Tara Guleri
Shakespeare's portrayal of Jews through repetition
Shakespeare uses repetition to suggest that Jews, namely Shylock, are greedy and more interested in business relationships than in personal ones. Christians like Antonio are shown to lend money to loved ones without interest, or hope to gain anything in return, where as Shylock is only interested in his money gain. Usury is one of the only jobs available to Jews, so Shylock is clearly very protective over his money. After Jessica elopes with Lorenzo, Shylock roams the streets looking for her and the wealth she stole from him. Solanio describes Shylock as a “villain Jew” (2.8, 4), which demonstrates the negative light that is shone upon Jews by Christians, however over the course of the first two acts, Shylock does not make a good impression for Jews. Shylock cries, “O my ducats! O my daughter!” (2.8, 15) , implying that he values his money more than he values his daughter. His greed clearly overrides his family and his love. Shylock is agonized by the fact that Jessica stole his “jewels, two stones.” (2.8 20) The use of “stones” is a double meaning, implying both Shylock’s actual jewels and his testicles, which would describe his feelings of emasculation. Solanio mentions that he has never “heard a passion so confused” (2.8, 12), meaning that Shylock is distressed over the lose of his money. He does not seem express the same concern for his daughter. Shylock is also miserable about he fact that his daughter “fled with a Christian! O [his] Christian ducats!,” who, also has access to his money. “Christian ducats” refers to ducats now owned by Christians. While Shylock is upset that his daughter fled with a Christian, he is much more upset about losing his money than losing Jessica.
I got this one.
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ReplyDeleteTara, Nice job on focusing on a specific choice that Shakespeare made. I also really liked your thesis sentence and thought it was clear and concise. You did a nice job doing two step analysis for this quote, "O my ducats! O my daughter!”. I agree with your statement that Shakespeare portrays Jews in a poor light, though I'm not sure that the repetition represents that. I believe the repetition comes from the chaos of the situation. However, in the recount that Solanio gives he says that Shylock shouted, "And jewels- two stones, two rich and precious stones,/ stolen by my daughter! Justice! Find that girl" (2.8.20-21). This does show that Shylock is more concerned with the money and getting the money back then finding his daughter, which portrays his as money obsessed and less of a kind family man.