Shylock and the Shoah: "The Merchant of Venice" on the Nazi-era and Postwar German Stage

I am finally done with this paper, and I am quite proud of it. That hasn't happened for some time.

I've posted it on Google Docs. Enjoy!

"Thou call'dst me a dog": Flexibility in the text

Small changes, big difference.
From Cracked.

I just went back and read through the original text again, and the thing that impressed me most was the flexibility of the text.

I've been looking up several interpretations of the text, most notably Anthony Heald's interpretation of the text, as well as (a summary of) the Nazi-edited script. In both cases, minor changes can drastically change the play.

In Which I Discover The Insufficiency Of My Sources

So, I sat down to write my paper, and realized that all the wonderful research I had wasn't actually all that helpful. I have four major sources: an article and a chapter from a book about Nazi Germany, the script to a 17th century German adaptation of the script with some attached commentary, and an article that gives a broad overview of many post-war productions. If I want to write a ten-page paper on this topic, I need to get more information.

Either way, I've managed to throw together three-and-a-half pages. This consists of an introduction, two pages about the Nazis, and one page of poorly-developed, poorly-supported ideas. Hit the jump to keep reading.

Shakespeare in Germany: David's Pitch Video

(Holy cow, I look like a bad bluescreen monster...)

Here's my "pitch" video for my paper. Making this video really helped me to articulate and refine my ideas, and now I think I have something like an introduction/thesis.

(also, the casual pose is due to layout constraints of my apartment. I considered finding a pipe and donning a suit jacket, but I thought that might have been a little much)

Helping David Out: The Merchant of Venice in Asia

I'm excited to have David be my paper-development partner, especially since there are so many avenues he could pursue in writing about The Merchant of Venice. Because the entry from David's bibliography I was most interested in was Maobingi, and because I've been watching a lot of anime recently (how did I not know about Fullmetal Alchemist before now?), I wanted to see what the Asian world was doing with Merchant.

David's Wonderfully Captivating Illustrated Annotated Bibliography

Working Thesis:

"Examining how Shylock has been adapted and appropriated by various cultures provides vital insights into the cultures themselves."

Social Graph

Shylock, the (not) Jew,
from the online video game Maobingi.
Source.

• Jonelle: my stepmom. She was an English major in college, and loves to hear me talk about my occasionally out-there ideas. She will be a good person to bounce my paper off of.

• Stephanie: an online friend of mine. She was the one that suggested I take a look at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of Merchant of Venice, and mentioned some specific production choices. Given her interest in the topic, I think she could be an excellent resource.

• Nyssa: from class. Nyssa and I have been interested in each other's projects almost since the beginning. Since we're classmates, I can get feedback about how well I'm fulfilling the requirements for the project.

"A Jew, who does not on this occasion conduct himself as a Gentile-man"

The sorting shelves, when I was through with 'em.
Creative Commons.

Today, I got lost in one of the library shelves. I think I might have had a breakthrough.

"Shylock the Jew, easily one of the most controversial characters in Shakespeare, has rankled and resonated with audiences throughout the centuries and across the globe. Examining how he has been adapted and appropriated by various cultures provides vital insights into the cultures themselves."

Keep reading for a better explanation of these ideas, as well as a description of my process.

Short-Ish Update

An excellent demonstration of my
time management skills this week.
Originally posted on Architorture School

This week has been a spectacularly bad week for me--I have a major test or project in every single one of my classes. I've managed to do a little work on this project, but not as much as I've wanted. This post is primarily to keep you appraised of my  progress, such as it is.

