To What Extent Is the Merchant of Venice a Microcosm of the Elizabethan Era?
To what extent is the play a microcosm of the Elizabethan Era?
In Elizabethan England, many of the general public were anti – Semitic and driven by extreme dislike of other religions other than Christianity. This anti – Semitic sensitivity has lasted since the early ages, dating back to 1300 B.C. when the Jews were expelled from Egypt at the end of the nineteenth Dynasty.. Jews were accused of exploiting Christians and they were actually banned from England in 1290, and were not allowed back into England several decades after ‘The Merchant of Venice’ had been written. The Elizabethans were ignorant of the Jewish culture. Shakespeare knew that the majority of the population was Christian and had to write something that was somewhat an outrage to the Jews. So he decided to write the Merchant of Venice, in which he deliberately included stereotypical prejudice to reflect current society. The play in the earlier part of the twentieth century also became very popular in Germany, extreme anti-Semitism being encouraged when Hitler came to power. In recent times the “Holocaust” was our gravest tragedy which in fact was the most brutal and momentous event in Anti-Semitism which really portrayed the true and utter hatred of the Jewish people by the Nazi party.
The character Shylock was a stereotypical Jew of his time, and as Jews were generally ostracized from normal society, the audience would have been familiar and understanding with Shakespeare’s characterisation, actually finding Shylock a comedic figure whereas today he is seen as tragic. In Shakespeare’s time, Jews were not treated well at all. This was because they were a minority group, as they had been previously banned from the country by Edward I unless they were willing to convert to Christianity. But, in large European cities, like Venice there was a large Jewish population. As these cities relied on trade, the authorities encouraged Jews to become moneylenders. This was because the Christian law, which
In Elizabethan England, many of the general public were anti – Semitic and driven by extreme dislike of other religions other than Christianity. This anti – Semitic sensitivity has lasted since the early ages, dating back to 1300 B.C. when the Jews were expelled from Egypt at the end of the nineteenth Dynasty.. Jews were accused of exploiting Christians and they were actually banned from England in 1290, and were not allowed back into England several decades after ‘The Merchant of Venice’ had been written. The Elizabethans were ignorant of the Jewish culture. Shakespeare knew that the majority of the population was Christian and had to write something that was somewhat an outrage to the Jews. So he decided to write the Merchant of Venice, in which he deliberately included stereotypical prejudice to reflect current society. The play in the earlier part of the twentieth century also became very popular in Germany, extreme anti-Semitism being encouraged when Hitler came to power. In recent times the “Holocaust” was our gravest tragedy which in fact was the most brutal and momentous event in Anti-Semitism which really portrayed the true and utter hatred of the Jewish people by the Nazi party.
The character Shylock was a stereotypical Jew of his time, and as Jews were generally ostracized from normal society, the audience would have been familiar and understanding with Shakespeare’s characterisation, actually finding Shylock a comedic figure whereas today he is seen as tragic. In Shakespeare’s time, Jews were not treated well at all. This was because they were a minority group, as they had been previously banned from the country by Edward I unless they were willing to convert to Christianity. But, in large European cities, like Venice there was a large Jewish population. As these cities relied on trade, the authorities encouraged Jews to become moneylenders. This was because the Christian law, which