Language:
English
Year of publication:
1999
Titel der Quelle:
Shakespeare Survey
Angaben zur Quelle:
52 (1999) 99-106
Keywords:
Shakespeare, William,
;
Shylock In literature
;
Jews History 1500-1800
Abstract:
Questions assumptions about the image of Shylock. Labels as myth the idea that there existed an Elizabethan stereotype of the villainous stage Jew or that everyone in Elizabethan England was antisemitic. Notes that none of the traditional antisemitic charges against Jews (Christ-killers, ritual murderers, host-desecrators, etc.) were referred to in "The Merchant of Venice". Further, the view that Shylock was condemned for being a usurer is open to doubt. Argues that the Elizabethan horror of usury is another myth. Shakespeare himself lent money for interest, which is mainly called "usance" in the play. Finally, rather than answering the question in his title, Edelman raises a number of points that undermine the widely accepted view that both Shakespeare and his contemporaries were without doubt antisemites.
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