The Distance that Separates us from Shakespeares Merchant of Venice Es

The Distance that Separates us from Shakespeares Merchant of Venice Without a doubt, loan shark of Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice has been a subject of much controversy and debate for scholars and critics worldwide. Specifically, an element of his character that has been well reviewed is the harshness with which he proposes his bond with Antonio. As contemporary readers of the pound of trope story we are naturally mortified by the fact that moneylender would call for such barbarous terms. What many of us do not realize is that while we might feel horror about the appraisal of the bond, the same is not necessarily true for an Elizabethan audience. This story has been a major source of misunderstanding for many of its readers, as it is often understand as a demeaning reflection of the nature of the Jew. However, a to a greater extent careful look at this story, where it may construct originated, and what it may have meant to a 16th century audience, may cause us to reval uate this truly signifi washbowlt element of the play. The tracing of the possible sources of the story and the examining of the history of rake-off as well as its position in Elizabethan familiarity may actually serve as testimony on behalf of Shylock and his Jewish identity. A careful look at the textIn order to begin a comprehensive analysis of the pound of build story, it is important to first compare our reactions with those of the other characters in the play. Examining how Shakespeare has his characters respond can tell us a lot about how his audience some likely would have reacted to the same thing. If Shakespeares purpose for the bond was so to portray the Jew as vulgar and shockingly inhuman, then he would not have had his characters respond so calml... ...n our ages, the differences must be insisted upon. He articulately acknowledges the distance that separates us from Shakespeare and asserts that is, When we disregard that distance, that the stati c of our desire to claim his as our contemporary disrupts his voice, and we listen less to his concerns than to his anticipations of our own. Works CitedCharlton, Henry. Shakespeares Jew. Manchester The Manchester University Press, 1970.Friedlander, Gerald. Shakespeare and the Jew. London George Routledge & Sons LTD., 1921., Grebanier, Bernard. The truth About Shylock. New York Random House, 1962.Greenblatt, Stephen Cohen, Walter Howard, Jean Maus, Katharine. The Norton Shakespeare . New York, London W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. Watson, Alan. The uprightness of the Ancient Romans. Dallas Southern Methodist University Press, 1970.