1) “This I Believe” by Raphael Chang
http://twoeyeone.blogspot.com/2011/08/this-i-believe.html/
2) “Happiness 101” by Raphael Chang
http://twoeyeone.blogspot.com/2011/08/happiness-101.html/
3) “This I Believe: Perseverance” by Daniel Tan
http://swordofthedragonslayer.blogspot.com/2011/08/this-i-believe-perseverance.html/
4) “Mugging” by Gordon Koh
http://twoeyeone-fifteen.blogspot.com/2011/08/mugging.html/
5) “Forced Optimism” by Glenn Ang
http://arts-language.blogspot.com/2011/05/forced-optimism.html/
6) “This i believe -- Personal essay” by Nicholas Tey
http://nichtey.blogspot.com/2011/08/this-i-believe-personal-essay.html/
7) “Singapore, Malaysia and Soccer” by Tan Jiefeng
http://2i121.blogspot.com/2011/08/singapore-malaysia-and-soccer.html/
8) “Penny Low” by Kenneth Pay
http://lablogbypar.blogspot.com/2011/08/penny-low.html/
9) “Wrongdoings” by Loo Nathanael
http://loonathanaellablog.blogspot.com/2011/08/wrongdoings.html/
10) “That Wasn't An English Word?” by Nathan Ang
http://nathanang.blogspot.com/2011/07/that-wasnt-english-word.html/
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Budget Surplus
In this year, 2011, the budget surplus in Singapore is expected to be a whopping $6 billion, which is a lot of money. This is a big difference from an official government estimate of a $3 billion deficit, which was made in February last year. To put it simply, a surplus is how much money is left over after deducting the government spending, and a deficit is when the government spending is more than the money earned. Since we have so much surplus, the government should use it wisely. Therefore, I am here to convince you of how I feel the budget surplus should be used.
I strongly believe that the budget surplus should have a substantial sum being invested into education. As a Singaporean, I hope for Singapore to have more social mobility, as it is extremely important for people to break out of poverty.
You may ask me: “Why education?” It should be education as it is definitely one good way to improve social mobility. As the 44th United States President Barack Obama said, “I stand here as President of the United States because of the education I received.” As we can see, education is of paramount importance as it provides us with many essential life skills, one of which is critical thinking. As Descartes said, “I think therefore I am.” Through this quote, we do agree that critical thinking is extremely important in our lives, as it shapes our character, and affects our decision-making. In the case of career options, critical thinking is required to allow us to make the right choice of the occupation we should take up. When we get the right job, social mobility can be achieved.
Moreover, education teaches us to be responsible people. Being responsible is extremely important. If we are responsible people, we are more trusted by others to be given bigger tasks to do. If we succeed in completing the tasks, we prove to others that we are capable of performing certain tasks. If our capabilities are recognized, we are more likely to be promoted. If we are promoted to a higher position, it aids social mobility as our income increases.
Some may argue that the money should be distributed to the lower-income earners and let them decide what they want to do with it in order to cope with the effects of inflation. However, this is not the best way, as this is just a short-term solution. They would only be able to cope for now, but in the long term, it would not be useful. Education, on the other hand, is a long-term solution. I am not saying that we should not distribute some money to them to cope with the situation now, but a larger percentage should be used to invest into education.
Therefore, I strongly recommend that we should invest the budget surplus into education, as it benefits more people. The budget surplus is going to be a huge sum, and the government should really consider how they want to use the money very wisely.
References:
Ally, Hydar. (2011). Importance of education as a vehicle for social mobility. http://www.guyanachronicle.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28373:importance-of-education-as-a-vehicle-for-social-mobility&catid=10:letters&Itemid=6/
(Accessed 15 August 2011)
Wikitionary. (Date Unknown). I think therefore I am.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/I_think_therefore_I_am/
Low, Aaron. (2011). Singapore Budget surplus could hit $6 billion.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_623565.html/
(Accessed 15 August 2011)
I strongly believe that the budget surplus should have a substantial sum being invested into education. As a Singaporean, I hope for Singapore to have more social mobility, as it is extremely important for people to break out of poverty.
You may ask me: “Why education?” It should be education as it is definitely one good way to improve social mobility. As the 44th United States President Barack Obama said, “I stand here as President of the United States because of the education I received.” As we can see, education is of paramount importance as it provides us with many essential life skills, one of which is critical thinking. As Descartes said, “I think therefore I am.” Through this quote, we do agree that critical thinking is extremely important in our lives, as it shapes our character, and affects our decision-making. In the case of career options, critical thinking is required to allow us to make the right choice of the occupation we should take up. When we get the right job, social mobility can be achieved.
Moreover, education teaches us to be responsible people. Being responsible is extremely important. If we are responsible people, we are more trusted by others to be given bigger tasks to do. If we succeed in completing the tasks, we prove to others that we are capable of performing certain tasks. If our capabilities are recognized, we are more likely to be promoted. If we are promoted to a higher position, it aids social mobility as our income increases.
Some may argue that the money should be distributed to the lower-income earners and let them decide what they want to do with it in order to cope with the effects of inflation. However, this is not the best way, as this is just a short-term solution. They would only be able to cope for now, but in the long term, it would not be useful. Education, on the other hand, is a long-term solution. I am not saying that we should not distribute some money to them to cope with the situation now, but a larger percentage should be used to invest into education.
Therefore, I strongly recommend that we should invest the budget surplus into education, as it benefits more people. The budget surplus is going to be a huge sum, and the government should really consider how they want to use the money very wisely.
References:
Ally, Hydar. (2011). Importance of education as a vehicle for social mobility. http://www.guyanachronicle.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28373:importance-of-education-as-a-vehicle-for-social-mobility&catid=10:letters&Itemid=6/
(Accessed 15 August 2011)
Wikitionary. (Date Unknown). I think therefore I am.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/I_think_therefore_I_am/
Low, Aaron. (2011). Singapore Budget surplus could hit $6 billion.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_623565.html/
(Accessed 15 August 2011)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
This I Believe
I believe in friendships. I believe in the strong bonds we are able to forge with other people us. I believe in the happy memories we share. Friendships are extremely important to me, and I treasure the friendships which I have made. :)
When I was younger (1-6 years old), I spent most of my time at my nanny's house. She had two daughters, who are more than 10 years older than me. We had very strong ties, as we spent a lot of time together. Even till now, we still keep in touch and do go out together sometimes. Whenever their family has any special events, I would be invited. I am seen to be part of their family already. The elder daughter, now married, has two daughters. Sometimes, I would go to their house to play with the two toddlers, who are more than 10 years younger than me. They are extremely adorable and I treasure the time spent with them. It makes me feel very relaxed and it is really a great stress relief for me. :)
Since young, I have been attending Children Sunday School, and now I am attending the church worship service. I have forged many friendships in my church, many lasting for more than ten years. We have literally grown up together, and had a lot of fun together. We are a small church, with a small group of youths, but we are definitely a bonded group. Three older female friends and I had many secret hideouts, and played many silly games. The times spent with them will stay with me forever.
When I was seven, I started my Primary School education in Woodgrove Primary School. I made many friends in 1I, my Primary 1 class, but I had a few closer friends. When I was in Primary 2, one of my Primary 1 classmates went to the same class with me, and we went were also in the same class in Primary 3. I also made another close friend in Primary 2, and we became inseperable friends. We were found around the school together. However, we went to different schools in Primary 4. He moved house, and I was chosen for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP). Therefore, we parted. Although we parted, we still keep in touch today through emails as we really treasure the times we spent together.
When I was ten, I went on to Nan Hua Primary School. The classmate who was my classmate for three years already in Woodgrove was also my classmate for another three years in Nan Hua. I was rather lonely in Primary 4, and did not have many friends. I only forged friendships with the people sitting around me, and we set up a newspaper called The SCGB Times. We wrote a lot of nonsense and had a lot of fun together. We even made a song called the Uranus Song, dedicated to a ficticious character called Auntie Annette. Looking back at all the stupid things we did together, I really did not regret having these friends. When I was in Primary 5, I made more friends. We took bus service 99 and took MRT back together almost everyday. We waited for one another at the canteen, and we only left when everyone was there. We also did many silly things together. Two cups of bubble tea were shared among six people and we were fighting to drink it. We even had grass fights, where we picked up the grass that were trimmed off and threw it on one another. I did not take part in grass fights regularly though, but I always enjoyed looking at them. It may seem like a childish thing to do, we do admit, but we definitely had a lot of fun together. We also often ran fast from the school gate to the bus stop to "escape" from some people, which was rather childish, but fun. In this group of friends, a few others and I often attempted to trick another friend in believing our nonsense. We once tried to convince him that 7+7=13, and that he has reached his stop (Bukit Gombak) when it was only at Bukit Batok. We also gave him a very nice nickname. We also made many fun jokes and we laughed a lot. Laughter is really the best medicine, as when I was with them, I really felt very relaxed. When we reached Primary 6, we had a lot of fun after PSLE, playing games like Murderer, Monopoly Deal, Dongdi and many others. The post-PSLE period is definitely memorable. However, we had to part on Graduation Day as we left for different schools. We treasure the friendships we forged, and thus we still keep in touch through social networking sites like FaceBook.
I believe. I believe in friendships. I believe in the strong bonds we are able to forge with other people us. I believe in the happy memories we share. Friendships are extremely important to me, and I treasure the friendships which I have made. :)
When I was younger (1-6 years old), I spent most of my time at my nanny's house. She had two daughters, who are more than 10 years older than me. We had very strong ties, as we spent a lot of time together. Even till now, we still keep in touch and do go out together sometimes. Whenever their family has any special events, I would be invited. I am seen to be part of their family already. The elder daughter, now married, has two daughters. Sometimes, I would go to their house to play with the two toddlers, who are more than 10 years younger than me. They are extremely adorable and I treasure the time spent with them. It makes me feel very relaxed and it is really a great stress relief for me. :)
Since young, I have been attending Children Sunday School, and now I am attending the church worship service. I have forged many friendships in my church, many lasting for more than ten years. We have literally grown up together, and had a lot of fun together. We are a small church, with a small group of youths, but we are definitely a bonded group. Three older female friends and I had many secret hideouts, and played many silly games. The times spent with them will stay with me forever.
