The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is one of the most famous plays by William Shakespeare, written at an uncertain date between 1594 and 1597. It was entered in the Stationers' Register, the method at that time of obtaining copyright for a new play, by James Roberts on July 22, 1598. It was first printed in 1600 and again in a pirated edition in 1619. The play was mentioned by Francis Meres in 1598, so it must have been familiar on the stage by that date. Critics also debate over the resemblance of Shakespeare's play to Christopher Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta."

Discussion

The play, which seems to have been popular when originally written, remains popular today, but is troubling to modern audiences due to its central anti-Semitic theme. There is evidence that the play was known as "The Jew of Venice" in its time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English Jews had been expelled in the Middle Ages and could not return until the rule of Oliver Cromwell.

Related Topics:
Expelled - Oliver Cromwell

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jews were presented on the Elizabethan stage in hideous caricature, with hooked noses and bright red wigs. The play does soften its treatment of Shylock to some degree by showing his painful station in Venetian society, rendering him as a complex character. To some critics, Shylock's celebrated "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech (see above) redeems him and even makes him into something of a tragic figure. Some others have noted the likelihood that the speech is intended to emphasize Shylock's bestial nature - the long list of traits Shylock describes Jews as sharing with Christians are mainly physical - an ape shares them as much as a Jew. The only strictly human traits Shylock mentions in this speech are affections, passions, and the desire for revenge.

Related Topics:
Hooked nose - Red - Ape - Revenge

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It seems probable that Shakespeare meant to contrast the mercy of the main Christian characters with the vengefulness of a Jew, who lacks the religious grace to comprehend mercy, and Shakespeare's audiences probably did view the play in that light - some references from the 17th century suggest that it was regarded as effective anti-Semitic propaganda. Another interpretation is that Shakespeare meant Shylock's forced conversion to Christianity to be a "happy ending" for that character, because Shylock was now "redeemed" both from his unbelief and his specific sin of wanting to kill Antonio. This certainly comports with the view that Shakespeare's audience would have taken.

Related Topics:
Grace - 17th century - Propaganda - Forced conversion - Happy ending

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Modern viewers, noting the contempt shown to Shylock by every Christian character, the harshness of 'mercy' dispensed in the form of Shylock's forced conversion in the courtroom scene, and the long history of Christian anti-Semitism, will not find such a simple moral. The fact that the play retains its power on stage for audiences who perceive its central conflicts in terms radically different from the terms Shakespeare did, is an illustration of the subtlety of Shakespeare's characterizations.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jacob Adler writes in his memoir that the tradition of playing Shylock sympathetically began with Edmund Kean in 1847, and that previously the role had been played "by a comedian as a repulsive clown or, alternatively, as a monster of unrelieved evil." Kean's Shylock established his reputation as an actor.

Related Topics:
Jacob Adler - Edmund Kean - 1847 - Clown

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From Kean's time forward, all of the actors who have famously played the role, with the exception of Edwin Booth, who played Shylock as a simple villain, have chosen a sympathetic approach to the character; even Booth's father, Junius Brutus Booth, played the role sympathetically. Henry Irving was among the most notable late 19th century Shylocks, and Jacob Adler certainly the most notable of the early 20th century. Adler played the role in Yiddish-language translation, first in Yiddish theater Manhattan's Lower East Side, and later on Broadway, where, to great acclaim, he performed the role in Yiddish in an otherwise English-language production.

Related Topics:
Edwin Booth - Junius Brutus Booth - Henry Irving - 20th century - Yiddish - Yiddish theater - Manhattan - Lower East Side - Broadway

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kean and Irving presented a Shylock justified in wanting his revenge; Adler's Shylock evolved over the years he played the role, first as a stock Shakespearean villain, then as a man whose better nature was overcome by a desire for revenge, and finally as a man who operated not from revenge but from pride. In a 1902 interview with Theater magazine, Adler pointed out that Shylock is a wealthy man, "rich enough to forego the interest on three thousand ducats" and that Antonio is "far from the chivalrous gentleman he is made to appear. He has insulted and spit on the Jew, yet he comes with hypocritical politeness to borrow money of him." Shylock's fatal flaw is to depend on the law, but "would he not walk out of that courtroom head erect, the very apotheosis of defiant hatred and scorn?"

Related Topics:
Revenge - Pride - 1902

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some modern productions take further pains to show how Shylock's thirst for vengence has some justification. For instance in the 2004 film adaptation directed by Michael Radford and starring Al Pacino as Shylock, the film begins with text and a montage of how the Jewish community is cruelly abused by the bigoted Christian population of the city.

Related Topics:
2004 - Michael Radford - Al Pacino - The Jewish community

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~