Synopses & Reviews
Yaffe provides a wide-ranging and probing reflection on the portrayal of Jews and Judaism in early modern thought. His innovative approach to the problem of Shakespeare's treatment of Shylock can stand for the originality of his book as a whole... Yaffe's interpretations are likely to prove controversial, but they are always thought-provoking. -- Virginia Quarterly Review
Much attention has been paid to the place of Shylock in the history of anti-Semitism. Most scholars have agreed with Harold Bloom that Shakespeare's famous villain is drawn with a murderous anti-Semitism and that Shakespeare uncritically mirrors the rife anti-Semitism of his times. While others see only gross caricature in The Merchant of Venice, however, Martin Yaffe finds a subtle analysis of the Jew's place in a largely Christian society. In Shylock and the Jewish Question, Yaffe challenges the widespread assumption that Shakespeare is, in the final analysis, unfriendly to Jews. He finds that Shakespeare's consideration of Judaism in The Merchant of Venice provides an important contrast to Marlowe's virulent The Jew of Malta. In many ways, he argues, Shakespeare's play is even more accepting than Francis Bacon's notably inclusive New Atlantis or the Jewish philosopher Benedict Spinoza's argument for tolerance in the Theologico-Political Treatise.
Although Yaffe focuses on the Jewish question, his study is a lead-in to a study of the rise of liberal democracy, the development of religious toleration, the relation of church and state, and the inter-relation between politics, economics and religion -- all of these being vital in history's evolution towards modernity. -- Serge Liberman, Australian JewishNews
In a critique that promises to refuel scholarly controversy over the portrait of Shylock... Yaffe's retro-prospective approach to its political philosophy suggests interesting possibilities for contrasting popular anti-Semitic culture and the more tolerant, enlightened statesmanship of the seventeenth-century. -- Frances Barasch, Shakespeare Bulletin
Review
"Judging by its title, readers will expect that Yaffe's book deals with Shakespeare's The Merchant
of Venice. And it does. But it deals with a great deal more. Taking up Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, Bacon's New Atlantis, and Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise, Yaffe provides a wide-ranging and probing reflection on the portrayal of Jews and Judaism in early modern thought. His innovative approach to the problem of Shakespeare's treatment of Shylock can stand for the originality of his book as a whole. Counter to the prevailing tendency among critics to view the dramatist as anti-Semitic, Yaffe raises the intriguing possibility that Shakespeare presents Shylock not as a typical Jew but as a bad one. Yaffe argues that Shylock's difficulties arise precisely from his departures from Jewish law, which partly result from his being corrupted by the commercial ethos of Venice. Maintaining Merchant of Venice as a reference point, Yaffe analyzes the other works, managing to bring about some striking and illuminating juxtapositions. For example, he cleverly compares the dispute over Biblical interpretation between Shylock and Antonio with Spinoza's new philosophical canons for reading the Hebrew Scriptures. Yaffe's interpretations are likely to prove controversial, but they are always thought-provoking." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-201) and index.