When I was seven, I started my Primary School education in Woodgrove Primary School. I made many friends in 1I, my Primary 1 class, but I had a few closer friends. When I was in Primary 2, one of my Primary 1 classmates went to the same class with me, and we went were also in the same class in Primary 3. I also made another close friend in Primary 2, and we became inseperable friends. We were found around the school together. However, we went to different schools in Primary 4. He moved house, and I was chosen for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP). Therefore, we parted. Although we parted, we still keep in touch today through emails as we really treasure the times we spent together.
When I was ten, I went on to Nan Hua Primary School. The classmate who was my classmate for three years already in Woodgrove was also my classmate for another three years in Nan Hua. I was rather lonely in Primary 4, and did not have many friends. I only forged friendships with the people sitting around me, and we set up a newspaper called The SCGB Times. We wrote a lot of nonsense and had a lot of fun together. We even made a song called the Uranus Song, dedicated to a ficticious character called Auntie Annette. Looking back at all the stupid things we did together, I really did not regret having these friends. When I was in Primary 5, I made more friends. We took bus service 99 and took MRT back together almost everyday. We waited for one another at the canteen, and we only left when everyone was there. We also did many silly things together. Two cups of bubble tea were shared among six people and we were fighting to drink it. We even had grass fights, where we picked up the grass that were trimmed off and threw it on one another. I did not take part in grass fights regularly though, but I always enjoyed looking at them. It may seem like a childish thing to do, we do admit, but we definitely had a lot of fun together. We also often ran fast from the school gate to the bus stop to "escape" from some people, which was rather childish, but fun. In this group of friends, a few others and I often attempted to trick another friend in believing our nonsense. We once tried to convince him that 7+7=13, and that he has reached his stop (Bukit Gombak) when it was only at Bukit Batok. We also gave him a very nice nickname. We also made many fun jokes and we laughed a lot. Laughter is really the best medicine, as when I was with them, I really felt very relaxed. When we reached Primary 6, we had a lot of fun after PSLE, playing games like Murderer, Monopoly Deal, Dongdi and many others. The post-PSLE period is definitely memorable. However, we had to part on Graduation Day as we left for different schools. We treasure the friendships we forged, and thus we still keep in touch through social networking sites like FaceBook.
I believe. I believe in friendships. I believe in the strong bonds we are able to forge with other people us. I believe in the happy memories we share. Friendships are extremely important to me, and I treasure the friendships which I have made. :)
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Future for Nuclear Power?
Dear readers,
I know I have posted previously opposing to nuclear power. This post is to support nuclear power. This is provide a different point of view. :)
And here it is:
I stand here today to convince all of you that nuclear power definitely have a future, as it is very safe. I am here to convince you that modern nuclear plants are no longer using the outdated design, and thus would be much safer. I know many of you would bring up the examples of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and the recent Fukushima accidents. However, I want to make it clear that these are just exceptions and should not be used as excuses to reject nuclear energy. If we fall down, do we not stand up again? We should learn from these mistakes and design safer models for nuclear plants, and not just give up so easily.
The Three Mile Island accident which happened in the United States was all caused by failures in the non-nuclear secondary system, followed by a stuck-open pilot-operated relief valve (PORV) in the primary system. This made large amounts of nuclear reactor coolant to escape. The plant operators, due to a lack of adequate training, did not realise that there was a loss of coolant. In fact, they thought that there was too much coolant water in the reactor. Therefore, the tragedy happened.
The Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine happened during a test. The test was complicated, but they were trained enough to perform it. At that time, another power plant on the circuit went down, so Chernobyl was producing more power than usual. The day staff did not perform the test, but no one told the night staff not to do so, and thus they did. That was when things started to get out of control, and the emergency shutdown mechanism failed, thus leading to the disaster that happened. In this case, the problem can be said to be caused by a lack of communication to inform them that Chernobyl was producing more power on that day and it was more risky to perform the test.
The Fukushima Daichii nuclear disaster was all caused by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which caused many disorders and the subsequent meltdown. This is an extremely rare case, and does not happen most of the times. However, by improving technology, we can improve the designs of nuclear power plants to make them less susceptible to such events. Moreover, thousands and thousands of people have died, entire towns have been destroyed and none of that was because of the nuclear problems. Therefore, this shows that everybody is just being too paranoid about nuclear energy production.
Moreover, we should also look at success stories. In France, nuclear power accounts for more than three-quarters of all electricity, and in six other countries, it’s 40 percent or more. France is a country which has been using nuclear energy for a very long time now and does not have any major accidents so far. This shows that nuclear power is not necessarily dangerous.
Therefore, in my opinion, new nuclear plants would not be as vulnerable to accidents as mentioned above. We have to ensure that the plant operators have to be properly trained before allowing them to enter the industry, and also ensure that there is better communication among workers in the nuclear plant. With modern technology, better training for workers and better communication, I believe that the nuclear power would definitely have a future.
Other than the increasing safety of nuclear power, nuclear power is cheaper than oil too. Oil prices have been increasing and oil is extremely expensive now. It was already nearly $60 in 2005, and has increased to more than $80 recently. I strongly believe that the prices would continue to rise, since demand is continually increasing. The only way to make the prices drop, is to decrease its demand. And one good way is to start using nuclear energy. This can largely decrease the price of oil and make it more affordable for everyone. Moreover, although nuclear power stations are hugely expensive to build, it is very cheap to run. Therefore, I have a vision that countries all around the world would start using nuclear energy, and there is a future for nuclear power.
I know I have posted previously opposing to nuclear power. This post is to support nuclear power. This is provide a different point of view. :)
And here it is:
I stand here today to convince all of you that nuclear power definitely have a future, as it is very safe. I am here to convince you that modern nuclear plants are no longer using the outdated design, and thus would be much safer. I know many of you would bring up the examples of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and the recent Fukushima accidents. However, I want to make it clear that these are just exceptions and should not be used as excuses to reject nuclear energy. If we fall down, do we not stand up again? We should learn from these mistakes and design safer models for nuclear plants, and not just give up so easily.
The Three Mile Island accident which happened in the United States was all caused by failures in the non-nuclear secondary system, followed by a stuck-open pilot-operated relief valve (PORV) in the primary system. This made large amounts of nuclear reactor coolant to escape. The plant operators, due to a lack of adequate training, did not realise that there was a loss of coolant. In fact, they thought that there was too much coolant water in the reactor. Therefore, the tragedy happened.
The Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine happened during a test. The test was complicated, but they were trained enough to perform it. At that time, another power plant on the circuit went down, so Chernobyl was producing more power than usual. The day staff did not perform the test, but no one told the night staff not to do so, and thus they did. That was when things started to get out of control, and the emergency shutdown mechanism failed, thus leading to the disaster that happened. In this case, the problem can be said to be caused by a lack of communication to inform them that Chernobyl was producing more power on that day and it was more risky to perform the test.
The Fukushima Daichii nuclear disaster was all caused by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which caused many disorders and the subsequent meltdown. This is an extremely rare case, and does not happen most of the times. However, by improving technology, we can improve the designs of nuclear power plants to make them less susceptible to such events. Moreover, thousands and thousands of people have died, entire towns have been destroyed and none of that was because of the nuclear problems. Therefore, this shows that everybody is just being too paranoid about nuclear energy production.
Moreover, we should also look at success stories. In France, nuclear power accounts for more than three-quarters of all electricity, and in six other countries, it’s 40 percent or more. France is a country which has been using nuclear energy for a very long time now and does not have any major accidents so far. This shows that nuclear power is not necessarily dangerous.
Therefore, in my opinion, new nuclear plants would not be as vulnerable to accidents as mentioned above. We have to ensure that the plant operators have to be properly trained before allowing them to enter the industry, and also ensure that there is better communication among workers in the nuclear plant. With modern technology, better training for workers and better communication, I believe that the nuclear power would definitely have a future.
Other than the increasing safety of nuclear power, nuclear power is cheaper than oil too. Oil prices have been increasing and oil is extremely expensive now. It was already nearly $60 in 2005, and has increased to more than $80 recently. I strongly believe that the prices would continue to rise, since demand is continually increasing. The only way to make the prices drop, is to decrease its demand. And one good way is to start using nuclear energy. This can largely decrease the price of oil and make it more affordable for everyone. Moreover, although nuclear power stations are hugely expensive to build, it is very cheap to run. Therefore, I have a vision that countries all around the world would start using nuclear energy, and there is a future for nuclear power.
How shall I attain my Eudaimonia?
I would like to voice my own personal opinions on the five different views of life provided, in order to provide a more complete response to this extremely challenging question.
Epicurus Happiness is achieved by being free from pain and anxiety. In his opinion, to achieve that, we require friends, freedom, and an analyzed life. I agree with Epicurus’ opinion on friends. Friends can bring about a lot of joy in our lives, and are who we usually turn to when we face troubles and setbacks. For me, I treasure friends a lot as I feel that they are extremely important in my life. That is why I always make it an effort to keep in touch with friends I have not met for a long time, like my primary school friends, and go back to our primary school together on public holidays. Moreover, I would also try my best to organise outings during school holidays, but I only had one successful one recently in June this year. Everyone had so much fun and the times we spent in our primary school all came back. As the Chinese saying goes, “在家靠父母，在外靠朋友。” Therefore, I agree that friends are extremely important since they can bring about happiness in our lives, and for a prolonged time as well. In terms of freedom, I feel that it is very subjective as many people have very different views of freedom. In my view, discipline should be existent as well, to achieve the Golden Mean, which I would speak on later. An analyzed life is important, but I have not experienced how it can bring about happiness, maybe just not yet.
