"Merchant of Venice" - James C.

In performance "The Merchant of Venice" often proves a problematic blend of romantic artifice and social realism. Especially since the last century, the figure of Shylock has focused attention on the play's anti-Semitism. Does Shakespeare promote a comic Jewish stereotype, or use that stereotype only to overturn it? Or does he expose the Christians as the true villains and Shylock as his victim?;No production of "The Merchant" can be politically or socially disinterested: over the years, the play has tended to arouse more passion and to prompt more theatrical experimentation than any other Shakespearian comedy.;The author examines the major solutions directors have offered for staging this "problem" play, from Henry Irving onwards. Recent productions such as the Miller/Olivier (1970), the Alexander/Sher (1987), and the two televised "Merchants" (1973, 1980) have adapted the play to accommodate or challenge contemporary sensibilities and prejudices.;Considering the play's popularity, not only in England and North America but in post-Holocaust Germany and even in Israel, this volume explores the ways in which "The Merchant" has served to test changing cultural attitudes towards race, religion, gender and theatrical practice.