The Merchant of Venice is a play about love and hate and prejudice and revenge set in Venice at the end of the 16th Century. Following Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic Church there remained religious upheaval. His daughter Elizabeth was nearing the end of her reign and there was plotting and intrigue in the Royal Court where Shakespeare’s company performed, taking great care not to offend as punishments were harsh. Some scholars believe that the play is comment on the plight of the Catholics in England who were forced to convert to Protestants on pain of death. It is thought that Shakespeare’s own family may have been secret Catholics. 

Shylock was originally played as a dark villain. Officially at that time there were no Jews in England and folk lore had demonised them, so the theatre-going public were likely to see the worst in any Jewish characters. Despite this, Shakespeare gives us a very human Shylock who suffers the prejudice and humiliation of his daily life.   Shylock’s people were stateless, they were shunned and abused by the society they lived in and prevented from becoming citizens or earning a living as they would wish. Whilst money lending was illegal, it was also essential for commerce, and they fulfilled a need in society. Against this background, and the abuse we know that Shylock was subjected to by Antonio and his friends, is it any surprise that he should finally snap when they take his daughter?

The Merchant of Venice is also a love story: Portia and Bassanio, Nerissa and Gratiano, Jessica and Lorenzo, …… and poor Antonio; but even the beautiful Portia is scathing about many foreigners in her reviews of her suitors – in particular the Prince of Morocco.

It is almost impossible to view this play without reflecting on recent history, but the Jews have been persecuted since they were driven out of Israel by the Romans. The Vatican only officially declared that the Jews were not responsible for Jesus’ death in 1965.

We see such scenarios all around us and all over the world today with oppressed minorities, acting out the same sequences of prejudice, oppression and terrible revenge.   We also see the effect of unchecked usury in high mortgage repayments, credit card debt and payday loans, and perhaps the Elizabethans had a point in not allowing the lending of money for interest…