Language:
English
Year of publication:
2000
Titel der Quelle:
Southern Humanities Review
Angaben zur Quelle:
34,4 (2000) 333-340
Keywords:
Shakespeare, William,
Abstract:
Discusses the life and works of Benedetto Marcello (b. 1686), a native of Venice, who was both a judge and a musician (he wrote a vocal work for the first fifty Psalms of David). Reflects on Shakespeare's attempt, in "The Merchant of Venice, " to show that music and justice are compatible. Deals, also, with the portrayal of Shylock in Shakespeare's time and in the following centuries. Disagreeing with the view that Shakespeare intended Shylock to be sympathetic, stresses that Elizabethan audiences would likely have enjoyed seeing him as an object of ridicule. He is not portrayed as the beneficiary of either mercy or justice, but rather as having received what he deserved. Points out that 18th- and 19th-century performances often omitted the fifth act, thus indicating that the audience could be satisfied with going no further than Shylock's downfall. Concludes that Shakespeare was "pandering to the popular prejudices of his day."
Note:
On the music of Benedetto Marcello and Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice".
URL:
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