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Morningrise Posted 18 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing
Commentary on Shylock's characterization
Hi! I have to write a short essay about Shylock and the anti-semitic debate in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. I have taken the material from the English Wikipedia, and rewritten it in my own words. Could you correct the text? Suggestions are welcome!
Elizabethan England was anti-Semitic: Jews had been expelled from the country during the Middle Ages, and were not allowed to return until the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Elizabethan playwrights usually depicted Jews as greedy usurers, with hideous and mocking physical features (hooked noses and bright red wigs, for example); they were characterized as evil, deceptive and greedy. In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare continued this tradition (we know that in its days the play was known as "The Jew of Venice", and this suggests an analogy with Marlowe's The Jew of Malta), but his main purpose was to make the audience reflect about the anti-Semitic problem: this explains why Shylock's is such a complex character, unlike the comically wicked Barabas of The Jew of Malta.
A thorough analysis of Shylock's acts and words during the key scene of the trial shows us that, though he is definitely a cruel villain, he is made equal to all the Christian that treated him really badly, and so is partially justified. Thus many critics and theatregoers have viewed Shylock's "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech as sympathetic, because the author apparently wants to justify Shylock's thirst for revenge; on the other hand, those who reject this interpretation adfirm that Shakespeare simply meant to contrast the mercy of the main Christian characters with the vengefulness of a Jew, and meant Shylock's conversion as a happy ending, since it 'redeems' him both from his unbelief and his specific sin of wanting to kill Antonio. Finally, there's another aspect of the scene we have to consider: the entire trial is a mockery of justice, since the very people who berated Shylock are forced to resort to trickery in order to win. This can support the sympathetic interpretation along with the final part of Shylock's speech, in which he says that he learned the thirst for revenge from the Christian characters.
Elizabethan England was anti-Semitic: Jews had been expelled from the country during the Middle Ages, and were not allowed to return until the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Elizabethan playwrights usually depicted Jews as greedy usurers, with hideous and mocking physical features (hooked noses and bright red wigs, for example); they were characterized as evil, deceptive and greedy. In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare continued this tradition (we know that in its days the play was known as "The Jew of Venice", and this suggests an analogy with Marlowe's The Jew of Malta), but his main purpose was to make the audience reflect about the anti-Semitic problem: this explains why Shylock's is such a complex character, unlike the comically wicked Barabas of The Jew of Malta.
A thorough analysis of Shylock's acts and words during the key scene of the trial shows us that, though he is definitely a cruel villain, he is made equal to all the Christian that treated him really badly, and so is partially justified. Thus many critics and theatregoers have viewed Shylock's "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech as sympathetic, because the author apparently wants to justify Shylock's thirst for revenge; on the other hand, those who reject this interpretation adfirm that Shakespeare simply meant to contrast the mercy of the main Christian characters with the vengefulness of a Jew, and meant Shylock's conversion as a happy ending, since it 'redeems' him both from his unbelief and his specific sin of wanting to kill Antonio. Finally, there's another aspect of the scene we have to consider: the entire trial is a mockery of justice, since the very people who berated Shylock are forced to resort to trickery in order to win. This can support the sympathetic interpretation along with the final part of Shylock's speech, in which he says that he learned the thirst for revenge from the Christian characters.
Top answer
There's not much point in critiquing something merely reworded from another source-- and I suggest that you learn that research is not copying others' ideas, but understanding others' ideas and then developing your own. Nevertheless, I have underlined some obvious errors: Elizabethan England was anti-Semitic: Jews had been expelled from the country during the Middle Ages, and were not allowed to return until the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Elizabethan playwrights usually depicted Jews as greedy usurers, with hideous and mocking physical features (hooked noses and bright red wigs, for example); they were characterized as evil, deceptive and greedy .
- There's not much point in critiquing something merely reworded from another source-- and I suggest that you learn that research is not copying others' ideas, but understanding others' ideas and then developing your own.
- Nevertheless, I have underlined some obvious errors: Elizabethan England was anti-Semitic: Jews had been expelled from the country during the Middle Ages, and were not allowed to return until the rule of Oliver Cromwell.
- Elizabethan playwrights usually depicted Jews as greedy usurers, with hideous and mocking physical features (hooked noses and bright red wigs, for example); they were characterized as evil, deceptive and greedy .
- In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare continued this tradition (we know that in its days the play was known as "The Jew of Venice", and this suggests an analogy with Marlowe's The Jew of Malta ), but his main purpose was to make the audience reflect about the anti-Semitic problem: this explains why Shylock's is such a complex character, unlike the comically wicked Barabas of The Jew of Malta .
- A thorough analysis of Shylock's acts and words during the key scene of the trial shows us that, though he is definitely a cruel villain, he is made equal to all the Christian that treated him really badly, and so is partially justified.
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2 Answers
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There's not much point in critiquing something merely reworded from another source-- and I suggest that you learn that research is not copying others' ideas, but understanding others' ideas and then developing your own. Nevertheless, I have underlined some obvious errors:
Elizabethan England was anti-Semitic: Jews had been expelled from the country during the Middle Ages,
Elizabethan England was anti-Semitic: Jews had been expelled from the country during the Middle Ages,
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Thank you. You're certainly right, but the point of the work was not to write an original essay (I should have said "summary", not "essay"
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