Shylock Is a Jew in a Predominantly Christian Society Essay Example for Free

Shylock Is a Jew in a Predominantly Christian Society Essay Question: ‘Shylock is a Jew in a predominantly Christian society just as Othello is†¦living in a predominantly white society. But unlike Othello, Shylock rejects the Christian community as firmly as it rejects him.’ (W.H. Auden, ‘The Dyer’s Hand’, 1963. Quoted in ‘Shakespeare’s Comedies’, edited by Lerner, Penguin 1967.) In light of the above quotation, compare and contrast Shakespeare’s presentation of prejudice, considering how audiences of different periods might react to it. (2000 words) Shylock’s presentation of prejudice has been received in immeasurably different ways by audiences of different generations, and the portrayal of the attitudes of Shylock and Othello towards their intolerant societies are ones that still arguably offer a valuable view towards prejudice in our present-day societies. ‘Shylock is a Jew’. Four words from the above quotation which arguably encapsulate the main running theme throughout the whole of The Merchant of Venice. From a Venetian viewpoint, Shylock is a Jew; therefore he is different; therefore we will exclude him. Shakespeare shows this through many different examples, from the racist views expressed by ‘good Antonio’, to the expressions used by the high courts of Venice; the Christian community expressing a certain divide and prejudice towards Shylock and the Jewish minority. This ‘rejection’ of the Jews is notably explored in the views expressed by Antonio early on in the play, when the loan of ‘three thousand ducats’ is negotiated. Bassanio attempts to convince Shylock through kind words and offers of dinner- the ‘Christian’ way of kindness; possibly the only instance of kindness offered to Shylock throughout the entire play. However, as soon as Antonio enters, the tone chan ges; Shylock goes from being referred to as ‘sir’ by Bassanio to ‘The devil’ by Antonio. Antonio would ‘spit on thee again’, and this particular example highlights that, despite the fact Antonio is attempting to receive a loan from Shylock, prejudice is still inherent in his every word and action. The Christian community ‘rejects’ Shylock, no matter what he may do of benefit to them; and, as a result, is rejected in like. The harsh treatment Shylock receives (such as curfew and a barrage of cuss-words) is reflected in the way that he ‘rejects the Christian community as firmly as it rejects him’; for example, when offered dinner, Shylock launches into an expletive, hate-fuelled speech about Christianity, claiming that pork is ‘the habitation which your prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into’, and firmly stating that he ‘will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you’. Shylock is rejecting the Christian community with every moral fibre in his body, and seems to only take the bond of Antonio to hold some kind of leverage above him, namely the term of ‘the forfeit/ Be nominated for an equal pound/ Of your fair flesh’; a foolishly agreed term that is taken full advantage of. Shylock is treated harshly, and as a result takes full advantage of the fact that legally he can kill Antonio; thus rejecting the Christian community. Othello, however, is the polar opposite of Shylock’s ‘stand-alone’ attitude; though being the outsider ‘in a predominantly white society’, he attempts to fit in, and be loved by the aristocratic Venetians. Shakespeare presents the prejudice inherent in Venetian society in a slightly different way; though Shylock and Othello both are used by the ‘majorities’, and thrown out when not needed, Shakespeare presents a play that explores the prejudice through a different angle. Othello is the war-hardy soldier needed by the whole of Venetian society to fight the Turkish aggressors, who angers Venetian society by taking a white woman; Shylock is a Jew whose possessions are needed by Antonio alone, who angers Venetian society by daring to claim what is rightfully his. In Othello the audience receives an impression that, though Iago is manoeuvring everybody towards his own aims, Othello is clearly in the wrong when murdering his wife; therefore he is rejected by the ‘society’, and this is morally ‘right’. In The Merchant of Venice the audience feels that, actually, Shylock is morally wronged by the Christians; and this rejection by society leaves a bitter taste. An audience in Elizabethan times would have been left with (in both plays) a feeling of discontentment in the treatment of the two key characters; despite the obvious inherent prejudice in society at this time towards ‘moors’ and Jews, Shakespeare’s manipulations of stereotypes in his works (e.g. the ‘kind’, Christian Antonio is an oppressive character who almost gets his comeuppance) were aimed to alter (or at least make the audience question) their views on minorities. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock can easily be seen as a plea for tolerance towards the Jewish community in England at the time. For example, Shylock’s famous ‘If you prick us, do we not bleed?’ speech is designed to throw a human perspective on the matter; that the ‘Jews’- peoples that have been so discriminated against that any racism against Jews has its own nametag are human too. Shylock’s most memorable speech is a cry for humanity and equality, which has resounded down the ages. As Alexander Granach (a German actor who portrayed Shylock in the 1920s) in his autobiography ‘From the Shtetl to the Stage: The Odyssey of a Wandering Actor’ writes; Shakespeare ‘gave Shylock human greatness and spiritual strength and a great lonelinessthings that turn Antonios gay, singing, sponging, money-borrowing, girl-stealing, marriage-contriving circle into petty idlers and sneak thieves.’ This will undoubtedly have had a slight effect on the audience, showing them that the supposed ‘villain’ of the piece is simply following a twisted, u nmerciful version of the ‘Golden Rule’, an ethic of reciprocity that is cited in Christianity; ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. In this play, Shylock is indeed doing ‘unto others’ how they do unto him. Shylock’s actions, instead of being a stereotypical cruel, vengeful Jew who only cares about his ‘diamond gone (that) cost me two thousand ducats’, are transformed by Shakespeare into an often-misinterpreted statement about the hypocrisy inherent in both society and religion at this time. Shakespeare’s magic lies in the fact that he managed to change two persecuted minorities, who prior to being dramatically personified by Shakespeare had been held up in plays as mockeries of creatures, to human beings with the emotional capacity to feel love and hate. Othello is no longer a ‘black ram’ held up by Iago as crudely ‘topping (the) white ewe’, he has become a symbol of the outsider used for other’s purposes. In Othello’s doing of ‘ta’en’ of Desdemona, he turns Venetian society against him, and is only needed for the purposes of defeating the Ottomans. 300 years on, and this example is still relevant; Paul Robinson, a black actor who went on to portray Othello on Broadway in 1943, drew comparisons between Othello’s situation and the situation of a coloured man in America in the 1930s; ‘while (Othello) could be valuable as a fighter he was tolerated, just as a negro who could save New York from a disaster would become a great man overnight†¦however, as soon as Othello wanted a white woman†¦everything was changed, just as New York would be indignant if their coloured man married a white woman’. In this way, Shakespeare’s portrayal of minorities is relevant for all societies where ethnical persecution takes place, no matter what the time period. However, Shakespeare’s underlying meaning of equality has been twisted. David H. Lawrence famously quoted ‘Never trust the artist, trust the tale’; and indeed, this ha what happened with Shakespeare’s intentions for Shylock and the grim reality. For example, the character of Shylock was used in anti-semetic propaganda by Hitler in Nazi Germany to promote the scapegoating of the Jews; Shylock is held up by a local newspaper in Konigsberg, Germany in 1935 as ‘cowardly and malicious’ when ‘properly understood’, a line that undermines both the intelligence and self-esteem of local people upon reading (in that they did not read enough into the play), and the true meaning of The Merchant of Venice. Upon saying that the deeper meaning is that Shylock is cowardly and malicious, they are mistaking the shallow, surface meaning for a deeper one. As Harold Bloom commented in 1999, ‘It would have been better for the Jewish people had Shak espeare never written this play’; here, Bloom is obviously commenting on the fact that people only took away the shallow meaning, not the deeper, politically-charged (for the times) meaning that Shakespeare is attempting to convey. In a manner seemingly parallel to that of Nazi Germany, Shakespeare’s messages are being sorely misunderstood even nowadays. Shakespeare and his plays (in present-day, less inherently racist society) are being taken away from younger generations, such as in British schools whose teaching is becoming impeded by the P.C nature of today’s ‘Big Society’. Texts and plays key to British education (such as ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘Othello’) are being considered to blatent in their language (eg. ‘whore’, ‘moor’) to be studied at an age of 15/16; in an age when arguably the anti-racist messages of Shakespeare need to be implemented. In this way, whilst previous generations of audiences may have held up Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ and ‘Merchant of Venice’ as examples of injustice and hypocrisy, today’s audiences are holding them up as too blatent in their use of ‘inappropriate language’. Shakespeare’s messages of equality are, once again, being misunderstood; especially if people do not understand the messages that ‘the Great Bard’ is attempting to convey. For example, in 2008, nine students at the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School (a Jewish comprehensive school) in Hackney in East London refused to sit an exam on ‘The Tempest’ purely because they felt that Shakespeare was anti-semetic owing to his severely-misunderstood portrayal of Shylock. Othello has also often been held up and received down the centuries as purely a negative stereotype; even as recently as 2008. Robert Fisk writes in ‘The Guardian’ that ‘Othello was a Moor, a black Muslim, a mercenary (in the service of Venice) – and a wife killer’. One can assume that this is how he would have been viewed in most predominantly-white countries up until the fall of racism and the increase of diversity; thus missing the fact that Iago is both the catalyst and trouble-starter. The mannerisms and attitudes of the characters provide