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Jody McGraw Merchant of Venice Mark Raider Reflection #2 27 April, 2012 Understanding the Context: The Help of Outside Resources It is true that Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice in the same time period it was set. It is true that Shakespeare knew the culture of time, the dress of the time, and the attitudes of the time. It is true that the ideas and words, actions and dialogue portrayed through the actors in The Merchant of Venice could be argued as true opinions and thoughts of many during that time. But one thing is not true. Shylock, Antonio, Portia, Jessica- all of Shakespeares wonderfully crafted characters- are not real, the story is fiction, the actors merely playing a role. That is what makes Mark Raiders class on the view of Jews in The Merchant of Venice so fascinating, so intriguing, so mysterious. Because although it is known to have factual bearing, The Merchant of Venice needs support; support through the reading and analysis of secondary sources- of sources based entirely on fact, of primary sources and secondary sources, of sources that build up the context of the time period for the reader. Shakespeare is limited to what he can tell the reader, portray to the audience, because he wrote a story. He did not include every aspect of the life of each and every demographic featured in his writing, for that the reader must turn elsewhere.

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Perhaps due to the attitudes of the time, perhaps due to interest, perhaps due to the fact he was William Shakespeare and could do whatever he pleased- The Merchant of Venice lacks much deep information on the women actors in the play. Portia, Jessica, and Nerissa are all intertwined through the plot, they all have men vying for their attention, and they all are strong, determined, brave women. Judith Baskins Jewish Women in the Middle Ages sheds more light unto this subject. And although Portia and Nerissa, and later Jessica, are not Jewish women during this time period it can be expected that certain traits and roles could not be too far apart from the Christian values- as we have seen through other aspects of the class. A prominent theme Baskin utilizes throughout her writing is well defined on the first page of this section. May she sew, spin, and weave and be brought up to a life of good deeds. (Baskin 101, 1998) This is all women were expected to live up to in the Middle Ages or at least at face value, for Baskin goes on to tell of the role women had in economic endeavors, so metimes supporting their husband and family (Baskin 101, 1998). While the stereotype, the pre conceived notion that society today perceives of what women did during this period in time is affirmed through Baskins first statement, her second statement aff irms what is seen through the plot of The Merchant of Venice. The women of the play personify both roles Baskin illustrates; the meekness of having to be wooed and having their wedded fate be in the hands of their fathers and the contrasting view of being a strong, powerful, impactful women. Portia and Jessica find themselves in the tricky situation of love and loyalty. Portia must wait for a suitor to meet her fathers little game and Jessica has to decide how to go about marrying the man in love although he does not meet the qualifications her father (and her society) has set. Both women then demonstrate their independence; Portia dressing up as a lawyer and showing

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up in court and Jessica disobeying her fathers wishes- not only marrying Lorenzo, but stealing much wealth from her father. Having Jessica in essence steal her dowry away from her father is another act of strong rebellion. Baskin explains the importance of a dowry in Jewish culture in this time period, the significant value of her dowry could assure a wife a prominent place in her household. (Baskin 109, 1998). This along with the idea that a brides dowry was often the first income that a young couple had, Jessica risked a lot by eloping without her fathers permission. The main reason for Shylocks refusal of permission for the marriage between Jessica and Lorenzo was the difference of the religions. But yet Ill go in haste, to feed upon/ The prodigal Christian. Jessica, my girl/ Look to my house. I am right loathe to go;/ There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, (Act II Scene V). While the secondary literature helps build up the characters and allow the readers to imagine the fuller picture of their life and motivations, there are other resources that also allow the reader to create a diorama of the time and place in which the story takes place. Art work and masterful paintings were an important part of life in the 16 th century. While Cincinnati Ohio in the 21st century contrasts in numerous ways from Renaissance Italy, a trip to the local art museum provides not only a cultured experience be offers an insight to a world so different from the surroundings of today, that it is hard to imagine. Images that may seem purely biblical in context, purely imagined, purely unrelated can have a lot of bearing in the relating the images back to The Merchant of Venice. Works such as Salvator Rosas Finding Moses, El Grecos Christ in Agony on the Cross, and Herri met de Bless Landscape with the offering of

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Isaac all give an insight to the mindset of the people living in the time period of Merchant. Each painting seems like an image pulled from an illustrated bible- they are all related to Christian motifs- but after looking intently into the brushstrokes one is able to see that something is off. These scenes that have been generally accepted as happenings in the Middle East, appear in very European locals. Rather than the traditional robes and sandals that have come to be known as the accepted garb for people in the Bible, the people are dressed in attire of the Renaissance or even of the ancient Romans. This all creates the assumption that these artists were not extremely worldly. Rosa had not seen the Nile in which Moses was found, Blas did not realize maritime vistas were not a part of Isaacs life. These artists- while brilliant with a paint brush- painted what they knew, explored the scenes that were familiar. When applying these themes, these ideas to The Merchant of Venice the reader can affirm the behaviors of the actors. The societal norms were not pushed out of balance; the religious attitudes were not question- because they didnt know any different. To Antonio, Shylock, and all the rest there was no other option, and because of this they accepted their fate without much argument. The exception to this subservient acceptance of fate only appeared through the reading of The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg. In Ginzburgs tale of Menocchio, this peasant dared to question the possibilities. Menocchio saw the options in life, the option of divergent ideas, the chance to believe in more than what the church told the populous to believe. Together the primary text of William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice and the supplemental reading of analysiss like Judith Baskins Jewish Women in the Middle Ages and

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Carlo Ginzburgs The Cheese and the Worms allow for a fuller conception of the events and ideas surrounding Antonio, Shylock, Portia, and Jessica and all the other lively characters. This in addition to the examination of art work from the time period begin to paint a picture of not only the characters in th play, but the people they might have been and the atmosphere in which they would have of been born, lived, and died.

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Works Cited Baskin, Judith R. "Jewish Women in the Middle Ages." Jewish Women in Historical Perspective. Detroit, MI: Wayne State Univ., 1991. Print. Ginzburg, Carlo. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-century Miller. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1980. Print. Shakespeare, William, and William Lyon Phelps. The Merchant of Venice. New Haven: Yale UP, 1923. Print.