{"product_id":"christianity-versus-judaism-in-shakespeares-merchant-of-venice-von-andrea-oberheiden","title":"Christianity versus Judaism in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice","description":"\u003cp\u003eEssay from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 2+, Harvard University (Department of English), course: Shakespeare and Modern Culture, language: English, abstract: In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, the Jewish character of Shylock refers to the biblical story of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJacob tricking his uncle Laban (1.3.68-98) by tampering with the procreative process of Laban's\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eflock of sheep (Genesis 30.25-43). In the following, I will try to point out why Shylock tells this\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003estory, and in which literary context he ruminates upon it. Besides a critical comparison of how his\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003espeech interacts with the original biblical story, I will furthermore discuss this analogy foremost in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eterms of its religious and dramatic functions within the play. Against this background, it will be\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emade evident that 'usury' as a negative Jewish stereotype, presumed by the judging eyes of medieval\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristians, is put in the centre of consideration here. It will be argued that as a general declaration in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoV, a superiority of the New Testament to the Old Testament, of Christianity to Judaism, can be\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ederived, and that this conclusion is strongly linked with the majoritarian mindset in Shakespeare's\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etimes and cultural sphere, rather than with Shakespeare's personal attitude towards Jews or Judaism,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ean often supposed attitude of unprovable nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"aw-variant-hidden-subtitle-div\" id=\"aw-variant-subtitle-9783640469062\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Autorenwelt Shop","offers":[{"title":"Softcover - 9783640469062","offer_id":58994254119237,"sku":"9783640469062","price":15.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0940\/0622\/files\/73461_736174cf-cdd7-4a31-8790-497a9aec77c9.jpg?v=1787718033","url":"https:\/\/shop.autorenwelt.de\/en\/products\/christianity-versus-judaism-in-shakespeares-merchant-of-venice-von-andrea-oberheiden","provider":"Autorenwelt Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}