After watching Shakespeare's, "The Merchant of Venice" in Mr. Langdon's class, we briefly discussed the anti-semitism in the play. We didn't have much time to talk about it but being Jewish, this question stayed on my mind. So what does everybody else think? Just because Shylock, the villain of the play, is Jewish does that make Shakespeare anti-semitic? Is the story just a product of the time? How do you think directors should react to the controversies of the play?
here is one website that shows how the play is anti-semitic.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/dec/09/religion.film
Let me know what you think.
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6 comments:
I think that calling "Merchant of Venice" anti-semitic would be jumping the gun a bit. If Shakespeare wanted it to be an anti-semitic play, he would have completley demonized Shylock. The fact that we were able to take a look at Shylock's lifestlye and get a feel for how tough it was being a Jew in sixteenth century Venice lets us know that we are supposed to sympathize with Shylock. Sure, we didn't like the whole him taking a pound of flesh from Antonio thing, but we understand his motives for wanting to do so. He's not being potrayed as evil, but more as bitter and vengeful (lets face it, they were jerks to him). So no, I don't think that Shakespear intended on making "Merchant of Venice" anti-semitic: it's more about understanding the world through two different perspectives.
As a jew I really hate when we call something antisemetic. Especially in the jewish community it is such an overused word. Many times we just use it as an excuse ie "I lost my job...must be antisemitism." It's just a play. Its just reflecting a time period. There is no hidden anti-jewish meaning subliminally being used here.
It all comes down to the end of the play. Mr. Langdon didn't let us see how it ended up working out for Shylock. If he cuts the flesh, then it makes Jewish people look bad. If he is intelligent enough to work his way around it, then it shows that Shakespeare had some respect for Jews of the post-medieval period. Honestly though, I think Shakespeare was indifferent about anti-semetism. Most of his plays were mean't to amuse the audience and royalty who watched them. He offered insight in the plot and questioned the law which I think is the main point of the story. The fact that Shylock is Jewish is insignificant to the overall purpose of the play.
Andrew E.
Maximus
Its hard to define whether or not this play is anti-semitic, because intolerence of Jewish people at Shakespeares time was not questioned, so we can't say whether or not this is very heavy or light in his play. In Merchant of Venice they gave you some backround on Shylock and I think he was out for Antonio because he was Christian, but he was just angry on his daughter running away and stealing his money. I actually sympathized alot more with Shylock becuase his life was horrible in general and I think *spoiler* him taking the deal while he still technically did have the option of killing Antonio made him a bigger man than most people. *end spoiler* The fact that Shakespeare decided to give the audience the backround of Shylocks life was meant for the audience to sympathize with Shylock and have an inner conflict on whther to side with Shylock or Antonio.
Joseph G
That kid
In Merchant of Venice they gave you some backround on Shylock and I think he was out for Antonio NOT because he was Christian, but he was just angry on his daughter running away and stealing his money.
Sorry found an error in the post.
Joseph G
Personally, I agree with all of you guys. To me, the play didn't really seem to be anti-semitic. I just found the issue to be interesting. Since there wasn't a lot of time for discussion in class, I thought people would like an outlet to talk about it. I don't know if I agree that people 'overuse' antisemitism as an excuse. Even though we are in the year 2008, there still is a lot of antisemitism. I realize just because something unfortunate happens to a Jewish person, it isn't because of their religion. However, there still are a lot of ignorant people in the world. Being Jewish, I have had anti-semitic things said about me and to me. I realize this doesn't happen all the time and that not everybody is anti-semitic... but anti-semitism DOES still exist.
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