410 Forum — Opinion
'Merchant' Challenges Stereotypes
By Andy Bockelman
The language of William Shakespeare speaks to many. Alienated youths can sympathize with Hamlet as he contemplates suicide, soliloquizing, “To be or not to be?” Lovers the world over applaud Juliet for asking the love-based query, “What’s in a name?” Yet, when another Shakespeare creation asks “Hath not a Jew eyes?” these same people back away nervously.
The University of Northern Colorado’s theater program is set to perform the Shakespearean comedy “The Merchant of Venice.” The story follows the misfortune of Italian merchant Antonio as he stands to lose a pound of flesh to moneylender Shylock because of his inability to repay a sizable loan.
Though the show’s themes of justice and equality have led to it being staged and acclaimed for four centuries, “Merchant” has become a potential minefield because of the portrayal of Shylock, a Jew who is hated by the majority of the play’s characters. Though none have raised objections for this particular production, director Tracy Salter said she had prepared for such an occurrence. The argument against the performance of the show is an understandable one. With the horrors of the Holocaust still fresh in the minds of many, the outright hateful treatment of Shylock by his fellow businessmen can be shocking. Likewise, the character’s daughter, Jessica, denounces her father and marries the Christian character Lorenzo, lending a tone of assimilation to a narrative that is mired in characters who want to do everything they can to not become outcasts. This comes through even more at the show’s conclusion when Shylock is forced by legal decree to become a Christian.
But the main argument is in how he is typified throughout the play by a vengeful, greedy nature, frequently putting money above all else. On the surface, this brings to life some of the worst Jewish stereotypes. This hits even closer to home for those who lived in Nazi Germany — literary critic John Gross notes in his 1992 work, “Shylock: A Legend and Its Legacy” that the play was a favorite of the country with about 50 productions between 1933 and 1939, all strongly portraying Shylock as an evil presence in an otherwise good city.
Shakespeare’s play is not the first to vilify the Jewish people. The authoritative compilation “The Norton Shakespeare” marks 1590’s “The Jew of Malta” by Christopher Marlowe the first major work to cast the race in a negative light, with “Merchant” following several years later. Such rhetoric in both instances led to a great deal of harmful sentiment against the Jewish people for years to come.
Yet the point of the show is missed in assuming that Shakespeare is criticizing an entire race through his words. Shylock functions as a lampoon of society more than his author’s personal prejudices, if any, as it is anyone’s guess as to what his exact feelings were. In his book “Shylock is Shakespeare,” Kenneth Gross, a professor of English at the University of Rochester points out that the Jewish people were banished from Britain in the Middle Ages, so Shakespeare had probably never even met a Jew in his life. But through the playwright’s poetry — most notably, Shylock’s aforementioned monologue, a plea for equality in the eyes of the law — audiences can sense a cry for tolerance and a message of hope for social progress.
David Grapes, director of UNC’s School of Theatre & Dance and Shylock portrayer in the upcoming show, thinks this is the case.
“I do believe that Shakespeare is trying to expose the cruelty and inhumanity of anti-Semitic behavior,” Grapes said. “Unfortunately the world has not changed much — only the races or cultures that we persecute. That makes the play highly relevant in today's world. The lessons still need to be learned and we need to be exposed to these issues or we will never be able to resolve them. If you don't understand the past you are doomed to repeat it.”
The power of Shakespeare’s plays has always been seen through their themes that are applicable to any audiences. “The Merchant of Venice” is one of the writer’s best because of its unflinching ability to challenge stereotypes through the art of satire. Though Shylock and his exploits may not be something everybody can approve of in terms of political correctness, the boundaries of so-called acceptable entertainment need to be pushed.Despite your taste or heritage, one thing remains true for all: Only when we are offended can we hope to learn to deal with the problems that plague society.