• I've been doing some research on different productions of The Merchant of Venice, and I found a paper about productions of Shakespeare in Nazi Germany. Fascinating stuff, but I felt like I needed a shower afterwards. Basically, the Nazis turned Shylock into either a comic stereotype, or an evil, destructive character. This was accomplished through variations in staging: for example, in one scene, two characters talk about Shylock's reaction to finding out his daughter has eloped and taken most of his fortune (he laments both the loss of his money and his daughter in equal measure); in at least one Nazi production, Shylock's lament was actually portrayed on stage. Other productions cut out his humanizing speech, and an "authorized" edition was eventually released by the Nazi's culture ministry.
• After reading about actor Anthony Heald for my last post, I looked around to see if I can find his contact information. Apparently, he's actually a big-time film star, so I wasn't able to find anything. However, he did a series of interviews about his portrayal of Shylock, which I found on youtube (which is almost as good, right?) He offered some fascinating insights, specifially:
• There was a trend in 19th-Century England(?) that cut Act V from the play, ending after Shylock is escorted off the stage, forced to convert to Christianity and give half his fortune to his mortal enemy. Heald claims that this portrayal shortchanges the play. I plan on doing some more research on this point, to see if I can verify this.
• Heald offered a new reading of the play, one which redeems Shylock even further, turning him from a villain into a sympathetic, betrayed character. This reading also makes his persecutors more sympathetic; Portia's finding of the loophole in his contract is an attempt to honorably allow him off the hook. I plan on re-reading the play with this interpretation in mind.
• I've been talking a bit with Nyssa about her project, offering her ideas and support. I don't know how helpful I've been, but I've been making an effort to follow her progress on both the blog and in-class. I also shared a fun little video that relates tangentially to her project: a student film called "Out of Sight."
• Even though I have only a few sources, I feel like I have a decent idea of the general "arc" of Shylock's various portrayals, at least in recent history. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where I can take it from here. In class, I plan on discussing my findings with others and searching for feedback, to see if there's something I can make out of all of this. 

See you all tomorrow!

"Thy friendship makes [my topic] fresh": Initial Social Successes

Anthony Heald, himself a Jewish convert,
playing Shylock the Jew.
Posted on Shakespeare Is.

(Title taken from 1 Henry VI, 3.3.87)

"Shylock the Jew (from Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice') is, like Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom, often viewed as a two-dimensional racist stereotype. Shylock himself, however, is a much more complex character, allowing for some freedom of interpretation: is he truly a 'dog jew,' or is he 'like [us] in the rest?' (2.8.14, 3.1.67) Understanding how Shylock has been interpreted throughout history and across different cultures gives us a window into ideas about race and racism have changed through the centuries."

I posted the above as my "tweethis" in a couple different places. I, of course, posted this on Facebook, as well as the forums for a club I belong to (expanding my circle of friends). I only posted it a few hours ago, so I haven't gotten a tremendous amount of feedback yet. What I have gotten, though, has been very valuable.

Hitting a wall.

My research process.
Originally posted on architortureschool.tumblr.com

I've run into a bit of a wall, guys. I have several different topic ideas, but none of them really seem viable.

I've pretty much decided that I want to talk about Shylock from The Merchant of Venice. He's a surprisingly complex villain: he's definitely not a good person, but this is due, in large part, to circumstances, and, depending on who you talk to, is a very sympathetic character.

Here's the TL;DR version of my topics--please read further for an exploration of ideas.

-Viewing Shylock the Jew in terms of racism

-Viewing Shylock the Jew as a deconstruction of the Jewish-Christian power relationship

-Yes, Shylock is a deconstruction; why did Shakespeare write him this way?

-Comparing/Contrasting Shylock with other instances of prejudice, for example, Othello

-Shylock as he is viewed across time and space, and how this relates to the character

Feedback and/or ideas would be appreciated. Topics expanded on after the break. 

Yes and No

Yes, I have reviewed my own writing. No, I haven't found a topic that interests me.

Admittedly, I've had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with DD posts, but the topics I've written on don't seem like a very good basis for an argumentative paper.

My posts are primarily about the historical significance of the plays (which doesn't really leave much to argue), or about the significance of small changes in the film/stage productions (which is much too broad).

Perhaps I could tweak this approach bit--in one of my posts, I wrote about Henry V as a propaganda tool--but that still doesn't seem like a very strong topic.

One topic I was really looking forward to was examining the character Shylock the Jew from The Merchant of Venice. His portrayal is, to say the least, complex: although he's very stereotypically Jewish, and not a very nice person overall, he (at least once, possibly twice) gives a very eloquent, emotional speech about how Jews are just the same as other people ("If you prick us, do we not bleed?"). However, scanning the blog, it appears that that's the ONLY thing people write about in regards to this play--or at least, it's common enough to make it difficult to write on.

