The prompt I choose this week was, why did Shakespeare included Shylock's speech about
anti-Semitism, and how does it change the way we think of Shylock.
We don't know very much about Shakespeare much less so if we know if he was a anti-Semitism or not. So was I'm going to do instead is making an argument for both sides. First let's say William Shakespeare was in fact a anti-Semitism, at this time that would not be uncommon for a white Christian man to be one. What this implies is he was poking fun at Jews thinking it was funny to watch get mad. This is what I would assume how people would interpret this performance. On the other hand this scene could have been used for awareness and to bring attention to how they were wrongfully treating the Jews. This would be the mind set of Shakespeare if he disagrees with anti-Semitism. My view of Shylock is very different after this scene, what this scene did for me was humanize Shylock giving him more emotion and sympathy. We all see that he is angry and also sad. That it's just normal to make fun at someone because of their religion. The biggest thing I see is he loves his religion enough to stand up for it, making it an act of love.
anti-Semitism, and how does it change the way we think of Shylock.
We don't know very much about Shakespeare much less so if we know if he was a anti-Semitism or not. So was I'm going to do instead is making an argument for both sides. First let's say William Shakespeare was in fact a anti-Semitism, at this time that would not be uncommon for a white Christian man to be one. What this implies is he was poking fun at Jews thinking it was funny to watch get mad. This is what I would assume how people would interpret this performance. On the other hand this scene could have been used for awareness and to bring attention to how they were wrongfully treating the Jews. This would be the mind set of Shakespeare if he disagrees with anti-Semitism. My view of Shylock is very different after this scene, what this scene did for me was humanize Shylock giving him more emotion and sympathy. We all see that he is angry and also sad. That it's just normal to make fun at someone because of their religion. The biggest thing I see is he loves his religion enough to stand up for it, making it an act of love.
I hadn't thought of Shakespeare using this speech to poke fun at a Jew getting angry, interesting interpretation. Shylock's speech really did provide a depth to his character, and I think that was Shakespeare's intention.
ReplyDeleteShylock's speech in act 3, scene 1 was a very essential moment in this play. In my opinion this speech was an underlying message from Shakespeare to the people in the audience, and was possibly his stance on anti-semantism.
ReplyDeleteI like how you gave an argument for both sides, since we cant really know Shakespeare's views now. I agree with you that Shylock's speech made me feel more empathy towards him, whereas if the speech was not included people might still be iffy about him. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteNice post. I really like how you showed both sides and showed some empathy towards him. I also liked the idea that you brought up about poking fun at the jew. Nice job!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel like this passage in the play was meant to humanize Shylock. The purpose for this could be that Shakespeare wanted the audience to feel more sympathy for Shylock when he meets his end at the end of the play.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you showed both sides. I agree with your second point though, how Shakespeare wanted to have the audience have sympathy for Shylock.
ReplyDeleteIf we look at Shakespeare's other works, though, he most definitely had no qualms insulting Jews frequently. I think that he was anti-semitic, but wrote Shylock this way to make an enthralling character despite his prejudices.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!! I really like how you made a comment on both sides. I agree with your point on both statements, and I like how you went into detail with your blog post!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what Julian is saying, this certainly was a very rare, as well as controversial topic that he decided to include in his work "The Merchant of Venice". It makes me wonder how the christian audience reacted to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree very strongly with Jadyn, this passage was meant to humanize Shylock. Before this Shylock was not very emotional, it was all money and no empathy. At this moment it made him seem much more human, showing emotion and care.
ReplyDeleteI think it was really interesting how you decided to talk about both sides I thought what you said at the end about it being an act of love, because he loves his religion and is willing to stand up for it was a really interesting thought. Good job!
ReplyDeletei like the way you thought of more than one possibility for what shylocks speech meant. personally i thought it was to make his characters not seem so black and white.
ReplyDeleteThis is a thoughtful post, and I am also interested in how you point out that, to the original audience, this might have been a way to poke fun at Shylock. I believe that the reason for Shakespeare humanizing Shylock in this way is truly mysterious, but I too wonder if we are hearing the opinion of Shakespeare through this speech.
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