Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

 

You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,

And spit upon my Jewish gabardine,

And all for use of that which is mine own.

-Shylock

The Merchant of Venice                Act I, scene iii, line 111

 

Day two of semi-random Merchant, and what do we have here. I’ll tell you what we have. We have cut right to the heart of the play. If not the heart as Will intended it, certainly the heart of the play as it is viewed today, and the reason that the play is considered a bit problematic in the twenty-first century.

Bassanio and Antonio have come to Shylock to borrow money, and Shylock is raising the issue of his own Jewishness and how he has been persecuted for it.

Now, do we discuss what’s going on in the play here and what we think Will meant, or do we discuss modern sensibilities and why this line is emblematic of why the play can be difficult to deal with in 2022? Related as they are, these two topics diverge significantly, but  both of them require careful consideration in any modern presentation, interpretation, or retelling of this play. Whilst I'm not going to delve further into it now, I lay this out there for your consideration with the promise that we will be considering this further as we continue our semi-random Merchant journey. 

 

Simon & Garfunkel - America (from The Concert in Central Park) - YouTube

 No pic today, just a song. I picked it because it has the word gaberdine in it and this is the only time I've ever run into that word other than here in Merchant. But it's also a great song.