Shakespeare and Racism

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William Shakespeare is the greatest playwright in the era of Renaissance of England. He was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. Shakespeare spent his childhood in a rather affluent bourgeoisie. The boy went to the grammar school at Stratford and later he became an illustrious dramatist and poet in London. Shakespeare altogether creates 37 plays, two narrative poems and 154 sonnets in his lifetime.

Shakespeare also is the remarkable humanist. He lived in a transition period that the feudalism started to disintegrate and the emerging bourgeoisie began its early rising. In such an epoch religious theology and obscurantism of the middle ages moved towards decline, the bourgeoisie humanism as the central world outlook day by day stroke root in the hearts of people. Humanism started to predominate in the social culture and ideological trend. Culturally, the interest in God and the life after death was transformed into the exaltation of man and an absorption in earthly life and as materialistic philosophy and scientific thought graduallly replaced the church dogmas and religious mysticism of the Middle Ages, a totally new culture rose out of the revival of the old culture through the exploration of the infinite capabilities of man. Based on disaffection to the social system at his time and on veneration to the value of human nature, Shakespeare creates a series of excellent plays which enjoy great popularity.

Shakespeare's dramatic art obtained high appreciation from Marx and Engels. Marx even proposes the aesthetic principle of "Shakespearization." The so-called "Shakespearization" refers to Shakespeare's realistic creation method and his dramatic art technique,i.e. requesting that the writer should start his creation from the rea...

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...es vivid and distinctive characters both are nice and evil, but we have to look upon not merely goodness on good persons and evilness on evil persons. Shakespeare through the character of Shylock repines for the Jews who suffer from national and religious discrimination, manifesting his bourgeoisie humanitarian standpoint.

All of us who have read this play please do not continue to praise Antonio and accuse Shylock. Our society needs to develop noble sentiment, moreover needs our sympathy and inspiration to the weak. It is shameful to look on their pitiful destiny but not to stretch out aids, or even exert serious persecution to them. This can only arouse revolt from the weak. Everybody are born equal, human value and dignity overweight everything, why not everyone of us treat each other with equality, peaceful heart and mutual respect as well as show our love?

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