Aristotle’s Ethics focuses on Eudaimonia, with the ultimate goal in living is to make life worth living. There are many parts to Aristotle’s Ethics, but I would only voice my opinion on one. An important part of Aristotle’s Ethics is to achieve the Golden Mean, which is the balance between the two extremes, the extreme of excess and the extreme of deficiency. I largely agree with Aristotle about the Golden Mean. It is extremely important to keep a balance. I would give an example which is more relevant to me. In my opinion, we should not be workaholics and miss out other wonderful things in life as well. However, we should not be lazy and not do anything at all. Therefore, in my opinion, in order to be happy, we should do our best to achieve the Golden Mean since balance is extremely important.
Deontologists, on the other hand, feel that we should fulfill moral duties and obligations regardless of the end results. We have to do things because we have to, and not because we like it. In my opinion, this should not be the way of life. If we lead such a life, we would be practising “sheep” thinking, since we are just doing things others are doing, and just for the sake of it. We would not be really thinking about what is the aim of the things we do. This way of living our lives would be very sorrowful and meaningless as we would be forced to do many things. Therefore, I do not support the deontologists’ point of view.
Buddhism focuses on “being more” than having more. I feel that such a way of thinking is indeed very proper. It is important to continuously improve ourselves in every aspect, rather than pursuing material gains. However, I feel that friends and family are extremely important as well.
Christianity believes that we should not rely on earthly things to get our happiness, and rather, to pursue permanent happiness, which is to get closer to God. As a Christian, I believe so too. Getting close to God is a happy thing as God is Love.
In conclusion, I would require friends, the Golden Mean, constant improvement of my character and intellect as well as God’s love to reach my Eudaimonia.
Epicurus Happiness is achieved by being free from pain and anxiety. In his opinion, to achieve that, we require friends, freedom, and an analyzed life. I agree with Epicurus’ opinion on friends. Friends can bring about a lot of joy in our lives, and are who we usually turn to when we face troubles and setbacks. For me, I treasure friends a lot as I feel that they are extremely important in my life. That is why I always make it an effort to keep in touch with friends I have not met for a long time, like my primary school friends, and go back to our primary school together on public holidays. Moreover, I would also try my best to organise outings during school holidays, but I only had one successful one recently in June this year. Everyone had so much fun and the times we spent in our primary school all came back. As the Chinese saying goes, “在家靠父母，在外靠朋友。” Therefore, I agree that friends are extremely important since they can bring about happiness in our lives, and for a prolonged time as well. In terms of freedom, I feel that it is very subjective as many people have very different views of freedom. In my view, discipline should be existent as well, to achieve the Golden Mean, which I would speak on later. An analyzed life is important, but I have not experienced how it can bring about happiness, maybe just not yet.
Aristotle’s Ethics focuses on Eudaimonia, with the ultimate goal in living is to make life worth living. There are many parts to Aristotle’s Ethics, but I would only voice my opinion on one. An important part of Aristotle’s Ethics is to achieve the Golden Mean, which is the balance between the two extremes, the extreme of excess and the extreme of deficiency. I largely agree with Aristotle about the Golden Mean. It is extremely important to keep a balance. I would give an example which is more relevant to me. In my opinion, we should not be workaholics and miss out other wonderful things in life as well. However, we should not be lazy and not do anything at all. Therefore, in my opinion, in order to be happy, we should do our best to achieve the Golden Mean since balance is extremely important.
Deontologists, on the other hand, feel that we should fulfill moral duties and obligations regardless of the end results. We have to do things because we have to, and not because we like it. In my opinion, this should not be the way of life. If we lead such a life, we would be practising “sheep” thinking, since we are just doing things others are doing, and just for the sake of it. We would not be really thinking about what is the aim of the things we do. This way of living our lives would be very sorrowful and meaningless as we would be forced to do many things. Therefore, I do not support the deontologists’ point of view.
Buddhism focuses on “being more” than having more. I feel that such a way of thinking is indeed very proper. It is important to continuously improve ourselves in every aspect, rather than pursuing material gains. However, I feel that friends and family are extremely important as well.
Christianity believes that we should not rely on earthly things to get our happiness, and rather, to pursue permanent happiness, which is to get closer to God. As a Christian, I believe so too. Getting close to God is a happy thing as God is Love.
In conclusion, I would require friends, the Golden Mean, constant improvement of my character and intellect as well as God’s love to reach my Eudaimonia.
(Adapted from my AAT Journal)
Topic I: Can the real William Shakespeare please stand up?
i. Why is William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon an unlikely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works?
Shakspere of Stratford belonged to the working class, which made him unable to have access to resources such as education, libraries or capacity for abstract thought which are very important for an author to produce extraordinary pieces of work. The most common working class education, which usually only lasted to the age of 11, merely included woodwork and metalwork. This was obviously not enough to equip Shakspere of Stratford with the superb knowledge of foreign languages, politics, law and science as evident in Shakespeare’s works.
Geographical knowledge is in the city of Venice. Moreover, William Shakespeare showed that he knew Jews bleed when they were pricked, which is something not known to most of the British population, and Shakspere was just any other commoner. Therefore, there was little chance that he knew such a fact.
This is another factor to prove that William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon is an unlikely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works. As we can all see from Shakespeare’s works, he had a wide knowledge on foreign countries and their landscapes. This shows that the works had to be written by a knowledgeable and well-travelled person. A perfect example would be in The Merchant of Venice, where information of the city is in vast amounts. The Merchant of Venice has many precise and accurate descriptions of the canals, castles and Jewish ghettoes.
There is also a conspiracy theory that William Shakespeare was just a pseudonym. The hyphenation of “Shake-Speare" on many title pages are cited as evidence for this theory, since hyphens were common for pseudonyms in Elizabethan times. Examples of such oft-hyphenated names include Tom Tell-truth, which is clearly a made up name, Cuth-Bert-Curry-Knave, whose name has an absurd amount of hyphens, and of course, the famous writer of letters; Hyphen McHyphenson, whose very name is a reference to hyphens. Therefore, many claim that William Shakespeare is just a pseudonym.
ii. Who are the possible candidates?
There are many possible candidates. The more popular and substantial ones are Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon and Christopher Marlowe.
Sir Francis Bacon has been a traditional favourite among the anti-Stratfordians, a term used to describe those who do not believe that Shakspere of Stratford is William Shakespeare, and holds a high place on the list of potential candidates.
William Henry Smith was the first to propose Bacon as the author in 1856. Comparing passages of the two such as Bacon's "Poetry is nothing else but feigned history" with Shakespeare's "The truest poetry is the most feigning" (As You Like It, 3.3.19–20), and Bacon's "He wished him not to shut the gate of your Majesty's mercy" with Shakespeare's "The gates of mercy shall be all shut up" (Henry V, 3.3.10), he concluded that there were many parallels in their ideas. In 1883, Mrs. Henry Pott edited Bacon's Promus and found 4,400 parallels of thought or expression between Shakespeare and Bacon. Therefore, these made Sir Francis Bacon is one very likely candidate of William Shakespeare’s works. However, Bacon also produced a lot of his own works. Therefore, it is hard to think of why he would have spare time to produce quality work attributed to William Shakespeare, since he produced his own quality work as well.
Although Christopher Marlowe is only two months older than Shakespeare, Marlowe is recognized by scholars as the primary influence on Shakespeare's work. Unlike the rest of the candidates, he established a high level of playwriting ability, and also died under mysterious circumstances. This went hand in hand with conspiracy theories. Marlovians, a term used to describe those who support Christopher Marlowe as the true author of William Shakespeare’s works, trust that the fake death was to allow Marlowe to escape trial and almost certain execution on charges of subversive atheism. The theory then argues that Shakespeare was chosen as the front behind whom Marlowe would continue writing his highly successful plays. Such claims are based on inferences derived from the circumstances of his apparent death, stylistic similarities between the works of Marlowe and Shakespeare, and hidden meanings found in the works and associated texts. Another fact that Marlovians note is that the first work linked to the name William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, was on sale just 13 days after Marlowe’s apparent death. Furthermore, the book has been registered with the Stationers' Company on 18 April 1593 with no named author. Therefore, Christopher Marlowe is definitely another possible candidate for William Shakespeare’s works.
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, more commonly known as just Oxford, is another probable candidate. The argument that Oxford is the true author is based on historical inferences, literary parallels, and the belief that the plots and characters portrayed in the plays reflect his personal experiences. Schoolteacher J. Thomas Looney was the first to lay out a comprehensive case for Oxford's authorship.He identified personality characteristics in William Shakespeare's works, especially Hamlet, that depicted the author as an eccentric aristocratic poet, a drama and sporting enthusiast with a classical education who had travelled to Italy. In addition, the poetry of Oxford and that of Shakespeare are very similar in terms of the way they use motifs and subjects, their phrasing, and the rhetorical devices which they use After Looney's Shakespeare Identified was published in 1920, Oxford rapidly overtook Bacon to become the most popular alternative candidate, and remains so to this day.
iii. Who is the most likely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works? Provide reasons to support your view.
Although most people feel that Oxford is the most likely candidate for Shakespeare’s works, I prefer to support Christopher Marlowe as the most likely candidate, and not Oxford nor Bacon.
I have this view as I feel that there are too many factors pointing towards Christopher Marlowe as the author of Shakespeare’s works. Marlowe’s apparent death theory had the biggest impact on me, as I feel that this theory is very reasonable and realistic. To escape trial, the most common acts to do is to either flee the country or create another identity. As shown by this theory, Marlowe chose to create another identity for himself and be William Shakespeare in order to continue producing quality work for the public.
In addition, the publishing of the first book of Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, makes me want to believe that Marlowe is the true author more. Just 13 days after Marlowe’s apparent death, Venus and Adonis was published. Moreover, the book was registered before Marlowe’s death without a named author. At that time, Marlowe may have already known that he is charged for subversive atheism, but still have not decided on a pen name yet, thus leaving it empty for the time being. Then, during the period of after registering and before publishing, Marlowe would have thought of a pen name to use and the name was William Shakespeare.
These are my views. What are yours?
References:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Shakespeare_Authorship_Debate/
http://www.bardweb.net/debates.html/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_authorship_question#Alternative_candidates/
More questions to consider:
a. What specific skills/knowledge must the real playwright of TMOV have possessed in order to write the play?
The real playwright would have to know the environment of Venice and Belmont very well in order to provide accurate descriptions of these two places in the play. Moreover, the real playwright has to be very clear about the real discriminatory acts the Christians carry out on the Jews as well as the jobs the Jews were limited to. In addition, the real playwright of The Merchant of Venice has to have a good grasp of Middle English and have to be very fluent in his phrasing and choice of words as well as the rhetoric devices used. The real playwright has to be very familiar with Law as there are many references to the use of law throughout the play.
b. Among the above skills/knowledge, what was William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon lacking in?
In my opinion, the knowledge that William Shakspere of Stratfod-upon-Avon lacked is the knowledge of the environment in Venice and Belmont. Shakspere of Stratford belonged to the working class, and that would greatly limit the amount of knowledge he knows about the world. Also, he would not have been able to afford to go to Venice and Belmont to look at their scenery since he belonged to the working class.
Shakspere may also lack the awareness of the use of law. Since he came from the working class, he would not have access to information of Law, which was a very important part in the play, as seen from the climax of the story – the court scene.
Shakspere of Stratford belonged to the working class, which made him unable to have access to resources such as education, libraries or capacity for abstract thought which are very important for an author to produce extraordinary pieces of work. The most common working class education, which usually only lasted to the age of 11, merely included woodwork and metalwork. This was obviously not enough to equip Shakspere of Stratford with the superb knowledge of foreign languages, politics, law and science as evident in Shakespeare’s works.
Geographical knowledge is in the city of Venice. Moreover, William Shakespeare showed that he knew Jews bleed when they were pricked, which is something not known to most of the British population, and Shakspere was just any other commoner. Therefore, there was little chance that he knew such a fact.
This is another factor to prove that William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon is an unlikely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works. As we can all see from Shakespeare’s works, he had a wide knowledge on foreign countries and their landscapes. This shows that the works had to be written by a knowledgeable and well-travelled person. A perfect example would be in The Merchant of Venice, where information of the city is in vast amounts. The Merchant of Venice has many precise and accurate descriptions of the canals, castles and Jewish ghettoes.
There is also a conspiracy theory that William Shakespeare was just a pseudonym. The hyphenation of “Shake-Speare" on many title pages are cited as evidence for this theory, since hyphens were common for pseudonyms in Elizabethan times. Examples of such oft-hyphenated names include Tom Tell-truth, which is clearly a made up name, Cuth-Bert-Curry-Knave, whose name has an absurd amount of hyphens, and of course, the famous writer of letters; Hyphen McHyphenson, whose very name is a reference to hyphens. Therefore, many claim that William Shakespeare is just a pseudonym.
ii. Who are the possible candidates?
There are many possible candidates. The more popular and substantial ones are Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon and Christopher Marlowe.
Sir Francis Bacon has been a traditional favourite among the anti-Stratfordians, a term used to describe those who do not believe that Shakspere of Stratford is William Shakespeare, and holds a high place on the list of potential candidates.
William Henry Smith was the first to propose Bacon as the author in 1856. Comparing passages of the two such as Bacon's "Poetry is nothing else but feigned history" with Shakespeare's "The truest poetry is the most feigning" (As You Like It, 3.3.19–20), and Bacon's "He wished him not to shut the gate of your Majesty's mercy" with Shakespeare's "The gates of mercy shall be all shut up" (Henry V, 3.3.10), he concluded that there were many parallels in their ideas. In 1883, Mrs. Henry Pott edited Bacon's Promus and found 4,400 parallels of thought or expression between Shakespeare and Bacon. Therefore, these made Sir Francis Bacon is one very likely candidate of William Shakespeare’s works. However, Bacon also produced a lot of his own works. Therefore, it is hard to think of why he would have spare time to produce quality work attributed to William Shakespeare, since he produced his own quality work as well.
Although Christopher Marlowe is only two months older than Shakespeare, Marlowe is recognized by scholars as the primary influence on Shakespeare's work. Unlike the rest of the candidates, he established a high level of playwriting ability, and also died under mysterious circumstances. This went hand in hand with conspiracy theories. Marlovians, a term used to describe those who support Christopher Marlowe as the true author of William Shakespeare’s works, trust that the fake death was to allow Marlowe to escape trial and almost certain execution on charges of subversive atheism. The theory then argues that Shakespeare was chosen as the front behind whom Marlowe would continue writing his highly successful plays. Such claims are based on inferences derived from the circumstances of his apparent death, stylistic similarities between the works of Marlowe and Shakespeare, and hidden meanings found in the works and associated texts. Another fact that Marlovians note is that the first work linked to the name William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, was on sale just 13 days after Marlowe’s apparent death. Furthermore, the book has been registered with the Stationers' Company on 18 April 1593 with no named author. Therefore, Christopher Marlowe is definitely another possible candidate for William Shakespeare’s works.
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, more commonly known as just Oxford, is another probable candidate. The argument that Oxford is the true author is based on historical inferences, literary parallels, and the belief that the plots and characters portrayed in the plays reflect his personal experiences. Schoolteacher J. Thomas Looney was the first to lay out a comprehensive case for Oxford's authorship.He identified personality characteristics in William Shakespeare's works, especially Hamlet, that depicted the author as an eccentric aristocratic poet, a drama and sporting enthusiast with a classical education who had travelled to Italy. In addition, the poetry of Oxford and that of Shakespeare are very similar in terms of the way they use motifs and subjects, their phrasing, and the rhetorical devices which they use After Looney's Shakespeare Identified was published in 1920, Oxford rapidly overtook Bacon to become the most popular alternative candidate, and remains so to this day.
iii. Who is the most likely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works? Provide reasons to support your view.
Although most people feel that Oxford is the most likely candidate for Shakespeare’s works, I prefer to support Christopher Marlowe as the most likely candidate, and not Oxford nor Bacon.
I have this view as I feel that there are too many factors pointing towards Christopher Marlowe as the author of Shakespeare’s works. Marlowe’s apparent death theory had the biggest impact on me, as I feel that this theory is very reasonable and realistic. To escape trial, the most common acts to do is to either flee the country or create another identity. As shown by this theory, Marlowe chose to create another identity for himself and be William Shakespeare in order to continue producing quality work for the public.
In addition, the publishing of the first book of Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, makes me want to believe that Marlowe is the true author more. Just 13 days after Marlowe’s apparent death, Venus and Adonis was published. Moreover, the book was registered before Marlowe’s death without a named author. At that time, Marlowe may have already known that he is charged for subversive atheism, but still have not decided on a pen name yet, thus leaving it empty for the time being. Then, during the period of after registering and before publishing, Marlowe would have thought of a pen name to use and the name was William Shakespeare.
These are my views. What are yours?
References:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Shakespeare_Authorship_Debate/
http://www.bardweb.net/debates.html/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_authorship_question#Alternative_candidates/
More questions to consider:
a. What specific skills/knowledge must the real playwright of TMOV have possessed in order to write the play?
The real playwright would have to know the environment of Venice and Belmont very well in order to provide accurate descriptions of these two places in the play. Moreover, the real playwright has to be very clear about the real discriminatory acts the Christians carry out on the Jews as well as the jobs the Jews were limited to. In addition, the real playwright of The Merchant of Venice has to have a good grasp of Middle English and have to be very fluent in his phrasing and choice of words as well as the rhetoric devices used. The real playwright has to be very familiar with Law as there are many references to the use of law throughout the play.
b. Among the above skills/knowledge, what was William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon lacking in?
In my opinion, the knowledge that William Shakspere of Stratfod-upon-Avon lacked is the knowledge of the environment in Venice and Belmont. Shakspere of Stratford belonged to the working class, and that would greatly limit the amount of knowledge he knows about the world. Also, he would not have been able to afford to go to Venice and Belmont to look at their scenery since he belonged to the working class.
Shakspere may also lack the awareness of the use of law. Since he came from the working class, he would not have access to information of Law, which was a very important part in the play, as seen from the climax of the story – the court scene.
Topic II: Elizabeth I and the Politics of the Elizabethan Era
i. Elizabeth I: who was she?
Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 (Sunday) to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who was executed in 19 May 1536. She became queen on 17 November 1558 (Thursday) when she was 25, and was officially crowned in Westminster Abbey on 15 January 1559 (Sunday). She reigned for 44 years and 4 months, and died in Richmond Palace on Lady Day, 24 March 1603 (Thursday), when she was 69 years old. She never married and never had any children, and thus is remembered as The Virgin Queen.
ii. What were England’s international relations like during Elizabeth’s reign?
England had good diplomatic ties with Netherlands. On August 14 1585, Queen Elizabeth I issued a declaration that she would take Netherlands under her protection. Then, on December 8 1585, Robert Dudley, who is the 1st Earl of Leicester, led the English army to fight the Spanish army who was occupying Netherlands. In return, Netherlands helped fight the Spanish Armada when the Spanish attacked the English fleet.
However, England had conflicts with many other countries. One of the major enemies of England was Spain. There were religious conflicts between these two countries since England was Protestant and Spain was Catholic. Moreover, King Philip II of Spain at that time was declined by Queen Elizabeth I when he asked for her hand in marriage. Furthermore, there was competition in trade during the Anglo-Spanish War which lasted from 1585 to 1604. Queen Elizabeth I supported English pirates to steal goods from Spanish treasure ships and this made the two countries’ relationship even worse. On August 8 1588, the Spanish Armada of 132 ships was defeated by the English fleet of 34 ships and 163 armed merchant vessels together with the help of the Dutch army.
England too had sour relationships with Scotland, and for religious reasons as well. Protestant England and Catholic Scotland just could not get along well. Many English wanted to replace Queen Elizabeth with Queen Mary whom they think should be the rightful heir to the throne of English. Therefore, Anthony Babington wanted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Queen Mary, who was Queen of Scotland then. Sir Francis Walsingham found out and this made Queen Mary get executed on 8 February 1587.
