Language:
French
Year of publication:
2000
Titel der Quelle:
Parcours Judaïques
Angaben zur Quelle:
6 (2000) 61-72
Keywords:
Shakespeare, William,
;
Christianity and antisemitism
;
Antisemitism History Middle Ages, 500-1500
Abstract:
Discusses Jewish "perfidy" as a central theme in English medieval literature. Hostility toward the Jews, who settled in England after the Norman conquest, was fed by Christian writings accusing them of treachery. Falsification of historical documents was added to the list of Jewish sins, and secular literature joined in condemning Jewish deceitfulness. Discusses religious literature on the "blindness" of Jews to Christian truths, e.g. the 10th-century "Altercatio Aecclesie contra Synagogam". Argues that Shakespeare's Shylock represents more than the medieval stereotype of the perfidious Jew since, after the Reformation, the competing Churches became each other's enemy, replacing the Jews in that role. By opposing the figure of Shylock to that of the merchant of Venice, Shakespeare addresses the burning religious, legal, financial, and social issues of the day, including the controversy on usury.
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