8/2/2019 Q&A with Ben Burton

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What’s your favourite speech? 

Shylock’s speech ‘hath not a Jew eyes’ – what seems at first to be a sympathetic portrayal becomes a

sinster argument about revenge.

What makes TMOV a comedy?

Disobedient daughter motif  – cf Midsummer Night’s Dream  – but here our sympathies are more with

the father because we know more about him.

Disguised female character – cf  As You Like It   – a woman gaining access to a world she cannot be

part of. But this is a very serious situation, ‘the stakes are very high’. 

Is Shylock trying to entrap the Christians when he lends them money?

Do you think Shylock is testing Antonio to see if he realises the risks he is taking?

What about the Christians? They can be cruel, vicious, and hypocritical.

What about seeing the Christians as selfish, money-grabbing characters who ignore the warnings he

offers.

Should Shylock have got his bond? 

According to the legal terms, he absolutely should, but it comes down to the question, what is

 justice?How does justice work in the final scene? We are left with a feeling in the trial scene that the

Christians get whatever they want. The law becomes flexible – it suits one group more than

another.

How could the Christians think they were doing good if they were spending time with prostitutes?

Not a question which the play answers, but one the play challenges us to think about

Did Shakespeare want us to see him as anti-semitic?

This begs the question, to what extent we think the views in the play are Shakespeare’s. This is a

play about anti-Semitism, not necessarily an anti-Semitic play.

What might go against the anti-Semitic views in the play? Shylock’s voice? Tubal? The fact that the

Christians are as cruel as Shylock – not saying one is as good as the other, but they are equally bad.

Why do you think Gratiano suddenly becomes a monster in the court scene?

This reflects the way the Christian authorities in Venice act in self-interest.

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Think about the importance of Venice – a multicultural city, cosmopolitan place – compare with

Othello  – an outsider in a city which appears welcoming but which has another side – outsiders are

welcomed when they are useful (for their money-lending) but money lending creates ambivalence 

(mixed feelings) about Jewish characters: their money lending allows trade to happen, but usury is

not permitted.

Why in the court case, does Gratiano still so vulgar?

We’ve seen how the distrust of the Jews has been expressed in violent language – kicking, spitting – 

need for capital punishment reflects violent hatred of Jewish characters.

What is the cruellest punishment? Becoming a Christian – after his strong condemnation of 

Christians for all the rest of the play, but now he must become the thing he hates – he loses his

identity. His place is defined by his religion – by taking it away, it is a form of death.

In comedy, we expect the social order to be restored at the end of the play – social cohesion is re-

established. But what of TMOV ? Shylock has been punished – but social order has been restored in

the way Christians want it. Shylock’s conversion is part of that. 

Structure – where does the trial scene happen? It’s not the end of the play – it’s only in Act IV – 

there’s a substantial part of the play left. What happens to Shylock after this? In the play he never

appears again after the trial scene. Why? Perhaps to avoid a sympathetic portrayal / pity for

Shylock. Perhaps he just ceases to exist.

At the start, when B, A & S are arranging the debt, Shylock calls A ‘a good man’, but on the next

page says ‘I hate him for he is a Christian.’ Why this change of heart?  

The play draws on Elizabethan theatrical stereotypes of Jewish villains – beards, deception – as in

The Jew of Malta where Barabas uses asides to present his true feelings. What’s interesting is that

he does not stay that way – he changes from the start of the play to later on.

Is Shylock a character who was made to be disliked? On the one hand he says he’s done nothing

wrong, but on the other he is bullied throughout.

Look at the Duke’s question – why should you expect mercy if you show none yourself? He feels

he’s justified because the deal has been signed – by the Law (?old testament) he should be in the

right (but by mercy ?new testament he should let Antonio off). Christian ideas of mercy are to get

what we want. Christians thought they were merciful (e.g. like Christ) – but they are being

hypocritical – it’s just about self -preservation.

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Do you feel that Shakespeare’s audiences might have sided with Shylock or the Christians?

Think about performances – Shylock in the traditional outfit of a Jewish villain might have made the

audience expected him to be a villain, to be a hateful and distrustful character, but how does

Shakespeare challenge that expectation? Some members of the audience might have had their views

challenged by Shylock’s presentation. In an Elizabethan performance the religious aspect of 

Shylock’s character emphasised in the Al Pacino movie might not have been present.

Did anyone else write about anti-Semitism during Shakespeare’s time?

Christopher Marlowe – The Jew of Malta  – a Jewish character who brags about the terrible crimes he

has committed. Shakespeare’s title is similar, but emphasises the Merchant – but who is the

merchant?

Might a Christian audience have been amused by Shylock’s speech and how he loses at the end ?

The audience might have been hostile to Shylock but the style of the speech does not seem

particularly sympathetic – he uses a lot of rhetorical questions, questions the Christians and tries to

make them question themselves. A speech in ‘the grand style’, a style of speeches associated with

important characters.