The Merchant of Venice Essay

William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice contains many examples that insult Jews because they were the minority in London in Shakespeare’s time. Although many parts of the play could be interpreted as offensive in modern times, Elizabethan audiences found them comical. The majority of London’s population at the time was anti-Semitic because there were very few Jews living there. Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice supports anti-Semitism actions and thoughts and therefore …

…that being around Jews was dangerous to his health and mind. Lorenzo stated that the only way Shylock would get to heaven is by his gentle daughter (because she converted to Christianity). And Launcelot told Jessica that she was damned because she was born Jewish. The three discussed are only a few of the insulting situations that Shakespeare presents for Jews and modern audiences in The Merchant of Venice that prove that he was anti-Semitic.