He not only looses his faith but also his only daughter to a Christian lover. Loosing his religion was indeed loss of his life. He is a villain for he offers Antonio unconventional terms – Antonio’s pound of flesh. Therefore, in Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare exhaustively uses the play to bring out themes and the stereotypical evil character of the Jews which was merely a myth passed through generations (Radford ¶ 1).
In the Merchant of Venice (MOV)’ Luxon believes Shylock epitomises this stereotype because of his race/ religion. However, Smith believes that Shylock’s evil is innate and his religion is merely a façade. While this has some truth, I have concluded that the Venetian Society conditions Shylock’s nature/humanity to be villainous, not his ‘Jewishness’ as he is a victim of discrimination. Sixteenth Century Christians stereotyped Jews as vile, vengeful, spiteful, and merciless creatures, often referred to as a devil, much like Antonio typecasts Shylock as “The devil...An evil soul producing holy witness”. Shylocks humanity is stripped away leaving the audience to view him as inhuman and Wilson agrees stating “Jew is allowed no defendant in the court to plead for him as a…defenceless alien”.
Lastly, Pearl’s abandonment from her father and isolation from society brings about the evil she demonstrates. Arguably, the Puritanical conception of sin confuses these main characters’ knowledge of the nature of evil. Hester and Dimmesdale’s adultery leads to Chillingworth’s transformation into a sinister being as he attempts to impose Puritanical evil on them. For example, Chillingworth’s idea of evil, influenced by the Puritans, helps him decide how to punish the lovers explaining, "I [will leave] thee to the scarlet letter. If that [has] not avenged me, I can do no more!"
The Romans were absolved from the death of Jesus and the blame was set solely on the Jewish people. The Crusades brought about more anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe. In Jerusalem, Jews were seen as vermin who lived alongside Muslims. Jews were massacred all across Europe during these times, and clergymen even urged people to throw stones at Jews during Easter. One of the biggest reasons for anti-Semitism stems from the employment that was available to Jewish people.
The object of the assignment is to discuss these events. Ezra was a man of great importance to the development of Judaism. He was known as Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest (Hirsch, 2002). According to Niswonger, Ezra was one of the people who led the Jews back to their lands after the exile by the Persians (1988). Ezra stressed that marriages to pagan was deeply offensive.
He believed that “Hitler served as a divine instrument for the reconstruction of modern Jewish life.” In his mind it was clear that the death of 6 million Jews took place because as a community, Jews are responsible for each other’s actions and there had been enough sin for God to take necessary action. This is a very extreme response and it would be difficult to find many people supporting
In Act 4 Scene 1, Shakespeare is telling us about the trial between Antonio and Shylock, in which Shylock hangs on to the legality of his bond and the justice, rather than showing mercy and forgive as it’s said in the morals. Throughout the whole scene Shakespeare is building up to the culmination in which Shylock and Antonio switch places. But the court shows mercy, and in that way Shakespeare’s showing the moral superiority of Christians over Jews, but however the mercy the court is harsh and arguably, is not even mercy at all. The Duke plays a major role in Shakespeare’s hands to show how Jews are morally inferior to Christians in this play, as it is him who is giving mercy to Shylock after he refused to do so to Antonio. However, the Duke is not that pure.
Salerio asks Shylock to confirm bout Antonio’s losses in which Shylock responds that Antonio will soon be bankrupt and Shylock will be able to collect Antonio’s pound of flesh as promised. Shylock then delivers his famous speech expressing his motivation for revenge towards Antonio, as he believes that the mistreatment he has received from Antonio is solely because Shylock was a Jew. In this extract, Shakespeare uses a variety of literary devices and techniques to further capture and elaborate the emotion and the main purpose of what exactly the character is trying to imply. Shakespeare uses imagery when it comes to evoke his viewer/reader’s sensory experience. When Shylock says, “I say my daughter is my flesh and blood” (30) Shylock implies that his daughter is only something ‘physical’; his very own blood and flesh in his body solely translates that his daughter to him, is only his child by nature.
These prejudices were brought from Europe and interfaith tensions were inevitable. Jews were the target of religious prejudice even though their numbers were quite small. According to the article, the Director General of New Amsterdam severely rebuked the Jews. In a letter to the Dutch West India Company he stated,”…the
Compare the portrayal of misfortune in The Last Night and Refugee Blues Both poems talk about the misery of the Jewish people being hunted down by the Nazi's for what they believe in. Refugee Blues focuses on the misfortune of being Jewish and provokes sympathy at their impossible situation. Similarly the Last Night also focuses on the innocence of the Jewish people; it shows two little boys in their last moments of freedom and shows how the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time would lead to their deaths. The portrayal of misfortune is initiated in Refugee Blues through both language and content. The poem is written to the tune of the Blues which initiates a thought of melancholy "say this city has ten million souls, Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:" Like most Blues songs and poems it is written about a time where African Slaves sang these songs to express their sad, tragic and hatred lives.