The Merchant of Venice

1. The Merchant of Venice Written between 1596 and 1598 – roughly his 17th play

2. Anti-Semitism • In Shakespeare’s time, English law continued to forbid Jews from living in England, but a few hundred survived in London and other cities in the guise of Christians.  • The government required Jews to wear strips of yellow cloth as identification, taxed them heavily, and forbade them to mingle with Christians. In 1290 Edward banished them from England. Only a few Jews remained behind, either because they had converted to Christianity or because they enjoyed special protection for the services they provided. • In Shakespeare's time 300 years later, anti-Semitism remained in force in England.

3. Themes • Self-Interest Versus Love - On the surface, the main difference between the Christian characters and Shylock appears to be that the Christian characters value human relationships over business ones, whereas Shylock is only interested in money. However, through close reading of the play, the difference breaks down, showing that self-interest versus love is a universal quandary.

4. The importance of mercy – The other characters acknowledge that the law is on Shylock’s side, but they all expect him to show mercy, which he refuses to do. • Hatred/prejudice as a Cyclical Phenomenon – Throughout the play, Shylock claims that he is simply applying the lessons taught to him by his Christian neighbors; this claim becomes an integral part of both his character and his argument in court

5. History • The Merchant of Venice was probably written in either 1596 or 1597 • The question of whether or not Shakespeare endorses the anti-Semitism of the Christian characters in the play has been much debated. Jews in Shakespeare’s England were a marginalized group, and Shakespeare’s contemporaries would have been very familiar with portrayals of Jews as villains and objects of mockery.

6. Shakespeare’s character includes an element of pathos as well as comedy, meaning that he elicits from readers and audiences pity and compassion, rather than simply scorn and derision. However, in Elizabethan England, this response would not have occurred.

7. Villain • Shylock fits several types of villain, but all partially. He could be: the malcontent, he who has no conscience, or the killer. • Oddly enough, he can also be considered the anti-hero. Sure, he does do wrong things, but he is goaded his whole life into believing he is evil just because he is a Jew. Considering that the idea was beaten into his head, are his action really evil or the result of society? • More than anything, he’s a tragic hero by today’s standards. He’s a good man who is pushed and pushed until he snaps.