England too had issues with Ireland during Elizabeth’s reign. Hugh O’Neill wanted to have control over Ireland, and thus started a rebellion. However, the nine-year war was unsuccessful for Hugh O’Neill and the Irish were defeated on March 1603. Although they lost, O’Neill was with good terms with the new King James I, and thus they were given full control of their estates. This was, however, with a condition that they remained loyal to England.
iii. What was Shakespeare’s relationship with Elizabeth I?
Elizabeth I was an active and generous patron of the theatre, and thus stood against the puritans who wished to close down the theatres. Without her support, the Elizabethan theatres would not have survived. Queen Elizabeth I popularized court performances by acting companies and Shakespeare's company was selected more than any other in the 1590s. In fact, the Lord Chamberlain's Men performed at court thirty-two times, compared to thirty-seven performances by all other companies combined. Shakespeare does not refer to Elizabeth very often. He makes only one direct reference to her as "a fair vestal throned by the west" in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is commonly believed that she liked the character of Falstaff so much, in Henry IV, Part One, that she asked Shakespeare to write a play that showed the character in love, which supposedly inspired The Merry Wives of Windsor. When Elizabeth died, Shakespeare wrote no elegy for her, unlike most of the poets of the day. Therefore, it appears that he worked for her as she demanded but there is no indication that their relationship was closer than that.
iv. Compare Elizabeth I to Portia. How is Portia’s character a tribute to Elizabeth I?
Some critics claim that Portia from The Merchant of Venice is William Shakespeare's tribute to Queen Elizabeth I. Therefore, Portia is depicted to be a near perfect heroine. She's witty, powerful, wealthy and logical, just like Elizabeth I.
Portia’s wittiness can be seen by how she used she found a fault in the contract given by Shylock and forces Shylocks to drop charges against Antonio. Queen Elizabeth’s intelligence can be seen by how she defeated the Spanish Armada, together with the help of the Dutch. They are similar in a sense that they are both heiresses. Queen Elizabeth I is the heiress of the England Empire while Portia is the heiress of Bermont.
However, one difference between the two is that Portia is married, while Queen Elizabeth I remains single.
References:
http://www.elizabethi.org/uk/profile/
http://www.mccarter.org/Education/tempestguide/tempestguide.html/
http://www.enotes.com/merchant-of-venice/discuss/what-way-portia-from-merchant-venice-perfect-94989/
http://www.slideshare.net/patricklyh/elizabeth-1-the-politics-of-the-elizabethan-era/
More questions to consider:
a. What sort of relations did England have with other countries? How did this affect England’s perception of people of other nationalities? How does this shape the characterization in TMOV?
As mentioned above, England had strong diplomatic ties with the Netherlands during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. However, England had conflicts with countries like Spain, Scotland and Ireland. As seen, England is a rather independent country and does not like to rely on other countries, preferring to see it as collaboration, like how England and Netherlands worked together to fight Spain. This shows that the English people saw themselves as superior towards people of other nationalities.
This greatly affected the characterization in The Merchant of Venice. The Christian characters’ attitudes towards Jews, who were of a different nationality, were extremely terrible. Antonio also was very proud of his argosies and his wealth, showing his sense of superiority. Portia also looked down on many suitors, like the Prince of Morocco and many others, showing her sense of supremacy.
Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 (Sunday) to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who was executed in 19 May 1536. She became queen on 17 November 1558 (Thursday) when she was 25, and was officially crowned in Westminster Abbey on 15 January 1559 (Sunday). She reigned for 44 years and 4 months, and died in Richmond Palace on Lady Day, 24 March 1603 (Thursday), when she was 69 years old. She never married and never had any children, and thus is remembered as The Virgin Queen.
ii. What were England’s international relations like during Elizabeth’s reign?
England had good diplomatic ties with Netherlands. On August 14 1585, Queen Elizabeth I issued a declaration that she would take Netherlands under her protection. Then, on December 8 1585, Robert Dudley, who is the 1st Earl of Leicester, led the English army to fight the Spanish army who was occupying Netherlands. In return, Netherlands helped fight the Spanish Armada when the Spanish attacked the English fleet.
However, England had conflicts with many other countries. One of the major enemies of England was Spain. There were religious conflicts between these two countries since England was Protestant and Spain was Catholic. Moreover, King Philip II of Spain at that time was declined by Queen Elizabeth I when he asked for her hand in marriage. Furthermore, there was competition in trade during the Anglo-Spanish War which lasted from 1585 to 1604. Queen Elizabeth I supported English pirates to steal goods from Spanish treasure ships and this made the two countries’ relationship even worse. On August 8 1588, the Spanish Armada of 132 ships was defeated by the English fleet of 34 ships and 163 armed merchant vessels together with the help of the Dutch army.
England too had sour relationships with Scotland, and for religious reasons as well. Protestant England and Catholic Scotland just could not get along well. Many English wanted to replace Queen Elizabeth with Queen Mary whom they think should be the rightful heir to the throne of English. Therefore, Anthony Babington wanted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Queen Mary, who was Queen of Scotland then. Sir Francis Walsingham found out and this made Queen Mary get executed on 8 February 1587.
England too had issues with Ireland during Elizabeth’s reign. Hugh O’Neill wanted to have control over Ireland, and thus started a rebellion. However, the nine-year war was unsuccessful for Hugh O’Neill and the Irish were defeated on March 1603. Although they lost, O’Neill was with good terms with the new King James I, and thus they were given full control of their estates. This was, however, with a condition that they remained loyal to England.
iii. What was Shakespeare’s relationship with Elizabeth I?
Elizabeth I was an active and generous patron of the theatre, and thus stood against the puritans who wished to close down the theatres. Without her support, the Elizabethan theatres would not have survived. Queen Elizabeth I popularized court performances by acting companies and Shakespeare's company was selected more than any other in the 1590s. In fact, the Lord Chamberlain's Men performed at court thirty-two times, compared to thirty-seven performances by all other companies combined. Shakespeare does not refer to Elizabeth very often. He makes only one direct reference to her as "a fair vestal throned by the west" in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is commonly believed that she liked the character of Falstaff so much, in Henry IV, Part One, that she asked Shakespeare to write a play that showed the character in love, which supposedly inspired The Merry Wives of Windsor. When Elizabeth died, Shakespeare wrote no elegy for her, unlike most of the poets of the day. Therefore, it appears that he worked for her as she demanded but there is no indication that their relationship was closer than that.
iv. Compare Elizabeth I to Portia. How is Portia’s character a tribute to Elizabeth I?
Some critics claim that Portia from The Merchant of Venice is William Shakespeare's tribute to Queen Elizabeth I. Therefore, Portia is depicted to be a near perfect heroine. She's witty, powerful, wealthy and logical, just like Elizabeth I.
Portia’s wittiness can be seen by how she used she found a fault in the contract given by Shylock and forces Shylocks to drop charges against Antonio. Queen Elizabeth’s intelligence can be seen by how she defeated the Spanish Armada, together with the help of the Dutch. They are similar in a sense that they are both heiresses. Queen Elizabeth I is the heiress of the England Empire while Portia is the heiress of Bermont.
However, one difference between the two is that Portia is married, while Queen Elizabeth I remains single.
References:
http://www.elizabethi.org/uk/profile/
http://www.mccarter.org/Education/tempestguide/tempestguide.html/
http://www.enotes.com/merchant-of-venice/discuss/what-way-portia-from-merchant-venice-perfect-94989/
http://www.slideshare.net/patricklyh/elizabeth-1-the-politics-of-the-elizabethan-era/
More questions to consider:
a. What sort of relations did England have with other countries? How did this affect England’s perception of people of other nationalities? How does this shape the characterization in TMOV?
As mentioned above, England had strong diplomatic ties with the Netherlands during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. However, England had conflicts with countries like Spain, Scotland and Ireland. As seen, England is a rather independent country and does not like to rely on other countries, preferring to see it as collaboration, like how England and Netherlands worked together to fight Spain. This shows that the English people saw themselves as superior towards people of other nationalities.
This greatly affected the characterization in The Merchant of Venice. The Christian characters’ attitudes towards Jews, who were of a different nationality, were extremely terrible. Antonio also was very proud of his argosies and his wealth, showing his sense of superiority. Portia also looked down on many suitors, like the Prince of Morocco and many others, showing her sense of supremacy.
Topic III: Customs & Lifestyle
i. Personal hygiene
Bathing
During Elizabethan times, the wealthy took baths once every couple of weeks while peasants only bathed three times a year on average. Hygiene done on a daily basis was the washing of hands, wrists, face, teeth and feet, generally before having a meal. A view during the Elizabethan times, which people nowadays would disagree with, is that washing hair often is unhealthy, ad thus hair was often styled with lard and lead powder.
Makeup
Women in the high-class society wore pale make-up to appear as white as possible and avoid being under the sun. These women also caked lead-based powder on their face, neck, chest and hair and frequently bathed in wine or milk to improve skin complexion.
Smell
Because of irregularity of bathing, perfumed candles, potpourri and perfume were used to mask pungent odours. Wealthy women, like Queen Elizabeth I, often carried vinaigrettes, which are small silver boxes, containing perfumed sponges.
ii. Diet
The rich during the Elizabeth era ate few vegetables and fruit, as they view this variety of food with suspicion. They only ate fruits in the form of pies or preserved in honey. Vegetables and fruits were more commonly eaten by the poor, in the form of stew, soup or pottage. Few vegetables made it to the Noble’s table, like rape, onions, garlic and leeks. The rich also kept away from dairy products as they felt they were inferior goods. This made the rich lack Vitamin C, calcium and fibre, making them susceptible to health problems like bad teeth, skin diseases, scurvy and rickets. Only rich people could afford sugar at that time since it was expensive, and it blackened teeth. This became fashion and black teeth were considered beautiful. Cosmetics were even applied to get black teeth when sugar was not enough.
iii. Recreation
There were two very common sports during the Elizabethan era, which people nowadays would consider inhuman. Such sports were active twice a week in London, and appealed to large crowds.
