Merchant of Venice: A Dissection of the Elizabethan

Age Racism
by
Shamira Tabassum Alam
Roll: 2015931019
Department of English
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
Bangladesh University of Professionals

Submitted to
Lecturer Shakila Akter
as the term paper of Introduction to Drama & Theatre (ENG 1010)
on November 05, 2020
 Merchant of Venice: A Dissection of the
Elizabethan Age Racism

A few days ago, I was watching an interview of a scholarly figure who

was musing on the struggles during his youthful days just because he
belonged of a social caste of the Hindu community who were deemed
as fishermen only. His words sounded alien to me, for I had never
encountered anyone who had gone through similar struggles. Perhaps
the people in my community have become rather civil in contrast to
their ancestors who had been immovable despite their qualms of
conscience roused by humanity. Speaking of which, that interview was
enough to trigger my habit of overthinking, and in this case,
overthinking about the severity of racism and how its roots trace back
to centuries ago. Being a student of English literature, I had come
across multiple works of literature which go all the way back to the
Elizabethan period. The works not only actively favor racism but also
highlights it on a whole different level, with Shakespeare’s Merchant of
Venice being one of them.

The fact that Merchant of Venice is considered as a mirror of the time it

was written leads us to the social custom where fairness of the skin was
considered as a sign of prudence and good health while dark skin was
feared as impure and demonic; where the Christian were deemed as
the superior ones and worthy of honour and importance over any other
religion, caste or creed. The English as well as the Europeans had a
remarkable amount of events with the Jews in the course of history.
Considering that the Jews were previously expelled from England
Through its protagonist Shylock, this play clearly demonstrates the
contemporary discrimination of superior and inferior bloods along with
the traditional beliefs that circulated in England based on religion.
Considering the long and complex history the Europeans had with the
Jews, trade and commerce definitely brought the Jews in the European
society on the spotlight once again. During that time, the ill character
traits like lack of empathy, forgery, stubbornness, stupidity, malice and
sorcery were closely associated with the Jews. But the negative trait
that stands out the most is greed, which the Jews were considered as
the nurturers of it. Even Shylock’s first line on the Merchant of Venice
“Three thousand ducats, well” (Shakespeare, trans. 2003, 1.3.1) bears a
greedy tone.

“Mark you this, Bassanio / The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. / An
evil soul producing holy witness / Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, / A
goodly apple rotten at the heart. / O what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”
(Shakespeare, trans. 2003, 1.3.89-94)
The manner in which Antonio degrades Shylock in the presence of
Bassanio proves how Antonio, like every other Christian on his time,
was biased towards Shylock due to his Jewish identity. The way the
merchant condemns him as a “devil”, “evil soul” and “villain” and that
he is “rotten at the heart” who is spreading “falsehood” while reciting
scriptures from the Bible itself.

Again, one of the major stereotypes regarding the Jewish that deem
them as greedy dogs proves rather contradictory to the general beliefs
when Shylock refuses six thousand ducats for the three thousand
Antonio owed him. Many scholars argue the opposite and overlook this
point and choose to defame Shylock as a father hardly concerned about
his daughter’s conversion and that it was the bond and the money he
was rather keen about than his own blood betraying the family’s
religious standing. When Solanio enacts Shylock by sarcastically saying
“My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!” (Shakespeare, trans.
2003, 2.8.15), it rather implies that it is these Venetians who have lost
their composure; given the chance to shame a Jew the way he deserves
to be.

Another major act of racism remains prominent on the Act 2 of the play
in which Portia denounces all of his suitors, except Bassanio, who she
had fallen for. Upon hearing of the Prince of Morocco being one of the
three finalists of the competition of winning her hand, Portia says, “If he
have the condition a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he
should shrive me than wive me.” (Shakespeare, trans. 2003, 1.2.129-131).
This proves how Portia too, is engulfed by the religious references
which signify white as angelic and pure while condemning the color
black as the one associated with evil and imprudence. Despite his status
as a prince, he is degraded due to the complexion of his skin –
something he has naturally no say on. Although most of Portia’s
judgments prove to be realistic while picking out suitors in the first
place, the manner in which she dislikes the Scot for his hatred towards
the British or denounces the British based on their knowledge in culture
or contemporary fashion isn’t exactly devoid of racism either. In my
opinion, every nation had its own history and shouldn’t be denounced
in such mannerism.

In spite of the fact that many scholars have considered Merchant of

Venice as a play meant for satirically criticizing the contemporary
misconceptions and stereotypes of the Elizabethan society, multiple
confusions persist as Shakespeare’s true intentions remain unknown.
But according to the points stated above, it is evident that whatever the
playwright’s intentions might have been, the presence of racism in the
play is prominent and a subject of distaste for a reader of the 21 st
century.
References

Shakespeare, W., Mahood, M. M., & Edelman, C. (2003). The Merchant of Venice (The New

Cambridge Shakespeare) (Updated ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Shapiro, J. (2016). Shakespeare and the Jews. New York: Columbia University Press.

Smith, I. (1998). Barbarian Errors: Performing Race in Early Modern England. Shakespeare

Quarterly, 49(2), 168. https://doi.org/10.2307/2902299