The Merchant of Venice
William Shakespeare, an English playwright of the 16th century, is famous throughout the literary world as one of the greatest of all dramatists. Shakespeare's plays communicate a profound knowledge of the source of human behavior, revealed through portrayals of a wide variety of characters. His use of poetry within his plays to express the deepest levels of human motivation in individual, social, and universal situations is considered one of the greatest accomplishments in literary history. Shakespeare is recognized for creating characters and plays that are considered to be timeless. He is able to show that love, friendship, jealousy, and hatred are aspects of human nature that will remain unchanged throughout the ages. Despite Shakespeare's ability to remain timeless, his anti-Semitic and racial views displayed in his comedy, The Merchant of Venice, are distressing to modern critics and audiences. In The Merchant of Venice, the villainous Shylock, a Jewish usurer, is a victim of anti-Semitism. There are also numerous negative and hateful racial references towards people with dark complexions and those Middle Eastern origin. For those reasons, The Merchant of Venice is argued to be an unconventi
Back then, England, like most of Europe, held the image of being civilized and cultured. White races judged people by skin color and ethnicity. The further south or east, the less civilized the people were thought to be. A tan by today's standards is a sign of livelihood or ethnicity, but during the time of The Merchant of Venice a dark complexion was viewed as ugly and savage. Portia dismisses her Moroccan suitor because he is dark skinned. "If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me." (1.3/ 13) Portia's play on words has a double meaning. The complexion she speaks of refers to his temperament or his skin because devils were thought to be black. Portia confesses to the prince that she finds him attractive, and he should not be judged by his complexion. Her hypocritical views are made apparent in her end statement: "Let all his complexion choose me so." (2.8/ 38) The Portia's cultural limitations show her to have close-minded views. Later in the play, Bassanio draws comparisons to his casket situation from four areas of human endeavor. One of these areas was beauty, and how it can be deceiving. Something can look attractive on the outside, but hold something less than desirable inside, such as the gold casket or "the beauteous scarf veiling an Indian beauty" (3.2/ 51). The quote suggests that the scarf is the ornament that covers the swarthy, unattractive Indian woman. Shakespeare uses the Indian comparison to further degrade those with a dark complexion expressing ideological views of white superiority. There is no mention of complexion in the comparison of Shylock to a Turk. A Turk is a person of Turkish Middle-Eastern origin. "From stubborn Turks and Tartars never trained to offices of tender courtesy." (4.1/67) The duke tries to persuade Shylock by saying he is not as barbaric as a Turk. Turks were thought to be barbarians, and Shakespeare displays no different of a mindset. The racial views displayed by Shakespeare in several of his plays, as well as, The Merchant of Venice reflect the narrow minded cultural views of the Elizabethan age. Shakespeare makes apparent that the feeling of hate is timeless, but tolerance is constantly changing. The Merchant of Venice is a play about love and taking risks for friendship. Its conflict is a result of the villain's reaction to the prejudice views of Elizabethan society and the mistreatment he had suffered. It is only natural to feel contempt toward those who have made life so hard. The anti-Semitic views add to the comedy by creating Shylock as a conflict. Shylock is a formidable villai
Some common words found in the essay are:
Merchant Venice, Antonio Venice, Shylock Jewish, Passover Jews, Shakespeare English, Rodrigo Lopez, England Europe, Lorenzo Furthermore, Shakespeare Indian, Turks Tartars, merchant venice, racial views, anti-semitic views, racial views displayed, villainous shylock, views elizabethan, dark complexion, anti-semitic racial, views displayed, anti-semitic racial views, 13/ 18, carnivorous imagery,
Approximate Word count = 1784
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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