The Merchant of Venice by Williams Shakespeare

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Recommended: Comparing Judaism and Christianity

The real villain in The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, is not a person, however an entire religion. In the city of Venice, Christianity was the dominant, main religion. Despite being a Christian, the people were corrupt, greedy, and selfish, where the needs of themselves were much more important than the needs of another human being, such as the Jews. Prejudice against Jews existed greatly in the society of Venice, however it existed way before the time period also. The Merchant of Venice was written within a time period (Around 1597) and culture in which prejudice against the Jews were common and pervasive. In The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, the real villain portrayed is the entire religion of Christianity where Christians present an evil background as prejudice against the Jews go back to the earliest days of Christianity, also where prejudice against the Jews existed in The Merchant of Venice, and where the Christians lived a corrupt life and society which went against their Christian values.
Jewish persecutions go back centuries to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was rumored, at the time, that the Jews were responsible for sentencing the death of Jesus. In the Bible, the Jewish people are quoted as saying, “The blood of Jesus. His blood be on us, and on our children.” (Matthew XXVII. XXV) This passage shows the want from the Jews to have Jesus crucified and killed. As a result of this, the Christians began the tradition of making the Jewish community bear the guilt of the death of Jesus Christ. Christians began havocing and causing trouble at different Jewish services and and different synagogues. The right of the Jewish men and women became less and less. This prejudice against the Jews wen...

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...ived a corrupt life and society which went against their Christian values. In a This I Believe Essay, by Kevin, he writes, “I believe that others have already defined much of who I am supposed to be, and I have spent a great deal of time running from that definition. I believe that there comes a time in everyone’s life when he or she must speak up and address stereotypes and assumptions because they are easier to believe that the work it takes to discover the uniqueness of the individual.” In the case of this subject at hand, the Christians define the Jews as evil and in a much more separated society from them despite both being human beings. The prejudice they produce, the nefarious lifestyle, all come into the factor displaying Christians as the true villain in The Merchant of Venice.

Works Cited

http://cummingsstudyguides.net/xMerchantof.html#Christians

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