Phase 2--Performance Analysis

In the BYU library media center, I found this video called "Shakespeare Explorations with Patrick Stewart: Merchant of Venice." Basically this is what they did: Patrick Stewart and other actors discussed and acted out some of the scenes from The Merchant of Venice on a set and then discussed theatrical and literary items in the play. They did a lot of scenes with Shylock, like his monologues and arguments with Antonio and company about the debt, and so they discussed the character of Shylock in quite a bit of detail. This was helpful because I'm focusing a lot on Shylock in my paper.

First, they went into some detail about the history of the Jew-Christian conflict. Ironically, Jesus and his disciples, who started Christianity, were practicing Jews. Judaism and Christianity are both monotheistic religions, yet the two groups became rivals soon after Jesus’s crucifixion (an execution enacted because of Roman law at the time). “Historians agree that the break between Judaism and Christianity followed the Roman destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 ce. In the aftermath of this devastating defeat, which was interpreted by Jew and Christian alike as a sign of divine punishment, the Gospels diminished Roman responsibility and expressed Jewish culpability in the death of Jesus both explicitly (Matthew 27:25) and implicitly. Jews were depicted as killers of the Son of God.” Even though Jesus was executed according to Roman law, the culpability moved away from the Romans, and the death of the Son of God became the Jews' fault. This thought, though unfair, nevertheless gives at least some reason as to why Christians hated Jews so much.

Fastforward to the late Middle Ages, when Jews became prominent in moneylending and trading. Because they were so good at what they did despite the sins of their fathers (who killed the Son of God), it aroused feelings of jealousy and resentment in Christians. However, they had to tolerate Jews because they had an important role to play in trade. Jews could not own land, but they were allowed to lend money with interest while Christians were not (Jews lived on the "margins of society," so they did many things that the Christian religion prohibited). 

This information brings us to Shakespeare's day, the Renaissance, and sets the stage for the few scenes that Patrick Stewart and co. performed on this DVD. When you have background knowledge of a subject, it has much more meaning, and some things become more significant than they were before. Shylock's monologues lamenting the inequality of his treatment by Christians go from being the complaint of one man about unfair treatment to a plea for the equality of an entire nation. Thus, the actor is speaking for all members of his religion when he says, "Thou calledst me dog before thou hadst a cause. But since I am a dog, beware my fangs." Christians' pre-judgment of an entire nation created the entire problem in The Merchant of Venice in the first place. It felt like a more real and present issue to be able to see the play performed in a more modern setting (I suppose 1991 is "modern") and with such passion.