Come on down, davidmich

[Colibri]

@davidmich

I thought these points were quite useful in getting to grips with the Shylock character.

Fretful Porpentine

“So, I’d argue that Shakespeare does not depict Jews as inherently evil or despicable. He doesn’t, however, depict all religions as equally valid – there isn’t ever any real question that Christianity is supposed to be superior.”

Shakespear’s audience (Christian) would have thought of themselves as superior to Jews. So the play reflects his time.

eclectic wench

“Shylock is the only main character in that play who never does anything devious. He, unlike everyone else, is constantly upfront.”

If Shylock had simply be the stereotypical Jew, it would just have been another “The Jew of Malta” and we wouldn’t be really discussing it today. The fact that he does play the stereotypical Jew out for his “pound of flesh” but not in the stereotypical cartoonish way Jews were often portrayed in his day, gives his character more depth and a human quality.

@eclectic_wench

See, I don’t agree. This is exactly what I mean: at first glance that did look like a response, and it was in fact related to my post. But it didn’t actually respond to what I was saying, or move the discussion on in any way, or support any point that davidmich or anyone else had been making, or refute any point that I or anyone else had been making.

I think you are bending over backwards to try to find problems with his responses. His response to Fretful Porpentine was directly on point. His response to you was as well. You remark on things that were not part of the Jewish stereotype, and davidmich agrees that Shylock was not the stereotypical Jew. I really fail to see how his response was in some way not a comment on your post.

davidmich admittedly has a somewhat silted and somewhat odd way of expressing himself. It appears that English is perhaps not his first language. He doesn’t know how to use the quote function. But the accusation that he doesn’t “really” participate in his own threads is ridiculous.