a key insight into the prejudices inherent in society, through both the actions and thought-processes provided by Shakespeare. For example, Othello almost unconsciously uses racist terms to describe himself, providing a derogatory edge to his words. This is shown best in the soliloquys given to Othello, especially when he doubts the good nature of Desdemona; he feels that his ‘name, that was as fresh As Dians visage, is now begrimed and black, As mine own face’, i.e. that his previously good nature is now smeared. However, Othello associates his own face as ‘begrimed and black’, in that he sees his very self as something dirty- and that white (i.e. ‘Dian’s visage’, a marble-white Greek goddess) as something good, clean, and pure. Othello appears to have internalised the racist ideologies preached by Venetians such as Brabantio, and this especially comes to heed in the murder of Desdem ona. Seeds planted by Iago act as a catalyst to the problem put in the open by Brabantio at the start of the play; that Desdemona would never ‘Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom Of such a thing as thou’. This, ultimately, is something that the entire play relies on; this comment, made in the heat of the moment by Brabantio, ultimately delivers death unto his daughter. Othello begins to doubt Desdemona’s love and honour due to the fact that he has internalised such racist opinions as ‘blacks and whites should not mix’, and is driven crazy by this. As already mentioned, Robert Fisk spoke of the ways in which Othello would have been viewed; not as somebody noble, but as somebody ‘different’, and (though many in the Elizabethan audience may have been able to sympathise with the beating of Desdemona) a ‘wife killer’; and indeed, this is a way in which some still see him today. Shakespeare, just like Othello and Shylock, lived in a predominantly white and Christian society, and recognised the prejudices inherent in English society; indeed, his plays reflected society. However, as Chung-hsuan Tung wrote, ‘Shakespeare recognizes the existence of racial differences but he is not a racist. Shakespeare is†¦an impartial, humanitarian dramatist preaching interracial liberty, equality, and fraternity.’ Bibliography Alexander Granach ‘From the Shtetl to the Stage: The Odyssey of a Wandering Actor’ Paul Robinson – ‘My Fight for Fame; How Shakespeare Paved My Way to Stardom’ The Merchant of Venice, Edited by John Russell Brown, ‘the Arden Shakespeare’, 2007 Othello, edited by E.A.J. Honigman, ‘the Arden Shakespeare’, 1997 John Gross – ‘Shylock: A legend and its Legacy’ Robert Fisk – ‘Offended by Shakespeare? Let’s ban him.’ Guardian, 8th March 2008. Harold Bloom ‘It would have been better for the Jewish people had Shakespeare never written this play’, 1999. Chung hsuan-Tung – ‘The Jew and the Moor: Shakespeare’s Racial Vision’, 2008

Wilsons 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles :: World War I History

Wilson's 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles When the peace processes were to start after the finishing of World War One, there were four people who were major components in the treaty of Paris: Clemenceau, George, Orlando, and Wilson. Clemenceau wanted revenge on the German's by punishing them through the treaties because he believed that they were at fault for the war; George was in agreement with Clemenceau although he did not feel that Germany should suffer severe punishment; Orlando who wanted the irredenta to be re-established; and President Wilson of the United States of America wanted to create a mild peace with Germany in a fair way. In view of this, Wilson created fourteen points that he wanted accomplished in full as a result of the peace treaties. His fourteen points were his plan for a world peace and included plans for the end of secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, the just settlement of colonial claims, the establishment of a League of Nations, and the evacuation of occupied territor ies and national self-determination. Many of his points were carried out in the Treaty of Versailles, although not all of them were successful or followed completely. Wilson's fourth point in his plan was the reduction of national armaments. He stated that there should be "adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments [would] be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety." In the Treaty of Versailles, it was stated that the German army was to be limited to 100,000 and that Germany was not allowed to draft its citizens or to have an air force. Also, Germany was no longer allowed to operate submarines because of the unrestricted submarine warfare that they had displayed during the war, and their naval ships were limited in size and in the amount that they were permitted to own. Furthermore, the Rhineland was to be permanently disarmed and occupied by the Allies for fifteen years to ensure that there would be no attacks against France that might start another war. In addition to this, it was stated that Germany would never be allowed to unite with Austria because they would form an incredibly strong fighting force. This resulted in much complaining by the Germans on the account that they believed they were being left without a military force significant enough to protect themselves. Also, the treaty did not require any of the other countries to perform even the slightest demilitarization.

