Shakespeare And Anti-Semitism In The Merchant Of Venice Essay -- Merch

     Anti-Semitism and the desecration of the Jewish existence have been in existence for nearly five thousand years. In the Elizabethan era, a question of anti-Semitism invariably arises. In William Shakespeares The merchandiser of Venice, we find that one of the characters is the embodiment and expression of anti-Semitic attitude that is permeant in Elizabethan society. "Anti-Semitism was an intricate part in Shakespeares years. Jews were considered poor and scorned upon. Shakespeare presents Judaism as an unchangeable trait" (Bloom 37). Shakespeares age based their anti-Semitism on spiritual grounds because the Elizabethans inherited the fiction, fabricated by the early Church, that the Jews murdered deliverer and were therefore in league with the devil and were actively working to abuse spread of Christianity. The religious grounds of this anti-Semitism means that if a Jew reborn to Christianity, as Shylock is forced to do in The Merchant of Ve nice, thence all will be forgiven as the repentant Jew is embraced by the ordnance of the all merciful Christian God of love. In fact, some Christian believed--as do some fundamentalist sects today--that the coming of the Kingdom of God was support by converting the Jews to Christianity. Anti-Semitism in Shakespeares time is portrayed in his chef-doeuvre The Merchant of Venice.      "Shylock the Jew, one of William Shakespeares profoundly ambivalent villains, is strangely free" (Bloom 24). He is portrayed as a usurer A attractor of money on interest rather than a receiver of stolen goods. This ideal will prove to the audience that the Jews are in fact " squalid" and have a frugal sense for possessions. It is an intriguing idea to telephone that even in Shakespeares time, stereotyping was a mundane part of their lives. Shakespeares anti-Semitism seems harsh, barely shows that not all Jews are vile standardized well-nigh passel believed i n his time. Shylock is shown to be hard working (Goddard 5). Believe it or not, there is some com dear for the desecration of the Jews in Shakespeares play. Antonio recognizes the futility of opposing Shylocks passion with reason. "He seems the depository of the vengeance of his race" (Goddard 11). Antonio consequently appears as a charitable Christian who lends money freely, in contrast to the miserly an... ...an something uniform Marlowes Barabas.But at the same time, it seems clear (to me, at least) that Shakespeare creates Shylock against an diachronic and cultural backdrop that was intensely hostile to Jews. Given this social mount and historical tradition, it should come as no surprise if some of this hatred against Jews should infiltrate Shakespeares work. Shakespeare was, after all, a commercial-grade dramatist and many commercial dramatists fool their livings by pandering to, rather than working against, conventional social mores.To make the convey that Shak espeare creates Shylock within an anti-Semitic culture, and therefore invests Shylock with biased anti-Semitic attributes, does not impugn the artistry of the drama. Nor does such a claim implicate Shakespeare himself as a monstrous anti-Semite. All this claim suggests is that Shakespeare, like most of the rest of his society, was hostile toward Jewry for religious and cultural reasons, and that hostility is revealed most clearly in Shylock.What these pages have tried to trace is the possible, or mayhap the probable, relationship between what was happening in Shakespeares day and what is happening in Shakespeares play.