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Jody McGraw Professor Raider HIST 397 H Reflection #3 Seeing It Live: Exploring The Merchant of Venice on Stage and in Print After reading the original dialogue of William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice, after watching countless versions of the play acted out on the Hollywood screen, and after reading pages and pages of supplemental reading on the themes of the original play; finally we saw the work in its truest form. The form in which it was meant to be viewed, the form in which in Shakespeares mind it was written: we finally saw The Merchant of Venice on stage.i When one has seen, read, experienced so many versions of a piece of work it is difficult to imagine the any other possible ways for it to be performed. However, the Cincinnati Shakespeare company achieved an adaptation so far removed from the presentations put on by the big Hollywood producers and actors.ii What made it so unique, so well done, so enjoyable was the inclusion of humor; large, outrageous, out-right humor. After all, The Merchant of Venice is intended to be a comedy! Perhaps it is the medium that allows for such humorous liberties to be taken in the production of the play, perhaps it shows the bravado of the company as they take a somewhat lighthearted approach to what has become very heavy, somber themes, or perhaps it illustrates a desire the company had to perform the play as it was meant to be performed. These are all possibilities and there countless more where they came from, however, despite the motivation behind these choices the audience comes to an agreement that throughout the play the cast

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and crew represent many of the deeper cultural themes of the time period. Knowing the complex levels of research explored before a toe even stepped onto the stage it is easy to see the influence of secondary sources in the actors interpretation of The Merchant of Venice and thus their portrayal of their character and the larger story. Each artist, each actor, each director, producer, assistant, stage hand has a role in the common goal of making their production something that has never been seen before. There are many ways to accomplish this. The most profound example of this in The Cincinnati Shakespeare Companys performance of The Merchant of Venice was the addition of two scenes framing the original Shakespeare text.iii Each of these scenes take place at a gateassumed to be the gate to a cemetery, but for symbolic purposes could just as well be assumed to represent the gates of the Venetian Ghetto. The gates of the Venetian Ghetto are extremely important when understanding the flow of interactions between the Jewish and the Christian populations of Venice. Robert Bonfil explores this theme in his chapter in The Jews of Early Modern Venice, A Cultural Profile.iv Bonfil talks in depth about the theologies and mindsets of Jews in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Through this he also explores how these theologies and innovations in the Judaic religion affected the encounters between the Jews and Christians and how ideas were shared and spread throughout both demographics as well as throughout Europe and the Ottoman Empire.v While the dialogue of The Merchant of Venice does not particularly lend itself to the discuss the complex ideals of the Talmudists and Kabbalists schools of thought during this period, it does clearly show how in daily life in Venice there was a certain freedom to the city where both Jews and Christians could come across one another.vi It is natural to assume that not all of these meetings were reminiscent of the one

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between Shylock and Antonio- which the Cincinnati Company portrays in the additional beginning scene as Antonio spitting in Shylocks face on the rialto.vii The connections between the play and Bonfils writing continue as he describes the atmosphere of Venice at the time. Being able to watch the play helps immensely when comparing the written environment from Bonfil and then being able to see the interpretation on stage. Bonfil paints a rich and inviting picture of Venice, he points out that the Italian Peninsula was home to the largest number of Jews in Christian Europe, that Venice was an exciting port city creating a culture of diversity, rich from the trade of both material goods and intellectual goods. He also explains the importance of printing in the city of Venice, that the high quality of printing available played a part in the heterogeneous culture of both the Venetian population as a whole and the Venetian Jewish population.viii While the theme of publishing is not focused on by the play- the audience can see the effects of the trade and wealth and maritime luxuries in the lives of the characters. The dialogue includes chatter about mercantilism and trade routes, showing the value the port city had on their well-being.ix You can also see this culture rich with wealth and ideas through the costuming of the actors. x While part of the extravagance is due simply to the time period, you can see the levels of wealth through the clothes as Antonios differs from his younger companions. The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company also related much to the Brian Pullan chapter found within The Jews of Early Modern Venice, Jewish Banks and the Monti di Pieta.xi Since the Christian church prohibited Christians from being employed as moneylenders, Monti di Pieta were groupings of funds set up by wealthy members of society and were designed to

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provide loans at far more reasonable interest rates than Jewish money lenders to those in need.xii These funds were viewed as the Christian way of doing this, the good way, the right way. This good versus evil mentality is very apparent through the play of The Merchant of Venice. While these themes of money and bargaining are heavily apparent throughout the entirety of the play, in fact they are a large portion of what the play is based off of, the theory of Monti di Piety goes to a different level- to a holy level.xiii This good/ evil conflict is easier to see when acted on stage than read from a book. In the stage version of The Merchant of Venice Antonio is herald as somewhat of a Christ-like figure, a self-sacrificing man, and especially in the court scene as he accepts his fate and is the bigger person.xiv This theory is also illustrated again through the costuming of the play- the audience sees a younger looking Antonio dressed light blue and gold clothing, with light hair, and a Christ-like beard; on the other hand Shylock is dull and dreary in black.xv It is the classic case of white and black, good and evil. Overall, having the ability to see a work of literature portrayed in several different ways really helps to give a deeper, more educated, fuller understanding of the work itself. When comparing these forms of medium and bringing in the extra supplemental sources the complex levels of putting on a performance of a famous piece of literature are discovered. One can see the intricate research, the careful decisions, and the underlying meaning of each movement made, each word said, each accessory added to make a meaningful, unforgettable performance.

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Works Cited Bonfil, Robert. "A Cultural Profile." The Jews of Early Modern Venice. By Robert C. Davis and Benjamin C.I. Ravid. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2001. Print. Pullan, Brian. "Jewish Banks and Monti Di Piety." The Jews of Early Modern Venice. By Robert C. Davis and Benjamin C. I. Ravid. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2001. Print. Shakespeare, William, and William Lyon Phelps. The Merchant of Venice. New Haven: Yale UP, 1923.Print. The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's The Merchant of Venice. Dir. Jeremy Dubin. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati. 20 May 2012. Performance.

Shakespeare, William The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company iii Ibid.

ii iv v

Bonfil, Robert Ibid. vi Shakespeare, William vii The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company viii Bonfil, Robert ix Shakespeare, William x The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company xi Pullan, Brian xii Ibid. xiii Shakespeare, William xiv The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company xv Ibid.