Should We Still Be Teaching Shakespeare?
By JOHANNA HILLMAN ‘28
There are many famous authors, poets, and playwrights from all periods of time, from all countries and continents, and from all walks of life. However, there is one writer who is upheld as the peak of literature, the pinnacle of playwriting, and the epitome of what a writer should be. And this writer is… Shakespeare. And it makes sense why. After all, Shakespeare, as a writer, was prolific. During his lifetime, which lasted only half a century, [here] he wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets. He contributed massively to the English language, inventing words like “bedroom,” “gossip,” and “fashionable.” [here] However, despite his artistry, like most Englishmen who lived during the 16th century, Shakespeare was an antisemite.
Chances are that during his lifetime, Shakespeare did not meet a Jew — after all, when Shakespeare was born in 1564, Jews had been banned from living in England for almost 300 years. [here] But he still included references to them in many of his plays — in “Macbeth,” “Two Gentlemen Of Verona,” and “Much Ado About Nothing,” just to name a few. In each of these plays, Shakespeare includes lines that dehumanize Jews, placing them lower than European Christians. In “Two Gentlemen Of Verona,” one character, Launce, complains that his companion “has no more pity in him than a dog,” and that while his friend did not, “a Jew would have wept.” While this comparison does place Jews favorably to Launce’s companion, what this line is saying is that even a Jew would have wept — implying that Jews are less kind, less sympathetic compared to Christians. In Shakespeare’s plays, characters, while in the act of telling a lie, often compare themselves to Jews. “If I do not love her,” says Benedick in “Much Ado,” “I am a Jew.” In “Henry IV,” Falstaff, despite the fact that he is lying, swears that he is not – if else, he says, “I am a Jew… an Ebrew Jew.” [here]
Of course, the most obvious example of Shakespeare’s antisemitism is his play “The Merchant Of Venice.” “The Merchant Of Venice” tells the story of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who lends money to a Christian, Antonio, on the condition that if Antonio does not pay him back, Shylock gets to cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh. However, despite the fact that Antonio does not pay Shylock back, the court is convinced by another character that it is Shylock in the wrong, and the only way for him not to be put to death is for him to convert to Christianity. In the play, Shylock is portrayed as a caricature of the stereotype of a bloodthirsty, “greedy Jew” who hates Christians and seeks revenge.
In fact, “Merchant Of Venice” was a favorite play in Nazi Germany. During the 1930s, over 50 productions of “Merchant Of Venice” were performed, and the Nazi directors exploited and exaggerated the antisemitic nature of the play to serve as antisemitic propaganda. [here]
It’s clear that “The Merchant Of Venice,” as well as some other Shakespeare plays, contains harmful antisemitic tropes. According to English Department Chair Ms. Desmond, “The Merchant Of Venice” is on the ENG330 list and is sometimes taught by at least a couple of teachers in the spring. Additionally, classroom discussions of Shakespeare’s plays at Exeter often look at his work through a social justice lens.” According to Ms. Desmond and the Courses Of Instruction, “a winter senior elective, Shakespeare Now, focuses on understanding Shakespeare’s plays in terms of their time ‘as well as how they address modern sensibilities of race, gender, sexuality, and politics.’”
“The Merchant Of Venice” is an antisemitic play, but, due to the nature of the Harkness discussion, students have the ability to direct the discussion to the antisemitic tropes in the reading as long as they’re made aware of them. If students are able to recognize how “The Merchant Of Venice” promotes antisemitic tropes and stereotypes, then they actually may in the future be more adept at combating antisemitism. Further, the English department is taking a step in the right direction by offering electives such as Shakespeare Now that give students the opportunity to discuss Shakespeare through a modern-day lens. Considering Shakespeare’s importance in the field of literature and the value reading his plays and sonnets holds in English courses, I think that it is acceptable that we’re still reading Shakespeare. However, it’s also important that his antisemitism is not overlooked. Considering how many playwrights and poets exist in the literary world, perhaps there is a larger conversation we should have about the monopoly Shakespeare holds over English-language literature.