Shylock -- Victim or Scoundrel?
April/05/2018 17:28 Merchant of Venice | Shakespeare | Interpretation | Shakespeare's Relevance | Anti Semitism | Stephen Greenblatt | Scholarship | Stars Playing Shakespeare
The classic "gotcha" Shakespeare question: "What is the Merchant of Venice's name?" — not, as many think, Shylock, but Antonio, which in itself indicates how Shylock has dominated our imagination about the meaning and nature of the play. But, as this interview with Howard Jacobson (talking here in 2016 about his book Shylock Is My Name) reveals, what we think about the play — and Shylock — is extremely hard to pin down. Which reveals, yet again, the genius of Shakespeare…