Language:
Spanish
Year of publication:
2002
Titel der Quelle:
Arcadia; internationale Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft
Angaben zur Quelle:
37,1 (2002) 129-154
Keywords:
Shakespeare, William,
;
Antisemitism in literature
Abstract:
On the basis of Erving Goffman's theory of stigma, interprets Shakespeare's play as a fabric of different modes of "stigma management". Launcelot Gobbo escapes the stigma of his association with the Jew by deserting him and joining the antisemites; Jessica escapes her actual hated Jewishness with only partial success, by conversion and marriage to a Christian; Antonio evades his homosexuality by denial and by aggression against another minority. Tubul affirms his Jewishness and looks for security in his own community. So, at first, does Shylock, but after Gobbo's and Jessica's desertion his resentment at his stigmatization by Christian society turns into a desire for revenge by acting out the stigma, and by turning his own metaphorical stigma into a physical one applied to Antonio. The spectator alternates throughout the play between sympathy for Shylock and revulsion at his villainy. He is not a hero; he embodies the negative stereotype of the Jew because that is what society has made of him. Concludes that Shakespeare evokes antisemitism in order to expose its logic and dismantle it.
Note:
In Spanish: "Raíces" 52-53 (2002).
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink