So I've been thinking about what to write my research paper on for quite a while now, and I think I'm starting to fine-tune my ideas. At first, I just wanted to look at Christianity in Shakespeare's plays--what part it plays in relation to the characters, plot, setting, etc. Of course, that topic is way too broad, and I don't really feel like writing a book on the subject. I narrowed it down to the conflict between Christians and Jews or other non-believers, which is a subject that drives the plot of The Merchant of Venice. That idea was also much too general, and so I tried to zoom in on different productions of Shakespeare's plays. I had this vague idea that I would look at the various ways this touchy subject was handled when performed for different audiences. Unfortunately that didn't work out too well because I got no leads and no responses when I reached out.
Then lo and behold, I stumbled (quite by accident) upon a blog written by a student at SUNY New Paltz named Ben Burgholzer. His post, entitled Christian Oppression: Shakespearean and Contemporary, had a paragraph discussing the problems that existed in the legal system because of this conflict. From our reading of The Merchant of Venice, we all know that Shylock ultimately got the shaft when it came to the law. Even though Shylock is somewhat of a despicable character, all he really wanted was to be treated as an equal to Christians. They were merciful to each other, but chose to forgo the Christians values of charity and forgiveness when dealing with infidels. This was also the case when Jews and other non-Christians traded with Christians.
I thought Ben's blog post brought up some good points, so I thought I would incorporate them into my paper. So, basically for my topic I think I would like to find instances of Christians oppressing non-believers in trade, in the legal system, in everyday life, etc., and compare those to contemporary racial prejudice and inequality. Obviously The Merchant of Venice is full of examples, but I am also looking at Othello. I tried to research what other plays have examples, but perhaps I could focus on using Christian beliefs to oppress others and gain power, like the kings claiming that their wars were in God's name in all of the Henry plays.Then I can look at these things in modern times, for example, people judging Muslims just for who they are after 9/11.
I posted on Facebook, asking if this topic interested anyone and if anyone had anything to say on the matter. I got a few responses from people. Some just said that it was a cool topic, but this one girl referred me to this guy who is a friend of a friend of hers (so she barely even knew him). He is minoring in history and just took a Shakespeare class at BYU-I. We're having an ongoing discussion about the subject; he's mostly giving me historical background and his personal views on prejudice. It's nice to have someone my age to bounce ideas off of. I've also found several blogs on about this, and I've commented on their posts. I hope I can get some feedback from them soon. I'm not sure how to contact any experts. I've read a few scholarly articles on Shakespeare and Christianity, but that's about it.
More to come! I'll try to find more people interested in my topic.
No comments:
Post a Comment