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Merchant of Venice Then and Now Home

CharHei — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:11:29 CDT

Welcome!

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.

Video

CharHei — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:08:09 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Links

CharHei — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:44:43 CDT

Venice- Economy and Points of Interest- This link describes modern-day Venice. The website explains briefly the history of Venice and points of interest in the city. These points of interest emphasize the tourist attractions that draw visitors annually. This shows the weight that tourism maintains on the Venetian economy, which finds further emphasis in the section explaining the points that make up the Venetian economy. In this way, the link helps provide an understanding of the main basis of Venetian economy.

The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Venice- This link describes Venetian views on Jews in the past and Venetian views in modern-day Venice. The website first briefly explains the history of Jews in the city of Venice. Then, the website explains the areas into which the Christian Venetians forced the Jews into and the limitations that the Christians placed on the Jews to restrict Jewish economic activity. Shylock is an example of such a Jew; he has been forced to become a usurer due to the fact that virtually no other jobs are available to him. The website ends with an analysis of modern-day Venetian views on Jews and how the Jews are free to work and worship as they please. In this way, the link helps provide an understanding of past and modern-day Venetian views on the Jewish population.

The Setting: Venice- This link describes Venice as depicted in The Merchant of Venice. This website presents a brief summary of Shakespeare's description of Venice as compared to the fictional city of Belmont. The page describes Venice as a city of trade and commerce that highly values money. The city contains a large number of Christians, which leads to the rise in anti-Semitism, and also a large number of males. This link helps provide an understanding of Venice as Shakespeare describes in his play, and a simple explanation of Venetian characteristics at the time. Further exploration of the website will present the love vs. money motif, present in the city of Venice.