Jews in the Age of Shylock

Le résumé fourni par la source

Shylock is the famous Jewish usurer or moneylender, the hero in The Merchant of Venice written by Shakespeare in 1596~97. The merchant of Venice named Antonio scorning not only Shylock but Jews in general, did not hesitate to profess his contempt for them wherever he was or whatever he was doing. Though he asked not a compatriot, but Shylock to lend money to his friend. The plot of the drama is so well known that I need not repeat it here. In the age of Shylock, namely from the late 16th to the early 17th century, every Italian mercantile state tried seriously to escape from the socio-economic difficulties which they had to confront. As one of the ways, several of them tried to make use of Jews. Invited to the cities in those states, Jews were made use of in promoting international trade, securing financial income, managing public pawnshops, and so forth. Therefore, these states wanted Jews like Shylock who could be especially useful for them. It was not only that famous merchant of Venice who mistreated Jews and then asked one for help, but also the traditional merchant states. This paper investigates the role which Jews played or were asked to play at the time of Shakespeare as a way to better understand the situation of the Italian mercantile states in which they lived. Written as a case study, this paper focuses on Spalato (Split), the seaport of Venetian territory in Dalmatia, and Livorno (Leghorn), the seaport in Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

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