The Merchant Of Venice Anti-Semite Essay - 2020 Words

Nowadays, many people consider the play â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† is one of the most problematic dramas written by Shakespeare because it promotes the prejudice against Jews or the ideology of anti-Semitism. In fact, the play depicts the villain as a devil, a usurer and a Jew who attempts to murder the good and godlike Christians for they have performed good will and mercy toward other people and ruined the Jew’s business. Whether it is his intention or not, Shakespeare chooses to create the image of a greedy, manipulative and full of hatred Shylock as a symbolic description for all the Jews, who could rarely be found in England at the time. Because of this, there exist many debates whether Shakespeare is an anti-Semite or not. According to†¦show more content†¦Hence, Shakespeare appears not as an anti-Semite, but as one who is against it by sending an obnoxious feeling toward readers through a detailed description of deceptive stereotypes against the Jews and teach the readers how prejudice can move from one person to another forever like a metastasization. Firstly, let take a look at the characteristics of Antonio in comparison to the description of an anti-Semite by Sartre. In â€Å"The Merchant of Venice†, Antonio is depicted as a man loved by everyone except the Jews through Bassanio’s description of him: â€Å"The dearest friend to me,†¦ than any that draws breath in Italy.† in act 3 scene 2 and Shylock’s soliloquy: â€Å"I hate him for he is a Christian,†¦ cursed be my tribe if I forgive him!† in act 1 scene 3 (Shakespeare). This resembles the image of a man that Sartre describes as a good citizen who performs well in his society role as a father and a husband. However, Sartre points out that even when such a man is loved by society for his hospitality toward people of different races, he can still appear as an anti-Semite (Sartre). In other words, a person’s benevolence in public cannot be used to define whether he or she is an anti-Semite or not. For instance, Antonio is a good man who risks his life to help Bassanio and even lends money without interest to other people in Venice.Show MoreRelated Is The Merchant of Venice an Anti-Semitic Play? Essay1491 Words   |  6 PagesIs The Merchant of Venice an Anti-Semitic Play?      Ã‚   The Merchant of Venice features a Jewish character that is abused and slandered by nearly every character in the play. Throughout the play the behavior of these characters seems justified. In this way, The Merchant of Venice appears to be an anti-Semitic play. However, The Merchant of Venice contains several key instances, which can be portrayed in a way that criticizes anti-Semitism. The first instance occurs in Act 1, scene 3 when