Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 2+, Harvard University (Department of English), course: Shakespeare and Modern Culture, language: English, abstract: In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, the Jewish character of Shylock refers to the biblical story ofJacob tricking his uncle Laban (1.3.68-98) by tampering with the procreative process of Laban'sflock of sheep (Genesis 30.25-43). In the following, I will try to point out why Shylock tells thisstory, and in which literary context he ruminates upon it. Besides a critical comparison of how hisspeech interacts with the original biblical story, I will furthermore discuss this analogy foremost interms of its religious and dramatic functions within the play. Against this background, it will bemade evident that 'usury' as a negative Jewish stereotype, presumed by the judging eyes of medievalChristians, is put in the centre of consideration here. It will be argued that as a general declaration inMoV, a superiority of the New Testament to the Old Testament, of Christianity to Judaism, can bederived, and that this conclusion is strongly linked with the majoritarian mindset in Shakespeare'stimes and cultural sphere, rather than with Shakespeare's personal attitude towards Jews or Judaism,an often supposed attitude of unprovable nature.
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