Bear baiting or bull baiting is one of the two blood sports then. In bear baiting, a bear was tied to a stake by a long rope. Then, it was put into a pit with four or five large, fierce dogs, or even lions, for the dogs to attack the bear. Dogs that survived the bear’s retaliation were pulled off just before the bear was killed. Dogs are considered winners if the bear was killed, but losers if many of them were disabled. Apes were sometimes used as well. Bullbaiting is similar, except that the bull is let into the pit and teased or hurt until it died. Such acts are very cruel in the eyes of today’s world, but in the Elizabethan era, it was a fun sport for them to observe.
Another popular blood sport was cockfighting. In this sport, roosters, fitted with sharp blades on each foot, were put into a pit to fight to the death. Since fighting cocks were expensive, only rich men could own these birds, but men of all classes came to observe and bet.
Fencing was also very popular at that time. Betting on fencing was also very common. In addition, much time was spent with the sport of hawking, which is very popular with gentlemen. A hawk or falcon is trained in the beginning by taming it. To do so, the eyes are sealed with needle and thread, then the thread is tied back over the head of the bird in order for the trainer to open and close the bird’s eyes at will. This temporary blinding makes it easy to train the hawk or falcon to hunt other birds. Moreover, bells were attached to the legs of the birds in order to track their whereabouts.
Other than sports, a preferred recreation during the Elizabethan Era was going to the theatre. Since it was the time of Shakespeare, many people went to the most well-known Globe Theatre where many of Shakespeare’s plays were acted.
iv. Dress
Women wore stockings, corsets, farthingales, stomachers, petticoats, kirtles, foreparts and partlets as underclothes. For over clothes, they were gowns, separates sleeves, ruffs, cloaks, shoes and hats.
For men, shirts, stockings, codpieces and corsets acted as underclothes. In terms of over clothes, they wore doublets, separate sleeves, breeches, belts, ruffs, cloaks, shoes and hats.
References:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5619840_personal-hygiene-elizabethan-age_.html/
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-food-and-diet.htm/
http://www.tomecek.com/jay/RecreationandSports.html/
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-clothing.htm/
More questions to consider:
a. How were women expected to behave in Shakespeare’s time?
Upper Class Women
Women were expected to be submissive towards men, as they were seen as the inferior sex. They were often used to get closer to powerful families through arranged marriages.
Women in the Elizabethan era also had many limitations. They were not allowed to go to school, to enter University, to be heirs to father’s titles with the exception of royals, to be doctors of lawyers, to vote or enter politics, to enter the army or navy and to act in theatres.
Lower Class Women
Women from the lower classes were expected to obey male members as well. However, they never had education, unlike the home-tutored upper class women, and were made to learn to take care of a household instead. All women were expected to marry, and would be dependant on her male relatives for her whole life.
b. What were their roles as wives and daughters?
The roles of the women were to be housewives and mothers. Their roles were just to give birth to as many children as possible, although many die of illnesses and thus, families were not always large. In fact, women gave birth to children once every two years on average.
Daughters were mostly to be used to marry men of higher status through arranged marriages for the daughter’s family to rise in status as well.
Women were regarded as the weaker sex, and therefore had to listen to the males in the family. They also had to be under the care of a male, be it the father, brother, husband or a male relative.
c. In what ways do Portia and Jessica fulfil / subvert these roles / expectations?
Portia did follow her father’s instruction to choose her husband through the test of the three caskets. Moreover, Portia expressed that all her inheritance in now Bassanio’s after he marriage, fulfilling her role as a wife. However, Portia entered the court although she was banned from doing so and this was a subversion of her role.
Jessica did not have arranged marriages since she fled from Shylock to be with Lorenzo. However, Jessica’s property, which was given to her and Lorenzo after Shylock lost the court case, was given all to Lorenzo, fulfilling her role as a wife.
References:
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-women.htm/
http://www.elizabethi.org/us/women/
Bathing
During Elizabethan times, the wealthy took baths once every couple of weeks while peasants only bathed three times a year on average. Hygiene done on a daily basis was the washing of hands, wrists, face, teeth and feet, generally before having a meal. A view during the Elizabethan times, which people nowadays would disagree with, is that washing hair often is unhealthy, ad thus hair was often styled with lard and lead powder.
Makeup
Women in the high-class society wore pale make-up to appear as white as possible and avoid being under the sun. These women also caked lead-based powder on their face, neck, chest and hair and frequently bathed in wine or milk to improve skin complexion.
Smell
Because of irregularity of bathing, perfumed candles, potpourri and perfume were used to mask pungent odours. Wealthy women, like Queen Elizabeth I, often carried vinaigrettes, which are small silver boxes, containing perfumed sponges.
ii. Diet
The rich during the Elizabeth era ate few vegetables and fruit, as they view this variety of food with suspicion. They only ate fruits in the form of pies or preserved in honey. Vegetables and fruits were more commonly eaten by the poor, in the form of stew, soup or pottage. Few vegetables made it to the Noble’s table, like rape, onions, garlic and leeks. The rich also kept away from dairy products as they felt they were inferior goods. This made the rich lack Vitamin C, calcium and fibre, making them susceptible to health problems like bad teeth, skin diseases, scurvy and rickets. Only rich people could afford sugar at that time since it was expensive, and it blackened teeth. This became fashion and black teeth were considered beautiful. Cosmetics were even applied to get black teeth when sugar was not enough.
iii. Recreation
There were two very common sports during the Elizabethan era, which people nowadays would consider inhuman. Such sports were active twice a week in London, and appealed to large crowds.
Bear baiting or bull baiting is one of the two blood sports then. In bear baiting, a bear was tied to a stake by a long rope. Then, it was put into a pit with four or five large, fierce dogs, or even lions, for the dogs to attack the bear. Dogs that survived the bear’s retaliation were pulled off just before the bear was killed. Dogs are considered winners if the bear was killed, but losers if many of them were disabled. Apes were sometimes used as well. Bullbaiting is similar, except that the bull is let into the pit and teased or hurt until it died. Such acts are very cruel in the eyes of today’s world, but in the Elizabethan era, it was a fun sport for them to observe.
Another popular blood sport was cockfighting. In this sport, roosters, fitted with sharp blades on each foot, were put into a pit to fight to the death. Since fighting cocks were expensive, only rich men could own these birds, but men of all classes came to observe and bet.
Fencing was also very popular at that time. Betting on fencing was also very common. In addition, much time was spent with the sport of hawking, which is very popular with gentlemen. A hawk or falcon is trained in the beginning by taming it. To do so, the eyes are sealed with needle and thread, then the thread is tied back over the head of the bird in order for the trainer to open and close the bird’s eyes at will. This temporary blinding makes it easy to train the hawk or falcon to hunt other birds. Moreover, bells were attached to the legs of the birds in order to track their whereabouts.
Other than sports, a preferred recreation during the Elizabethan Era was going to the theatre. Since it was the time of Shakespeare, many people went to the most well-known Globe Theatre where many of Shakespeare’s plays were acted.
iv. Dress
Women wore stockings, corsets, farthingales, stomachers, petticoats, kirtles, foreparts and partlets as underclothes. For over clothes, they were gowns, separates sleeves, ruffs, cloaks, shoes and hats.
For men, shirts, stockings, codpieces and corsets acted as underclothes. In terms of over clothes, they wore doublets, separate sleeves, breeches, belts, ruffs, cloaks, shoes and hats.
References:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5619840_personal-hygiene-elizabethan-age_.html/
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-food-and-diet.htm/
http://www.tomecek.com/jay/RecreationandSports.html/
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-clothing.htm/
More questions to consider:
a. How were women expected to behave in Shakespeare’s time?
Upper Class Women
Women were expected to be submissive towards men, as they were seen as the inferior sex. They were often used to get closer to powerful families through arranged marriages.
Women in the Elizabethan era also had many limitations. They were not allowed to go to school, to enter University, to be heirs to father’s titles with the exception of royals, to be doctors of lawyers, to vote or enter politics, to enter the army or navy and to act in theatres.
Lower Class Women
Women from the lower classes were expected to obey male members as well. However, they never had education, unlike the home-tutored upper class women, and were made to learn to take care of a household instead. All women were expected to marry, and would be dependant on her male relatives for her whole life.
b. What were their roles as wives and daughters?
The roles of the women were to be housewives and mothers. Their roles were just to give birth to as many children as possible, although many die of illnesses and thus, families were not always large. In fact, women gave birth to children once every two years on average.
Daughters were mostly to be used to marry men of higher status through arranged marriages for the daughter’s family to rise in status as well.
Women were regarded as the weaker sex, and therefore had to listen to the males in the family. They also had to be under the care of a male, be it the father, brother, husband or a male relative.
c. In what ways do Portia and Jessica fulfil / subvert these roles / expectations?
Portia did follow her father’s instruction to choose her husband through the test of the three caskets. Moreover, Portia expressed that all her inheritance in now Bassanio’s after he marriage, fulfilling her role as a wife. However, Portia entered the court although she was banned from doing so and this was a subversion of her role.
Jessica did not have arranged marriages since she fled from Shylock to be with Lorenzo. However, Jessica’s property, which was given to her and Lorenzo after Shylock lost the court case, was given all to Lorenzo, fulfilling her role as a wife.
References:
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-women.htm/
http://www.elizabethi.org/us/women/
Topic IV: The (historical and culutral) Setting of Venice
i. What was Venice like during the 15th and 16th century? Comment especially on its demographics and culture.
In the 1420s, Venice had an unbroken stretch of rich land south of the Alps, from the northern tip of the Adriatic almost o Milan, as she extends her territory on the Italian Mainland. Friuli is conquered by Venice in 1420, Brescia in 1426 and Bergamo in 1428. With such a rich hinterland and many Mediterranean islands ranging to Cyprus, Venus was a Mediterranean power.
