Perhaps no other play in Shakespeare's repertoire has provoked more controversy regarding his fundamental moral and religious attitudes than The Merchant of Venice. To understand Shakespeare's treatment of the Jews in this play, we must understand Judaism as it was viewed in the Elizabethan era. The Jews, expelled from England in 1290, did not return until 1656. As a literary and social convention, the Jew was a numinous figure more like a monster than a social stereotype such as a "hillbilly" or a "nerd." Many Christians came to believe that Jews had cloven feet and tails, that they suffered from an innate bad odor, and from blood diseases, for which they sought remedies in vampirism. With these ideas in mind, many scholars, filmmakers, and students have examined the bard's intentions, attempting to deduce whether the playwright needed a villain that his audience would immediately hate or a villain who, despite his flaws, was understandable. . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There are at least two commonly held positions regarding anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice. The first perspective confirms that the play has strong anti-Semitic themes and suggests that chastising the Jew for his inherent evil was an act of great importance in building Shylock's character. Some readings that suggest this even go so far as to argue that Shakespeare laid the foundation for the racial anti-Semitism of a later era in the character of Shylock. Convinced of the inherent anti-Semitism embodied in this work, Efraim Sicher believes that it is only because of the events of the Holocaust that recent scholars have attempted to "attempt a corrective" with the character of Shylock and that without the post-Holocaust sensibility. as far as the idea of ​​anti-Semitism is concerned, Shylock would remain an unchallenged villain (57). In an attempt to save Shakespeare and the Christian character from charges of intolerance and anti-Semitism, commentators have also tried to turn the play into an allegory. Sir Israel Gollancz, for example, sees the play as Shakespeare's largely unconscious development of certain myths implicit in the original sources in which Antony represents Christ, Shylock represents Evil, and Portia represents both mercy and grace (13). While these suggestions certainly infuse the trial scene with meaning, upon further examination they do not add much to the rest of the play. It is impossible to construct a definitive allegory that includes the entire work at all its levels. In her "Biblical Allusion and Allegory in The Merchant of Venice" Barbra Lewalski demonstrates that the closest to an allegorical meaning in The Merchant of Venice is in the allusions to mostly biblical traces that pierce the text. For example, Lewalski cites Antonio's love for Bassanio and his desire to help Bassanio to reflect Paul's characterization of Christian love in terms of humility and self-forgiveness in 1 Corinthians 8:4-5. He states, “The moral contrast between Shylock and Antonio is most complex with reference to that most difficult injunction of the Sermon on the Mount: forgiveness of wounds and love of enemies” (330). While it is clear that The Merchant of Venice involves significant symbolic elements, it is also clear that this play is not just an allegory. While it certainly had an impact on European culture, the work cannot – among reasonable people – be linked to the rise of anti-Semitism. Such provocation to anti-Semitism has always been indigenous to the cultures in question, and the main effect of The Merchant ofVenice was to disrupt any ideological complacency resulting from the apparent Jewish stereotype presented by Shylock. This interruption does not result in Shylock's romantic transformation into a tragic hero. His stubborn wickedness generates the restless tension that runs through the drama. Shylock is certainly a more mischievous individual than Antonio, Bassanio or Portia, however it is obvious that the Jew suffers at the hands of the Christians. Just because we find Christian characters more enjoyable or engaging doesn't mean they are intrinsically better or good. Right does not always equal right and justice is not always served by any action taken against a wrongdoer. It is precisely because Shylock is so cruel and repulsive that his appeal to our common humanity is so poignant. From this perspective, it can be argued that although some characters in The Merchant of Venice may represent anti-Semitism, these characters and their attitudes are denigrated to the point of clear disapproval throughout the play. Part of the way Shakespeare achieves this criticism is by emphasizing Shylock's character as a man rather than his identity as a Jew. Although Shakespeare almost certainly used anti-Semitic characterization in the genesis of Shylock, there are many elements of humanity in the character, particularly in his legendary soliloquy "He has no Jew's eyes" in which Shylock claims his right to dignity and his right to freedom. take revenge on the Christians who have wronged him. The inclusion of this soliloquy indicates that Shakespeare sought to do more than simply mock the Jew. Shylock chastises the Christians for not recognizing his equally human status even as he is determined to lose it: "Has a Jew no eyes?" cries. "Does a Jew not have hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions...?" Shylock is like Christians in his faculties, he argues, and the moral corollary inevitably follows: "And if you