Welcome to Shakespeare’s world!
A world of
• History
• Tragedy
• Comedy
Historical Background
Renaissance
Elizabethan England
1558 - 1603
It all started with a
guy named Henry. He
changed the world,
but his daughter
ruled the world
Once upon a time…
King Henry VII and his wife had to find a
proper wife for their oldest son, Arthur
(Henry VIII’s big brother). They chose a
Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon,
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.
(Remember Columbus? Same people).
Arthur marries Catherine, but...
• He dies within 1 year and...
• never has a child, so...
• Catherine is proclaimed “pure” and
given in marriage to Arthur’s younger
brother--
Henry VIII
Henry VIII
• There are many pregnancies w/ Catherine of
Aragon, but
• only 1 child lives… Mary.
• Henry grows bored & wants a male heir, but
• Catholicism forbids divorce, so
• Henry appeals to the Pope for an annulment. He
claims that his marriage is invalid because Catherine
was his brother’s widow.
* The Pope refuses, so
Henry VIII...
* renounces Catholicism & changes the
country’s religion, founding the Church of
England. Then he…
* grants himself a divorce & marries Anne
Boleyn. She’s French, so everybody hates her.
* Makes himself head of church instead of
Pope. He’s already head of state.
* Once again, many pregnancies, one survives…
Elizabeth!
To sum up, Henry VIII marries 6 times
• Catherine of Aragon: divorced (bears daughter-- Mary)
• Anne Boleyn:
beheaded but first bears daughter-Elizabeth
•
•
•
•
Kathryn Howard:
Anne of Cleves:
Jane Seymour:
Catherine Parr:
dies
divorced
beheaded
outlives him
Surviving children:
Mary
Elizabeth
Edward
Who will succeed Henry VIII?
Edward VI, rules from age 9age 15, then dies; no heirs
Mary I (“Bloody Mary”)
* not as bad as she sounds
* restores Catholicism
* Marries Philip II of
Spain; dies childless
after a very unhappy life
begins as a troubled nation
• severe poverty
• outbreaks of bubonic plague
• most people can’t read
Elizabeth I
1558 - 1603
Can one
woman really
make a
difference?
From chaos to order
An Elizabethan theme
Elizabeth ("Glorianna")
* reigns for 45 years-enormously popular
* ends religious violence
* defeats Spanish Armada (1558)
* encourages the arts; a renaissance!
Chain of Being
God
Angels
Man
Animals
Plants
Inanimate objects
Additionally:
•
Elizabeth is very well educated.
•Her interests include history,
science, art, literature,
philosophy
• A shrewd political strategist, she
never marries (The Virgin Queen),
but uses her status as a single
monarch to encourage alliances w/
other nations whose leaders hope
to win her hand.
Life in Elizabethan England
What to do today...
Morning agenda:
1. Public execution at dawn
2. Bear-baiting before lunch
3. Street carnival on the way to
theatre
“I know I have the body of a
weak and feeble woman, but
I have the heart and stomach
of a king: a king of England!”
Elizabeth I
She, too, dies without an heir,
but that’s another story!
Now it’s time to...
William Shakespeare
23 April 1564 - 23 April 1616
William
Shakespeare
actor
playwright
director
producer
poet
husband
father
Assorted Facts:
• Born in Stratford-upon-Avon
• Marries Anne Hathaway 1582 (he’s 18, she’s 26)
• Has 3 children:
Susannah, Hamnet, Judith
The Globe Theatre
• Built in 1599
• Built outside London:
Puritan influence
(corrupts morals)
•Modeled after
courtyards of inns
Shakespeare’s Plays:
sssssssssssss
37 total, in 3 categories:
•Histories (England is hero)
•Tragedies (lots of people die)
•Comedies:
 romantic misadventures
 mistaken identities
 clown/buffoon character
 women outwitting men
ssssssssssssss
The Merchant of Venice
Not a history exactly,
nor a TRAGEDY precisely,
but a
Comedy…
of sorts
Background
Edict of Expulsion Act: Edward I expelled all Jews from the
kingdom of England in 1290. It is quite likely that
Shakespeare had never met a Jewish person. This ban
extended until 1656.
