ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE IN THE YEARS THAT THE MERCHANT OF VENICE WRITTEN AND SHYLOCK’S MONOLOGUE ABOUT DISCRIMINATION

I am going to use the word “anti-Semitism” rest of the paper, in order to understand the word, I want to give the definition of it. Anti- Semitism is a word that is used for the people who hate Jews. It is hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group. We call it “anti-Judaism” as well. The Merchant of Venice was written in 1600’s and on that time there was discrimination especially “anti-Semitism” against Jews. Beginning from 1558 and lasted in 1603 Elizabethan Age was the main period of religious and politics and important playwriters and poets from the society were introduced. Religion was the essence of Elizabethan Age which has a great impact on people’s daily life from church to education. A lot has been written and said about religion in that era leading to new dimensions and interpretations.

There weren’t many Jewish people in England in the Elizabethan era, Jewish people practiced their religion secretly, they were assimilated their religion was converted or they pretended like changed their religion. There is a research about violence against Jews. The survey asked respondents to consider their own experiences of physical violence – that is, being hit or pushed – or threats of physical violence, for example on the street, at the workplace or anywhere else, in the past 12 months as well as in the past