Although new ocean trade which came with America being discovered and India’s sea-route being completed causing economic significance in the Mediterranean area to sway and affecting Venice as a result, Venice continued staying strong. In the 15th century, Venice provided the last great blossoming of Gothic architecture and led the world in her printing skills. By the 16th century, Venetian culture produced Europe’s top architect and an outstanding school of regional painting.
ii. Why was Venice important during the 15th and 16th century?
Venice was a major maritime power during the Elizabethan era, and it was a very important place of commerce, especially for silk, grain and spice. It was a great place of art from the 13th century to 17th century. Venice is also known for its many important artistic movements. It played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and is also the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.
iii. What was the dominant religion in Venice? How were Jews treated and regarded?
Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion in Venice.
The Jews were discriminated against very badly in Venice. They were seen as inferior to the Roman Catholic Christians.
The Jews were openly discriminated against and they were aware of it. As seen in The Merchant of Venice, Antonio constantly spat on and kicked Shylock because of his practice of usury in his moneylending. This was a common sight in Venice at that time.
Moreover, Jews were only forced to stay in Jewish ghettos. The ghettos had similar characteristics with a prison. Both were surrounded by barbed wire, brick walls and armed guards.
iv. How is Venice a choice setting for the plot of this play?
In The Merchant of Venice, there is a recurring motif of money, as seen from the constant reference to wealth, worth, value, materialism and transactional relationships. Venice was a business and commerce area at the time when the play was written. As seen, Venice is an extremely suitable setting for this play, since it is able to support the recurring motif.
In addition, Venice was a place where we could find many immigrants. Therefore, the appearance of characters like Antonio and Shylock would be very normal, since anti-Semitism did exist in Venice at that time as well.
References:
rack=pthc/">http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=432&HistoryID=aa43>rack=pthc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice/
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101108093242AAmfQkm/
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERghetto.htm/
More questions to consider:
a. What are the central themes/issues that Shakespeare conveys through TMOV?
The central themes of The Merchant of Venice are race, wealth, friendship, marriage and justice.
b. What were the key features of Venice that make it appropriate for the setting of TMOV?
In The Merchant of Venice, there is a recurring motif of money, as seen from the constant reference to wealth, worth, value, materialism and transactional relationships. Venice was a business and commerce area at the time when the play was written. As seen, Venice is an extremely suitable setting for this play, since it is able to support the recurring motif.
In addition, Venice was a place where we could find many immigrants. Therefore, the appearance of characters like Antonio and Shylock would be very normal, since anti-Semitism did exist in Venice at that time as well.
In the 1420s, Venice had an unbroken stretch of rich land south of the Alps, from the northern tip of the Adriatic almost o Milan, as she extends her territory on the Italian Mainland. Friuli is conquered by Venice in 1420, Brescia in 1426 and Bergamo in 1428. With such a rich hinterland and many Mediterranean islands ranging to Cyprus, Venus was a Mediterranean power.
Although new ocean trade which came with America being discovered and India’s sea-route being completed causing economic significance in the Mediterranean area to sway and affecting Venice as a result, Venice continued staying strong. In the 15th century, Venice provided the last great blossoming of Gothic architecture and led the world in her printing skills. By the 16th century, Venetian culture produced Europe’s top architect and an outstanding school of regional painting.
ii. Why was Venice important during the 15th and 16th century?
Venice was a major maritime power during the Elizabethan era, and it was a very important place of commerce, especially for silk, grain and spice. It was a great place of art from the 13th century to 17th century. Venice is also known for its many important artistic movements. It played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and is also the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.
iii. What was the dominant religion in Venice? How were Jews treated and regarded?
Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion in Venice.
The Jews were discriminated against very badly in Venice. They were seen as inferior to the Roman Catholic Christians.
The Jews were openly discriminated against and they were aware of it. As seen in The Merchant of Venice, Antonio constantly spat on and kicked Shylock because of his practice of usury in his moneylending. This was a common sight in Venice at that time.
Moreover, Jews were only forced to stay in Jewish ghettos. The ghettos had similar characteristics with a prison. Both were surrounded by barbed wire, brick walls and armed guards.
iv. How is Venice a choice setting for the plot of this play?
In The Merchant of Venice, there is a recurring motif of money, as seen from the constant reference to wealth, worth, value, materialism and transactional relationships. Venice was a business and commerce area at the time when the play was written. As seen, Venice is an extremely suitable setting for this play, since it is able to support the recurring motif.
In addition, Venice was a place where we could find many immigrants. Therefore, the appearance of characters like Antonio and Shylock would be very normal, since anti-Semitism did exist in Venice at that time as well.
References:
rack=pthc/">http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=432&HistoryID=aa43>rack=pthc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice/
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101108093242AAmfQkm/
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERghetto.htm/
More questions to consider:
a. What are the central themes/issues that Shakespeare conveys through TMOV?
The central themes of The Merchant of Venice are race, wealth, friendship, marriage and justice.
b. What were the key features of Venice that make it appropriate for the setting of TMOV?
In The Merchant of Venice, there is a recurring motif of money, as seen from the constant reference to wealth, worth, value, materialism and transactional relationships. Venice was a business and commerce area at the time when the play was written. As seen, Venice is an extremely suitable setting for this play, since it is able to support the recurring motif.
In addition, Venice was a place where we could find many immigrants. Therefore, the appearance of characters like Antonio and Shylock would be very normal, since anti-Semitism did exist in Venice at that time as well.
Topic V: Religion: Jews vs. Christians
i. What was the dominant religion in England and Venice in the 15th and 16th century?
Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion in England and Venice in the 15th and 16th century?
ii. Why was there such animosity between Jews and Christians?
There are various causes for such animosity between Jews and Christians. Some early Gentiles converted to Christianity. Since they were not well acquainted with the Jewish community during the time of Jesus, they wrongly interpreted the texts in the New Testament as condemnations of the Jews rather than very common internal quarrels.
Another factor for this sour relationship was the competition for converts towards the end of the first century although Jews and Christians continued to interact. Some of such evidence is how some Christians joined in Sabbath worship, and even went beyond that in some areas. Such conflicts had a negative impact on writers who wrote certain parts of the New Testament, especially the writer of John. The book John associated the Jews with darkness and the devil. This is believed to have laid the foundations for stereotypes of Jews as agents of the devil, leading to Christians having conflicts with Jews.
From the second century onwards, many Fathers of churches began to depict Jews as “rejected people” who deserve to live a life of marginality and misery. They claimed that Jews were supposed to wander this world as “despised people”. This image persisted during preaching, art and popular teaching for the following centuries. This led to civil and political discrimination against the Jews and even physical attacks on Jews which resulted in death in certain countries. Although some Popes, bishops and Christian princes stood up for the Jews, they were only the minority. It was only until the mid-twentieth century did the Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations decided to remove anti-Judaic theology and start to construct Christian-Jewish interaction.
iii. In what ways did Christians discriminate against Jews in 15th and 16th century Europe?
There were many acts of discrimination against the Jews. One of the most commonly spotted act was the accusation of deicide, which the killing of God. They were held responsible for killing Jesus and this made Christians fall to anti-Semitism. Such an accusation lasted for a long time until it was finally repudiated in 1964.
The Jews were also restricted to certain occupations, which were tax collecting and money lending. Catholic beliefs of the era stated that lending money for interest was a sin, and thus was given for the Jews to do, in order to keep Christians out of this business. Jews dominated the money lending business, practicing usury and charging high interests. This made the Jews’ image become even worse, which was that they were greedy and insolent, and also worsened stereotypes of the Jews. There were always tensions between creditors, usually Jews, and debtors, usually Christians, resulting in worse relationships between Jews and Christians.
Moreover, the Jews were subject to a wide range of legal disabilities and restrictions. Other than being banned from many trades, the Jews were also made to live in concentrated ghettoes and were not allowed to own their own land. In addition, Jews were made to wear a yellow badge and many other different clothing which varied from place to place to signal that they were Jews. Furthermore, Jews were expelled from England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and some other countries.
Martin Luther, who inspired the Reformation, painted the Jews in a bad light in his book On the Jews and their lies, which describes the Jews in extremely harsh terms. Such descriptions can go as far as “we are at fault in not slaying them”, with “them” referring to the Jews. Since he was anti-Semitic and he had a great influence at that time, many people continued their anti-Semitic ways.
References:
http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/church/persecution/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Europe_(Middle_Ages)/
More questions to consider:
a. What were the religious prejudices held by people in Shakespeare’s times?
As mentioned, the Jews were seen as inferior to Christians during the Shakespeare’s times. The acts of discrimination the Christians did against the Jews were already mentioned above, and I would not repeat them again.
b. How are Antonio and Shylock stereotypical of Christians and Jews of those times respectively?
Antonio is stereotypical of Christians of those times because he displayed very extreme anti-Semitic views in how he treated Shylock. He spat on Shylock, kicked Shylock and called Shylock names in public. Such acts are not very unusual as the Jews were indeed discriminated against in the Elizabethan era. Therefore, Antonio can be seen as a stereotype since most, if not all, Christians would be doing similar acts. In addition, Antonio is a stereotype since he is portrayed to be the typical Venetian merchant who is just waiting for his ships to return. As seen, Antonio does share very similar characteristics of a typical Christian merchant of Shakespeare’s time.
Shylock is also a very typical example of a Jew. He is a moneylender in Venice, which is one of the two occupations the Jews are limited to, the other being tax-collecting. In addition, Shylock is just like any Jew as he is discriminated against by the Christian characters. Another characteristic is that he is very calculative, as seen by how even his revenge has to be quantified by a pound of flesh from Antonio. Also, he ran on the streets grieving on his loss of his ducats, showing his love for money. Moreover, Shylock is the antagonist of the play, depicting how they were seen to be villains in real life. Therefore, he is indeed stereotypical of Jews in the Elizabethan era.
c. Are there ways in which Antonio and Shylock are atypical of Christian and Jewish stereotypes of those times? If yes, discuss them.
Antonio does not seem very different from the stereotypes of Christian merchants.
