Review: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

 

I would like to start this review by stating, that I have read Shakespeare before. I plaid Hermia and a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream. I have long considered myself a fan of Shakespeare. I will also say I am taking a Shakespeare and Race class as a part of my last semester of college. In this class, we examine the plays in which race is very relevant in Shakespeare's work. 

I will also say that race existed differently in Shakespeare's time. Your religion, ethnicity, and skin color could all be parts of race and it was believed that racial differences manifested physically in the body. 

I also want to start with a content warning. The Merchant of Venice is extremely antisemitic. It is also anti-black and misogynistic, but these are much less shown than antisemitism.  

I came to this book with an open mind and with absolutely no knowledge of the content except the content warning of racism from my professor. As I said, I've read Shakespeare so I would say I have a basic understanding and expectations for his works. This book/play is essentially about a couple of men who want to marry certain women and have obstacles in the way of that. One man, Bassanio is too in-debt to get the woman he wants. The other man is Christian and the woman he wants is Jewish. However, it is very difficult to even attempt to follow the story because of the constant antisemitism. 

The Jewish character of the play is Shylock and his daughter Jessica, but she wants to cast off her father and her Jewishness. When Shylock has stage directions to enter a scene he is described as "Shylock the Jew". Characters refer to him as the Jew instead of by his name. He is spat on by one of the supposed heroes of the story. He is depicted as money-obsessed and desperate for Christian flesh. 

I will say that this is one of the worst pieces of literature I have ever read. The plot itself is far less interesting than Shakespeare's other works. The female characters go from being independent to being submissive to their love interest as soon as he appears in her life. One of the few interesting things is the unusual relationship dynamic between Bassanio and Antonio that seems to go much farther than friendship or even bromance, but it isn't directly stated. Some readers interpret their relationship as a homosexual which there is definite evidence for. 

Furthermore, the text is so antisemitic that I see little to no value in teaching or performing it unless it is to examine the racial structures of Shakespeare's time. The antisemitism makes no one the hero and no one the villain, but honestly, I wanted Shylock to get his revenge. Even so, he's a caricature of a Jewish stereotype and such a character should not be commended. 

I don't recommend this book and I feel distrustful of anyone who does and anyone who likes it. Also, my class pretty unanimously didn't like it and said that the antisemitism overwhelmed the play. If you're looking to read classics, I recommend skipping this one. If you're writing an essay on why Shakespeare is overrated, this text might be helpful. I'm just glad to be done with it. 

I'll be posting reviews of my Shakespeare reads throughout the semester. I'm hoping my next post is a more fun book though.