wrong us, will we not take revenge?" A man should not be required to appeal to others on a high spiritual plane to have his basic humanity recognized. Shakespeare presents Shylock harshly but also allows him to speak eloquently on his own behalf, perhaps the first time a European playwright has given a Jewish character such a podium. Part of what the work reveals is the iniquities present in some Christians as well as some Jews. The importance of The Merchant of Venice, then, is that it allows the reader to see behind the veneer of religious identity that defines Shylock the Jew. Shakespeare allows us a glimpse of the man Shylock, a character who hates and bleeds like any Christian. Evil Jews are typical of medieval literature. However, the Jews who command our attention as suffering human beings were virtually unknown before Shakespeare. Shakespeare's portrayal of Shylock, the Jewish loan shark, makes the audience hate and pity the man. To be sure, Shakespeare had a formidable competitor in Christopher Marlowe in his dramatization of an evil Jew. In Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, Barabas is a caricature of medieval mystery and miracle drama who gives an account of himself in close accord with the superstitious popular image of the Jew as ritual murderer, prisoner, and ruthless enemy of humanity , but above all as Christians. Furthermore, Marlowe's Jew is a schemer and a Machiavellian who acts as an Elizabethan archetype of evil. Along his way, Barabbas poisons an entire convent, including his own daughter who has taken refuge there after killing both of her suitors. In his article on "The Elizabethan Stage Jew and Christian Example", Alan C Dessen ably summarizes the differences between Shakespeare's Jewish characters andMarlowe's. "Marlowe used his stage Jew to indict a society that is truly Christian in name but not in fact. The Merchant of Venice, by contrast, is a romantic comedy, not a sardonic tragedy, hence Shakespeare's presentation of his Jew scene is somewhat different in tone and overall effect" (239). Shylock's daughter Jessica, unhappy at home, runs away with a prodigal Christian, Lorenzo, and steals money and jewels from her father. Shylock is enraged by the loss of his dukedom, but also heartbroken by his daughter's ruthless betrayal of him. He shouts in his anger and frustration: "I wish my daughter were dead at my feet, and the jewels at her ear! I wish she were heard at my feet, and the ducats in her coffin!" The discrepancy between Barabas' atrocity and Shylock's malevolent but perfectly comprehensible human exclamation could hardly be more pronounced. One wishes his daughter's death in a moment of passion and the other makes it so; Barabas, therefore, is a monster and Shylock is a man. Whether Shylock is the evil Jew as the surrounding Christians portray him, or the misrepresented man suffering under the weight of righteous indignation depends largely on the creation of the character on stage. For many generations, the part of Shylock has been a caricature of the Jewish stereotype: greedy, hawk-nosed, hunched-shouldered and a cunning schemer, wringing his hands in devious obsequiousness to close a deal, reveling in ruthless satisfaction when he has the upper hand. hand, indulging in unscrupulous practices and exulting in his growing gold hoard. Only recently have directors abandoned the red wig and the bottle to present a truer character, an admirable figure who fights back against his oppressors, exposing them as the hypocrites they are. In this light we see that Shylock is not only seeking to repay his accusers for the injuries he has suffered, but also for the ancient injustices suffered by his people at the hands of the Christians. Even when Shylock is vilified to the max, there is a constant and inescapable challenge regarding the sincerity of Christian Venice, making it impossible to achieve his total evil. A superficial comfort perhaps, "but some readers might find some reassurance in the knowledge that Shakespeare, though perhaps drawing on Elizabethan prejudices, was still using the stage Jew as a powerful dramatic weapon against Christian hypocrisy and complacency" (Dessen 245). Thus, the Jew is a means to a larger end, be it moralistic, ironic, or comical that condemns a community's failure to live up to its stated ideals. Part of what makes it impossible to pull off total evil with Shylock is right from the start; Shakespeare sets out to provide him with a powerful motivation for his hatred towards Antony that goes beyond the fact that he is a Christian and a hypocrite to boot. When Antonio offers Shylock the guarantor for a loan of 3,000 ducats to the improvident Bassanio, the offended moneylender reminds the merchant that he had called the Jew an "unbelieving and merciless dog" along with a number of other insults. “Does a dog have money?” Shylock asks, “Is it possible / Can a curate lend three thousand ducats?” Antonio is unmoved by Shylock's indignant response to such humiliations and tells him to lend the money "to your enemy, / That if he breaks, you might with a better face / Exact punishment." Antony is asking for it, in modern terms, and the suffering Jew conceives his hatred here, when his genuine desire for reconciliation is rejected one too many times. It is understandable that when the surrounding Christian characters in The Merchant of Venice portray Shylock as a murderous and evil Jew, they behave well within the acceptable stereotypes of the time. However,, 21 (1991): 57-69