Abstract
This essay proposes a discussion of the representation of Venice in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, addressing the city as a site of ambivalence and cultural interrogation. It examines how Shakespeare drew on the “myth of Venice” to create a space into which Renaissance anxieties about justice, gender, religion and finances were projected. Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia is applied here to show how representations of Venice are used to mirror Elizabethan and Jacobean society. The essay also proposes an analysis of how the Italian city-state is rendered in Michael Radford’s filmic adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, with special attention to the images of the prostitutes in the film, and the ambivalent portrayal of the justice system during the courtroom scene.
Highlights
This essay proposes a discussion of the representation of Venice in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, addressing the city as a site of ambivalence and cultural interrogation
It examines how Shakespeare drew on the “myth of Venice” to create a space into which Renaissance anxieties about justice, gender, religion and finances were projected
Resumo: O presente ensaio propõe discutir a representação de Veneza em O mercador de Veneza, de William Shakespeare, abordando a cidade como um local de ambivalência e interrogação cultural
Summary
Resumo: O presente ensaio propõe discutir a representação de Veneza em O mercador de Veneza, de William Shakespeare, abordando a cidade como um local de ambivalência e interrogação cultural.
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