Shylock and the Jewish question

Abstract

Much attention has been paid recently to the place of Shylock in the history of anti-Semitism. Most scholars have agreed with Harold Bloom that Shakespeare's famous villain is drawn with a murderous and that Shakespeare uncritically mirrors the rife anti-Semitism of his times. While others see only gross caricature in The Merchant of Venice, however, Martin Yaffe finds a subtle analysis of the Jew's place in a largely Christian society. In Shylock and the Jewish Question, Yaffe challenges the widespread assumption that Shakespeare is, in the final analysis, unfriendly to Jews. He finds that Shakespeare's consideration of Judaism in The Merchant of Venice provides an important contrast to Marlowe's virulent The Jew of Malta. In many ways, he argues, Shakespeare's play is even more accepting than Francis Bacon's notably inclusive New Atlantis or the Jewish philosopher Benedict Spinoza's argument for tolerance in the Theologico-Political Treatise. Emphasizing that The Merchant of Venice is a work of political philosophy as well as literature, Yaffe raises the intriguing possibility that Shakespeare presents Shylock not as a typical Jew, but as a bad one. Though the book focuses on the Jewish question, it has larger implications for our thinking in a number of areas: the rise of liberal democracy, the development of religious toleration, the relation of church and state, and the interrelation of politics, economics, and religion--in short, a whole range of issues basic to the conception of modernity. Highly recommended for all readers.--D. O. Dickerson, Judson College There is extraordinary virtue evident when scholars confront one of the great intellectual shibboleths of anti-Semitism in something like mortal combat and come out above the current fads. Was William Shakespeare anti-Semitic? [Yaffe] takes on this controversy with brilliant forthrightness and courage.--Baltimore Sun