Shylock and the Jewish Question

In this work, the author challenges the 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 inclusive "New Atlantis" or the Jewish philosphers Benedict Spinoza's argument for tolerance on the "Theologico-Political Treatise". Emphasizing that "The Merchant of Venice" is a work of political philosophy as well as literature, the author raises the possibility that Shakespeare presents Shylock not as typical Jew, but as a bad one. Though the book focuses on the Jewish question, it has larger implications for thinking in other areas: the rise of liberal democracy, the development of religious toleration, the relation of the church and state, and the interrelation of politics, economics and religion - in short, a range of issues basic to the conception of modernity.