Sunday, February 16, 2014
blog due 2/17
I think that Shakespeare gave Shylock the huge heartfelt speech in the Merchant of Venice because the persecution of Jews was so common at that time that it was a huge risk to write that speech in to the play without him getting in trouble. I think he wrote it in the Merchant of Venice specifically because it IS supposed to be light-hearted comedy, and he could get away with writing such a controversial speech against society because it would not be taken as seriously as if it were in a tragedy, or could be taken as a joke. I do believe that Shakespeare wrote it because he truly believed that Jews and Christians were equals, but was not allowed to say it publicly, due to the possibility that he could be punished, or possibly killed. His only other option to express his views on the matter was to sneak it in to this play, and write it off as a joke or no big deal.
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I somewhat agree with you. I think that he thought that Jews and Christians were equal. However, I think that he put it in the play to show the audience that Jews and Christians were equal and that they should treat Jews better.
ReplyDeleteI sort of agree with you, though I think it is unlikely that Shakespeare thought that Jews and Christians were equals. It's likely that Shakespeare never even met a Jew, since by his time they had all been kicked out of England, it seems more likely that Shakespeare simply put more effort in creating characters than any other playwright who had a Jew as a character, and thus Shylock gains sympathy for just not being a one dimensional character.
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