The countries in which Jews were permitted to live,
including the republic of Venice, imposed many restrictions:
• They lived outside the cities in ghettos.
• They were required to wear distinguishing symbols on
clothing when leaving ghetto area.
• They were restricted to practicing only a handful of
trades.
Trades Permitted
• operating pawn shop
• lending money (Now it might be called investment
banking or venture capitalism. In our society, these
people are among the most admired and powerful.)
• operating printing press (Hebrew press)
• trading in textiles
• practicing medicine
How Does Shakespeare Fit?
• William Shakespeare was born on or around April 23,
1564 and died April 23, 1616
• If Jews were not allowed into England until 1656, how
could he write about them in this play?
Note:
• Officially, there were no Jews in 16th century England
because they had been banished. Some say fewer than
200 Jews lived in Elizabethan England, concealing their
religious practices and often meeting in small secret
communities to maintain their identity as Jews among
themselves.
• Jews were a popular target of hatred in this time, as is
common for any outsider in a society. This hostility was
taken for granted in Shakespeare’s time and perhaps
particularly exacerbated by an infamous trial and public
execution.
The Queen’s Physician
Queen Elizabeth’s physician, Rodrigo Lopez, a Portuguese
Jew who lived as a convert to Christianity but met secretly
with other Jews, was accused and found guilty of
attempting to poison the queen and was executed in 1594.
The false accusation stemmed from a personal vendetta
from the Earl of Essex, but that’s another story.
Popular sentiment in England encouraged Jews to be
vilified.
“If you prick us, do we not bleed?”
• Many have used Act III, Scene 1, Line 63-64 as
justification for a simplistic attempt to cast Shakespeare
as being above the type of institutionalized prejudice
that was widely accepted in his day: Jews and Christians
are both human and therefore should be treated
equally.
• Honestly, Shakespeare was a man of his time. Shylock’s
characterization reveals common prejudices. If we
explore 3.63-72 in their context, it becomes clear that
Shylock means to exact revenge in precisely the same
way his Gentile enemies would, hardly the plea for
reconciliation through common humanity that some
would call it.
“If you prick us, do we not bleed?”
• Careful reading of the text reveals such matter-of-fact
persecution, such expected societal contempt for all Jews,
as should make us exceedingly uncomfortable. Upon
consideration, we probably won’t like Antonio or
Bassanio as much as Shakespeare perhaps intended.
• We can and should hold Shylock up to scrutiny, inferring
whether his difficult personality preceded or resulted
from the persecution he suffered. A strong and complex
villain, but a villain nonetheless, Shylock’s
characterization and treatment make this one of the most
problematic of Shakespeare’s plays.
Justice or Mercy?
• Which do you think is more
important for society? Why?
• Which do you think is more
important for relationships?
Why?
Exposition
•The republic of Venice in the late
16th century
•Chief concerns: Money, love,
marriage, money, racial and
religious superiority, and finally…
MONEY!(includes all
property)
Major Characters
*Antonio
*Bassanio
*Portia
*Gratiano
*Nerissa
*Shylock
*Jessica
*Lorenzo
Minor Characters
*Lancelet Gobbo
*friends/companions
* Gobbo
*Tubal
*foreign suitors
*messengers
Antonio
Connected to:
Bassanio
Gratiano
Shylock
Portia
Lorenzo
Connection:
Connected to:
Antonio
Gratiano
Shylock
Portia
Lorenzo
Bassanio
Connection:
Shylock
Connected to:
Antonio
Bassanio
Jessica
Lorenzo
Tubal
Portia
Connection:
Portia
Connected to:
Nerissa
Bassanio
Shylock
Connection:
Themes and Such
Think of possible themes you have
encountered in literature/film concerning the
following:
 money
 friendship, love, and marriage
 boundaries: inclusion vs. exclusion (the
condition of being an outsider)
 family and cultural loyalty
 identity
 perspective