However, Shylock is not entirely a Jewish stereotype. In The Merchant of Venice, a more human side of him is shown as well. His hatred for Antonio is all justified by how Antonio treated him in the past, and thus wants revenge by getting the pound of flesh from Antonio. This is unlike Barabas in The Jew of Malta by Shakespeare’s counterpart Christopher Marlowe. Barabas is painted as a totally villainous and malevolent character, totally devoid of feelings. However, Shylock does show feeling when his hatred for Antonio is shown, and his grief when Jessica left him and even sold Leah’s ring.
d. Do you think that Shakespeare racist?
I feel that Shakespeare was not racist. In my opinion, he painted Shylock to be the villain as that was the societal norm at that time. If he made Shylock the protagonist, this may make the public displeased with his play and stop supporting him.
In addition, he made Shylock lose everything after he lost at the court scene not because of racism, but rather for comedic effect. Since The Merchant of Venice was meant to be a comedy, the audience had to laugh, and one good way was to make the villain land into a terrible state.
Moreover, if Shakespeare was really racist, he would not have brought out the human side of Shylock, that all his hatred for Antonio was justified by how Antonio treated him in the past.
Some may bring up the examples of how Portia despised her suitors. However, again I believe that was purely for comedic effect and for the audience to have a good laugh, and not that Shakespeare really was racist.
Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion in England and Venice in the 15th and 16th century?
ii. Why was there such animosity between Jews and Christians?
There are various causes for such animosity between Jews and Christians. Some early Gentiles converted to Christianity. Since they were not well acquainted with the Jewish community during the time of Jesus, they wrongly interpreted the texts in the New Testament as condemnations of the Jews rather than very common internal quarrels.
Another factor for this sour relationship was the competition for converts towards the end of the first century although Jews and Christians continued to interact. Some of such evidence is how some Christians joined in Sabbath worship, and even went beyond that in some areas. Such conflicts had a negative impact on writers who wrote certain parts of the New Testament, especially the writer of John. The book John associated the Jews with darkness and the devil. This is believed to have laid the foundations for stereotypes of Jews as agents of the devil, leading to Christians having conflicts with Jews.
From the second century onwards, many Fathers of churches began to depict Jews as “rejected people” who deserve to live a life of marginality and misery. They claimed that Jews were supposed to wander this world as “despised people”. This image persisted during preaching, art and popular teaching for the following centuries. This led to civil and political discrimination against the Jews and even physical attacks on Jews which resulted in death in certain countries. Although some Popes, bishops and Christian princes stood up for the Jews, they were only the minority. It was only until the mid-twentieth century did the Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations decided to remove anti-Judaic theology and start to construct Christian-Jewish interaction.
iii. In what ways did Christians discriminate against Jews in 15th and 16th century Europe?
There were many acts of discrimination against the Jews. One of the most commonly spotted act was the accusation of deicide, which the killing of God. They were held responsible for killing Jesus and this made Christians fall to anti-Semitism. Such an accusation lasted for a long time until it was finally repudiated in 1964.
The Jews were also restricted to certain occupations, which were tax collecting and money lending. Catholic beliefs of the era stated that lending money for interest was a sin, and thus was given for the Jews to do, in order to keep Christians out of this business. Jews dominated the money lending business, practicing usury and charging high interests. This made the Jews’ image become even worse, which was that they were greedy and insolent, and also worsened stereotypes of the Jews. There were always tensions between creditors, usually Jews, and debtors, usually Christians, resulting in worse relationships between Jews and Christians.
Moreover, the Jews were subject to a wide range of legal disabilities and restrictions. Other than being banned from many trades, the Jews were also made to live in concentrated ghettoes and were not allowed to own their own land. In addition, Jews were made to wear a yellow badge and many other different clothing which varied from place to place to signal that they were Jews. Furthermore, Jews were expelled from England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and some other countries.
Martin Luther, who inspired the Reformation, painted the Jews in a bad light in his book On the Jews and their lies, which describes the Jews in extremely harsh terms. Such descriptions can go as far as “we are at fault in not slaying them”, with “them” referring to the Jews. Since he was anti-Semitic and he had a great influence at that time, many people continued their anti-Semitic ways.
References:
http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/church/persecution/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Europe_(Middle_Ages)/
More questions to consider:
a. What were the religious prejudices held by people in Shakespeare’s times?
As mentioned, the Jews were seen as inferior to Christians during the Shakespeare’s times. The acts of discrimination the Christians did against the Jews were already mentioned above, and I would not repeat them again.
b. How are Antonio and Shylock stereotypical of Christians and Jews of those times respectively?
Antonio is stereotypical of Christians of those times because he displayed very extreme anti-Semitic views in how he treated Shylock. He spat on Shylock, kicked Shylock and called Shylock names in public. Such acts are not very unusual as the Jews were indeed discriminated against in the Elizabethan era. Therefore, Antonio can be seen as a stereotype since most, if not all, Christians would be doing similar acts. In addition, Antonio is a stereotype since he is portrayed to be the typical Venetian merchant who is just waiting for his ships to return. As seen, Antonio does share very similar characteristics of a typical Christian merchant of Shakespeare’s time.
Shylock is also a very typical example of a Jew. He is a moneylender in Venice, which is one of the two occupations the Jews are limited to, the other being tax-collecting. In addition, Shylock is just like any Jew as he is discriminated against by the Christian characters. Another characteristic is that he is very calculative, as seen by how even his revenge has to be quantified by a pound of flesh from Antonio. Also, he ran on the streets grieving on his loss of his ducats, showing his love for money. Moreover, Shylock is the antagonist of the play, depicting how they were seen to be villains in real life. Therefore, he is indeed stereotypical of Jews in the Elizabethan era.
c. Are there ways in which Antonio and Shylock are atypical of Christian and Jewish stereotypes of those times? If yes, discuss them.
Antonio does not seem very different from the stereotypes of Christian merchants.
However, Shylock is not entirely a Jewish stereotype. In The Merchant of Venice, a more human side of him is shown as well. His hatred for Antonio is all justified by how Antonio treated him in the past, and thus wants revenge by getting the pound of flesh from Antonio. This is unlike Barabas in The Jew of Malta by Shakespeare’s counterpart Christopher Marlowe. Barabas is painted as a totally villainous and malevolent character, totally devoid of feelings. However, Shylock does show feeling when his hatred for Antonio is shown, and his grief when Jessica left him and even sold Leah’s ring.
d. Do you think that Shakespeare racist?
I feel that Shakespeare was not racist. In my opinion, he painted Shylock to be the villain as that was the societal norm at that time. If he made Shylock the protagonist, this may make the public displeased with his play and stop supporting him.
In addition, he made Shylock lose everything after he lost at the court scene not because of racism, but rather for comedic effect. Since The Merchant of Venice was meant to be a comedy, the audience had to laugh, and one good way was to make the villain land into a terrible state.
Moreover, if Shakespeare was really racist, he would not have brought out the human side of Shylock, that all his hatred for Antonio was justified by how Antonio treated him in the past.
Some may bring up the examples of how Portia despised her suitors. However, again I believe that was purely for comedic effect and for the audience to have a good laugh, and not that Shakespeare really was racist.
Topic VI: Shakespeare's Theatre
i. In what sort of building were Shakespeare’s plays performed?
Shakespeare’s plays were performed in two different kinds of theatre buildings. They are termed public and private theatres.
Public theatres were much larger than privates one and could hold about 2500 people. Such theatres were built around a courtyard which had no roof in order for there to be light. Therefore, plays in public theatre were only performed during the day.
Private theatres were smaller in size and were roofed. Candlelight was used for night performances. Such theatres charged higher prices and aimed to attract the rich and the nobles
ii. How did the physical constraints of the theatre affect the language of Shakespeare’s plays?
Since the theatres were rather small and did not have curtains, there was thus no scenery at the back as a result. Therefore, the actors had to describe the scenery in the play itself.
iii. What sort of people acted in plays? What sort of people went to see them?
Only males acted in plays since women were banned from the stage. Therefore, the females were played by prepubescent boys since their voice are still as high pitched as females.
People of all walks of life went to see the plays. However, only the rich and the nobles could afford to watch in the private theatre.
iv. How was ‘the theatre’ viewed by society?
Actors were viewed as rogues and scoundrels by the rich and the nobles, although they were often seen in the theatres. The peasants, on the other hand, clamoured to watch actors perform in the plays. Moreover, actors were frequently invited to perform in courts, though there were some disapproval.
References:
http://tonyaanna.tripod.com/id5.html/
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/merchant/themes.html/ http://www.slideshare.net/johnyap11/shakespeares-theatre/
Shakespeare’s plays were performed in two different kinds of theatre buildings. They are termed public and private theatres.
Public theatres were much larger than privates one and could hold about 2500 people. Such theatres were built around a courtyard which had no roof in order for there to be light. Therefore, plays in public theatre were only performed during the day.
Private theatres were smaller in size and were roofed. Candlelight was used for night performances. Such theatres charged higher prices and aimed to attract the rich and the nobles
ii. How did the physical constraints of the theatre affect the language of Shakespeare’s plays?
Since the theatres were rather small and did not have curtains, there was thus no scenery at the back as a result. Therefore, the actors had to describe the scenery in the play itself.
iii. What sort of people acted in plays? What sort of people went to see them?
Only males acted in plays since women were banned from the stage. Therefore, the females were played by prepubescent boys since their voice are still as high pitched as females.
People of all walks of life went to see the plays. However, only the rich and the nobles could afford to watch in the private theatre.
iv. How was ‘the theatre’ viewed by society?
Actors were viewed as rogues and scoundrels by the rich and the nobles, although they were often seen in the theatres. The peasants, on the other hand, clamoured to watch actors perform in the plays. Moreover, actors were frequently invited to perform in courts, though there were some disapproval.
References:
http://tonyaanna.tripod.com/id5.html/
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/merchant/themes.html/ http://www.slideshare.net/johnyap11/shakespeares-theatre/
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