Re: *whispers* Shakespeare
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:10 am
A Merchant of Venice.
Who agrees that:
1) Shylock is acting and losing basically as Satan in Irenaeus and as White Witch in LWW? Up to when he agrees to convert that is.
2) That he despite being technically a Jew (thus in Middle Ages' typology a representative of Satan) is not there to lampoon the Jews of England, there were hardly any (the Marrano Medic of "Queen" Bess was of Jewish origin and perhaps a crypto-Jew, but technically not a Jew), but rather the Puritans?
3) That Jessica is a celebration of Jews and Jewesses converting to Christianity (for other motives than avoiding Spanish expulsion of 1492), and since the name means "light" in Hebrew is also a word play on Christ's word at Sychar, John 4:22 "salvation is of the Jews" if any translation has "light" (as I recall I read somewhere).
4) That the play avoids being an allegory by the fact that the characters change the roles they allegorically hold at some point. Shylock starts as Satan and ends like a convert and penant. Antonio starts out like Christ in giving himself as a sacrifice, but ends up like a sinner needing defence from Satan, which is where Portia is portrayed as "advocata nostra" - which is not the role she plays in the last Belmont scene, of course.
Who agrees that:
1) Shylock is acting and losing basically as Satan in Irenaeus and as White Witch in LWW? Up to when he agrees to convert that is.
2) That he despite being technically a Jew (thus in Middle Ages' typology a representative of Satan) is not there to lampoon the Jews of England, there were hardly any (the Marrano Medic of "Queen" Bess was of Jewish origin and perhaps a crypto-Jew, but technically not a Jew), but rather the Puritans?
3) That Jessica is a celebration of Jews and Jewesses converting to Christianity (for other motives than avoiding Spanish expulsion of 1492), and since the name means "light" in Hebrew is also a word play on Christ's word at Sychar, John 4:22 "salvation is of the Jews" if any translation has "light" (as I recall I read somewhere).
4) That the play avoids being an allegory by the fact that the characters change the roles they allegorically hold at some point. Shylock starts as Satan and ends like a convert and penant. Antonio starts out like Christ in giving himself as a sacrifice, but ends up like a sinner needing defence from Satan, which is where Portia is portrayed as "advocata nostra" - which is not the role she plays in the last Belmont scene, of course.
