Talk:Shylock

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Shylock has had an indelible impact on how individuals understand anti-semitism. The numerous events of Christians spitting at the man, Jessica leaving her father, and his association to money has clearly left a stained image of this downtrodden character. I would like the reader to take into account that Merchant of Venice is not *a comedy* and that the suffering of this character was mocked at by Christians of the late middle ages. I would also like to say that if you have young kids take them to see it at the Duke Theatre in manhattan and help them to focus on how Shylock feels about his suffering and ask them why did Jessica leave Shylock, why did he feel that it was appropiate to kill Antonio, and did William Shakespeare villanize Shylock or the cruelty of his christian peers. This play is very profound and touches many issues which lead to major themes. P.S: by june davenport

  • The word comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humor with an intent to provoke laughter in general). CharlesKiddell 04:52, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Shylock the Jew?

Somebody moved this page to "Shylock the Jew". I acknowledge that he's Jewish, but that shouldn't be the title. He is by far more commonly known simply as "Shylock". No reason to complicate things for our readers. Wrad (talk) 17:20, 20 December 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Re: Shylock the Jew

Wasn't he called Shylock the Jew throughout The Merchant of Venice? I made these changes for a reason.

In another version I've read, he was called 'Shylock the Covetous Jew.' I've also created this redirect. Please do not attempt to remove that page. EijdlaG (talk) 09:56, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

  • I agree with EijdlaG; I've seen the character named "Shylock the Jew" in many editions of the play. The page should remain at "Shylock the Jew". The Moyster (talk) 10:13, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
  • I've moved the page back to Shylock, which is the character's name. If you want to argue for the move, please discuss and reach a consensus on this page. AndyJones (talk) 14:12, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
That he is called "Shylock the Jew" in "many editions of the play" isn't good enough. His most common name is Shylock. Actors, critics, and editors all use this name. See this page and type in Shylock to see several references to him as "Shylock" and not "Shylock the Jew" within the play itself, including one scene in which Portia asks "Is your name Shylock?" and he answers "Shylock is my name." It really doesn't get any clearer than that, especially when it comes to Shakespeare. We can keep the redirect, but please don't move this page back to "Shylock the Jew". Wrad (talk) 17:30, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Point

I am not entirely convinced by everything in the "Elements of the character" section, especially the last paragraph. I am not entirely convinced that it is "impossible" to say that Barabas from Marlowe's play is without humanity, or at least that he is any less than Shylock formed into what he is by society. At the very least what I'd like to see is some kind of link or reference saying, specifically, that Barabas has no humanity (there are many that would argue that Shylock has none either) before having it, as an opinion, thrown out there in the middle of an article.

Not050 (talk) 08:08, 8 January 2008 (UTC)Not050

[edit] Edward Einhorn's play

I've met Edward Einhorn, I like him, and I admire his work both in way-off-Broadway theater and in the Ozian community, but is his play really notable enough to get a paragraph in this article? Especially since he isn't deemed notable enough to have his own entry? I suspect self-promotion. 206.218.218.57 (talk) 17:29, 7 February 2008 (UTC)