I will be answering the question “Is the Merchant of Venice an antisemitic play?” Antisemitism is discrimination towards Jews. There are many instances where antisemitism is shown in this play. The first instance we see of antisemitism is Jews getting tossed of a bridge into a canal. They are called names and are also spat on. The Jews were being abused by Christians. This is because in 1596 Jews were seen as money lenders. This goes against Christianity. I will be using Quotes form other researchers, and exploring both both of views on this.The Jews were used as scapegoats by Hitler. He blamed them for losing the world war one and for the economic crisis Germany was going through. By blaming the Jews for all the country’s problem he breathe life into antisemitism.Hitler use propaganda saying that the Jews were rich and hoard their money while Germans were suffering in poverty which was caused by them.
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February 24, 2016 at 5:31 pm
Hi Adriel,
In the comment section below, please write me the six examples of antisemitism in the play that you are going to talk about.
Stick to context about the historical experience of Jews in 1596 in Venice