Hm. I shall have to think on this.

The Merchant of Venice: Rasicm, not Racist

The Merchant of Venice, Finally

For publication, I intend to submit my paper to a few different journals just to increase my chances and explore the options out there.
The Valley Review
For this one I will have to change the paper to Chicago style, which shouldn't be too difficult, and I need to increase the length by just a hundred words or so. I will be going back into my original outline to see if there is anything I feel I can incorporate back into my argument to increase the length by just a little. Submissions due Dec 15.
Philologia
For this one I will have to do minor format changes, like make the citations footnote, as well as write a 200 word abstract and cover letter. This one doesn't accept submissions again for a year I think, so I will put it on the back burner, and possibly just consider it for future papers.
Criterion
For this one, too, I will increase the length ever so slightly. I won't have to change much else. My paper relates a tiny bit to the special topic for the upcoming issue. It probably doesn't really fit into the category directly, but it would be related, which I think is cool and would be interesting. Submissions due Jan 18.
Agora
This one doesn't really require much change for my paper. It is supposed to be about great books, so talking about a famous Shakespeare play is very appropriate. Submissions for next issue are due Dec 15.

And, finally, here is the finished product.
The Merchant of Venice as a Non-Racist Text

After reviewing past issues of each of these journals, I am considering writing a more interesting title for some submissions.

Publishing and improvements on Merchant

From the beginning I've been told that I need to spend a little more time in the actual text to make sure my argument is well-grounded in proofs from the actual play. In order to better fulfill that requirement, I've gone through my outline and either removed or edited every main point that I felt could not be sufficiently supported by direct evidence in the text. While doing this I found some new proofs that supported my argument in new ways, but I did have to get rid of some things that I realized were pretty subjective in my argument.
Another improvement I have made is actually including some of the social proofs in the paper itself. Before this, I've just been using the material I've found as idea starters or personal encouragement or things like that, but now I'm planning on including in the paper quotes from a former high school Shakespeare teacher of mine, and an email response from the director of last year's BYU "family" production of Merchant. My former teacher shared her opinion on the racism in the text, how it teaches lessons appropriate for high school classrooms, and she even shared some tips on how she teaches it.

As far as publishing, some realistic options for publication are in the BYU English Symposium or the Criterion. There is also this blog which is accepting guest posts right now actually.
Another thought I have had is the NCTE journals, like the English Education one, or probably just the English Journal.

Merchant Video and Outline

Some realistic options for publication are in the BYU English Symposium or the Centurion. There is also this blog (http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/guest-blog-post/) which is accepting guest posts right now actually.

I've changed my argument a fair amount, so here's the new deal. Just read the bold parts and you've got my argument. Sorry this is so long. I don't have the patience to make a short version right now :]

Responses to Tweethis and ROUGH

Well posting my tweethis on facebook was extremely helpful. A former classmate mentioned some ideas that expanded my view on the whole question I am addressing and provided new avenues for application both within and without the play. My thesis revolves around something of a moral question actually so I got a lot of personal responses to that question that weren't really particularly helpful since they didn't relate to the applications in the text, but they did make me think, and there might be new perspectives which will help me adjust the way I look at the play. My mom actually posted a link to a talk by President Monson which related to that moral question. I've added it to the list of articles I am still planning on reading, so it may come in handy, but we'll see. Overall, I'd say this was not only helpful but definitely encouraging. Success.

And here is my current draft of the real deal. It's mostly introductory material and the beginnings of my proof. (Also, do you think it would be better and more specific if I turned this into a reading of Shylock rather than a reading of the whole play?)

The reason I did not post this earlier is because about a third of the way writing through my first draft I decided to change the focus of my essay radically. And then, of course, there were the polls to stare at...If you've seen my previous theses and thoughts, you can see that although I'm still working within the same theme, my actual argument is fairly new here. I'm still working on weeding it to get rid of the stuff from before that is less applicable now. Bolded portions are main points, so you can scan this and still get a pretty good idea of the content: