Language:
English
Year of publication:
2022
Titel der Quelle:
Levinas Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
16 (2022) 93-109
Keywords:
Shakespeare, William,
;
Lévinas, Emmanuel Criticism and interpretation
;
Jewish philosophy 20th century
;
Mercy Religious aspects
;
Judaism
Abstract:
Although Levinas did not write about The Merchant of Venice, recent scholarship has explored Levinasian themes in the play. However, most of The Merchant instantiates not Levinasian ethics per se, but the cultural and other forces that work against ethics. In particular, theodicy, which Levinas sees as morally scandalous, is deployed by Christian characters to justify their ill-treatment of Shylock. A surface reading of the play would suggest that it is structured around clear binaries, with Christian “mercy” juxtaposed to legalistic, vengeful Jewish “justice.” However, a more nuanced reading, particularly one informed by Levinas’s philosophy, reveals ways in which Shakespeare seems to call these distinctions into question, and uncovers two genuinely ethical moments in the play: Shylock’s “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech, and his implied, biblically informed critique of the treatment of slaves by Christians in Venetian society.
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