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.