التطور التاريخي للصراع اليهودي المسيحي في مسرحيات مختارة من العهد الإليزابيثي

Abstract

The study seeks to examine the historical and the socio-political representation of Jews in the Elizabethan drama through a close examination of the three major Jewish characters in the selected plays: Barabbas in Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, Shylock in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and Gerontus in Robert Wilson’s The Three Ladies of London. The study investigates the root causes of the historical tension between Jews and Christians as represented in the plays; these motives are ascribed to religious differences, usury and social crimes linked to Jews, mutual hate crimes and economic rivalry between the two groups. These factors have heightened the ongoing hatred and deepened the conflict between the two communities. As a result, several stereotypes of Jews have been developed, the idea that enhanced the establishment of various forms and practices of the so-called anti-Semitism in the Western culture. To critically examine the stereotyping of the Jew character in the selected plays, the Critical Race Theory (CRT) is adopted throughout the paper as a framework. Remarks that have been labeled as anti-Semitic identified in the texts describe Jews as blasphemous, cruel, murderers, unscrupulous usurers, miserly and cowards. Shakespeare’s Shylock and Marlowe’s Barabbas are labelled negatively as foul-mouthed individuals, unfriendly, deceitful, shrewd, scheming, racists, and manipulative. The Jew character in these plays is the antagonist of the rising New Elizabethan Man. On the other hand, Wilson’s portrayal of Gerontus is less rigid and different; he is shown as honest, kind, forgiving, and virtuous. Wilson is rather sympathetic to his Jewish characters and he does not openly present Jewish stereotypes and anti-Semitic representations. This study shows how Elizabethan drama developed different conflicting discourses about Jewishness and the other races. The Jewish image in the Elizabethan drama reflects the complication of history, religion and culture in establishing discourses of representation. The establishment of the Protestant faith in England may have enforced some revised versions of anti-Semitism in the Elizabethan age.