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Merchant of Venice Then and Now Home
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Introduction
One of the central areas in which Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is in the city of Venice, Italy. Since Shakespeare’s time, however, the city has flourished to become a more welcoming city. The connection between Venice in Shakespeare’s play and modern-day Venice is a contrasting connection with many differences between the two different time periods in both social and economic aspects. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare describes the city as a hub of economic activity and trade. Many Venetians work as merchants and the majority of the people highly value money. This depiction exemplifies the idea that the city of Venice centered around economic aspects.
Also, many Venetians connect the ideas of money and love together, believing that the two ideas are intertwine—Shakespeare depicts Venetians falling in love, though their motivation for love extends from the roots of money and wealth and a desire for it. Socially, Shakespeare depicts Venice as a highly anti-Semitic city that looks down at Jews as inferiors. This anti-Semitism forces Venice’s Jews into confined areas and forced the Jews to accept jobs that Christian Venetians scorned, such as the job of being a usurer to lend money to others. In addition, Shakespeare depicts Venice as a male dominated society where women have diminished roles.
However, modern-day Venice contrasts Shakespeare’s description. Modern Venice does not boast large trade activity as the main source of economic strength. Instead, Venice recently derives wealth from the large number of tourists that visit the Italian city each year. Money is not valued as highly as Shakespeare implies in The Merchant of Venice. Similarly, no evidence exists that Venetians believe that love and money are intertwined ideas, especially with the redefinition of gender roles. Now, couples mutually own the wealth instead of the husband becoming lord of both his own property and his wife’s property. Socially, male domination in Venetian society has declined and opportunity extends to both genders. In addition, previous anti-Semitism in Venice has largely dwindled, especially after the Second World War. The Jewish population no longer works in the banking business as usurers, now becoming prominent in business and the field of medicine.
This website will present the contrasting connection between Venice in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and modern-day Venice. Please use the pages under "wiki pages" to navigate through this site. Click on the pages to view links and videos providing examples for the contrasting connection between Venice in two different time periods.
Introduction
One of the central areas in which Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is in the city of Venice, Italy. Since Shakespeare’s time, however, the city has flourished to become a more welcoming city. The connection between Venice in Shakespeare’s play and modern-day Venice is a contrasting connection with many differences between the two different time periods in both social and economic aspects. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare describes the city as a hub of economic activity and trade. Many Venetians work as merchants and the majority of the people highly value money. This depiction exemplifies the idea that the city of Venice centered around economic aspects.
Also, many Venetians connect the ideas of money and love together, believing that the two ideas are intertwine—Shakespeare depicts Venetians falling in love, though their motivation for love extends from the roots of money and wealth and a desire for it. Socially, Shakespeare depicts Venice as a highly anti-Semitic city that looks down at Jews as inferiors. This anti-Semitism forces Venice’s Jews into confined areas and forced the Jews to accept jobs that Christian Venetians scorned, such as the job of being a usurer to lend money to others. In addition, Shakespeare depicts Venice as a male dominated society where women have diminished roles.
However, modern-day Venice contrasts Shakespeare’s description. Modern Venice does not boast large trade activity as the main source of economic strength. Instead, Venice recently derives wealth from the large number of tourists that visit the Italian city each year. Money is not valued as highly as Shakespeare implies in The Merchant of Venice. Similarly, no evidence exists that Venetians believe that love and money are intertwined ideas, especially with the redefinition of gender roles. Now, couples mutually own the wealth instead of the husband becoming lord of both his own property and his wife’s property. Socially, male domination in Venetian society has declined and opportunity extends to both genders. In addition, previous anti-Semitism in Venice has largely dwindled, especially after the Second World War. The Jewish population no longer works in the banking business as usurers, now becoming prominent in business and the field of medicine.
This website will present the contrasting connection between Venice in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and modern-day Venice. Please use the pages under "wiki pages" to navigate through this site. Click on the pages to view links and videos providing examples for the contrasting connection between Venice in two different time periods.
Latest page update: made by CharHei
, May 21 2008, 1:11 AM EDT
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fuleky1827@gmail.com | Casey's feedback | 3 | May 22 2008, 8:45 AM EDT by LordSelmek | |
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Thread started: May 21 2008, 8:46 AM EDT
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Sorry if I'm mistaken, but isn't the assignment supposed to compare historic Venice with Venice today, not contrast them? I don't understand why anti-Semitism and male domination has to to with urban Venice. In the 17th century, Jews and women in many different locations were seen as inferior, not just in the city of Venice.
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