonio who called him a “misbeliever, cut-throat, dog / And spit upon [his] Jewish gabardine” (1.3.107–108), but he is also described as the evil usurer greedy for justice who cannot show mercy nor pity. At this point, different types of readers could either sympathize with Shylock and feel compassion for him or identify with the Christians and therefore accept their behaviour.
The second time that Shylock appears in the play is in the third act where Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, escapes with the Christian Lorenzo. This is the paradox of the play. She not only runs away from her father but also from the Jewish culture. However, this scene is used again for making Shylock look like an evil who “does miss his ducats more than, or at least as much as, his daughters” or cares more about the ring his daughter stole, rather than his own daughter (Herbert Bronstein, 1969). On the other hand, the reader can also feel sorry for Shylock who is abandoned even by his family.
Another important scene that can increase the level of anti-Semitism is the one that goes on in the Venetian Court, which is known to be the city where law is applied anyway. In this case, however, Shylock is treated as a “non citizen”, which basically means that the law is not
Although Shylock takes action only in five scenes of the play, he is the cornerstone of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Shylock, “referred as ‘the Jew’ over sixty times”, is the key to the play: he shows not only the anti-Semitism sentiment of his time, which depicts Christians as brutal and harsh (Herbert Bronstein, 1969). Indeed, from the very beginning Shylock is mistreated by Antonio who called him a “misbeliever, cut-throat, dog / And spit upon [his] Jewish gabardine” (1.3.107–108), but he is also described as the evil usurer greedy for justice who cannot show mercy nor pity. At this point, different types of readers could either sympathize with Shylock and feel compassion for him or identify with the Christians and therefore accept their behaviour.
The second time that Shylock appears in the play is in the third act where Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, escapes with the Christian Lorenzo. This is the paradox of the play. She not only runs away from her father but also from the Jewish culture. However, this scene is used again for making Shylock look like an evil who “does miss his ducats more than, or at least as much as, his daughters” or cares more about the ring his daughter stole, rather than his own daughter (Herbert Bronstein, 1969). On the other hand, the reader can also feel sorry for Shylock who is abandoned even by his family.
Another important scene that can increase the level of anti-Semitism is the one that goes on in the Venetian Court, which is known to be the city where law is applied anyway. In this case, however, Shylock is treated as a “non citizen”, which basically means that the law is not