Political Decentralization and the Local Government System

The final tier of elected government is the district (Gila) council. The district council insisted of all the (directly elected) union council Nazism in the district. The head of district council, the district Nazism and district naif-Nazism are indirectly elected. Another aspect of representation in Devolution Plan is the creation of Citizen Community Boards (CBS) in both rural and urban areas. The CBS were expected to initiate and manage their own development projects, with 25 percent of the district development funds set aside for their use.They are Voluntary organizations' formed by citizens themselves. Source: (Schema, Jaws, & Qatar, 2005) 3. 3 Characteristics of Current Local Government System . Restructuring of Government Pakistan. † (Abaft & Hussy, 2010). Schema, 2005 discussed that the elected government and provincial administration have been integrated at the district and Thesis levels, the division abolished altogether and the local level provincial administration h as been made accountable to elected officials at the local level.Moreover, majority of public services that were previously under the provincial government have been transferred to local government increasing their scope and responsibilities. B. Provincial to Local Decentralization with No Federal Decentralization The other side of he picture is, all the authority and power which have been distributed in local governments came from provincial government, no power transferred from federal government to either provincial or local governments. C.Integration of Rural and Urban In pre-devolution period, there was a sharp distinction between rural and urban governments. But in post-devolution, it is no longer there as the administrative unit is union council which includes several towns and villages. D. Electoral Process Prior to devolution, members of urban local councils and district councils were directly elected and then they elected their heads of respective councils. Under the devol ution, both the members and heads of the lowest level of government, the union council, are elected through public vote as before.But the new legislation has created inter-governmental linkages by ensuring that the majority (two-thirds) of the members of the Thesis and district councils are these elected heads. However, within the devolved departments, â€Å"not all functions were devolved and certain activities remain within the provincial purvey. † (Schema, Jaws, & Qatar, 2005). A closer look at these changes and differences has been provided below. 3. 4 Changes under Political Decentralization Schema (2005) discussed in detail the changes brought in by devolution of power plan.These are the changes in level of decision making, administration, accountability and fiscal resources available. While this paper only covers changes in level of decision making and accountability of representative governments as focusing on political decentralization. A. Change in Decision Making L evel Before devolution, provincial government was more powerful and took all the decisions. But devolution plan distributed this power of decision making among local elected governments. For example, a service may have been under purvey of rabbinical elected government but after devolution it is transferred to local elected government.One thing to be noted is that this involves change in level of decision level of decision making power can be different depending upon the scale of service. Schema (2005) described the level changes in many different categories as under: a. Province to province b. Province to district c. Province to Thesis/Town d. Urban/ Rural Local Council to Thesis e. Urban/ Rural Local Council to District b. Change in Accountability Devolution also changed the decision maker's accountability keeping the decision making power on the same level.These are the changes where decision of a particular service is now made by the agent who differs in his accountability to pu blic. Prior to devolution, provincial bureaucracy was accountable to their non- elected provincial secretariat, while under the new system they are accountable to the elected heads of district and Thesis governments. For example, decision of some service might be taken at district level by bureaucrats before devolution, while decision are still made on the district level but by the elected district representative. So accountability of that service is now closer to the voters who elected their preventatives.The most significant accountability change is that the De facto head of district administration under the previous system, the deputy commissioner (DC), used to report to the non-elected provincial bureaucracy, whereas in the present system the head of the district administration, the District Coordination Officer (DOC) reports to the elected district Nazism. Schema 2005 summarized the discussion stating â€Å"the ultimate decision maker changed from a provincial government distr ict officer who reported to the provincial bureaucracy, to an elected Nazism who ultimately is answerable to his district's constituents. 3. 5 Analysis Critics on Current Local Government System and POLO 2001 Devolution plan is a revolutionary step in the history of decentralization in Pakistan but the structure of system of representation created a number of problems also (Abaft & Hussy, 2010). Direct election in a particular constituency limited the attention of union Nazism to union specific development schemes and they did not pay attention to their role as Thesis and District council members.This resulted in holistic and fragmented union council level projects rather than district or Thesis bevel. The structure of the electoral system also caused reverse campaigning; instead of directly elected union councilors campaigning for elections, there are cases of union Nazism campaigning for their respective union councilors. This secures the future re-election of union Nazism if the union councilor of his choice gets elected as Nazism are to be selected later indirectly (Hessian, 2008).Since political parties had been bypassed and caste-based candidates were now pitted against each other, the elections reinforced traditional hostilities at the local level. To a large extent, â€Å"such a yester of patronage and hostility defeated the opportunities for rural areas to participate in decision making and to demand better services from the state† (Abaft & Hussy, 2010). Another major problem with the system of representation that was promulgated through the Devolution plan was the lack of checks and balances between and across elected bodies.The accountability of district Nazism is almost council headed by naif-Nazism rarely goes counter to Nazism. The most important issue facing elected bodies was the clash of interests with representative provincial governments. The Devolution plan of 2000 had been prepared without consultation with stakeholders particularly provinces, at the time national and provincial assemblies had been dissolved. When these assemblies were revived, local tier had been added according to devolution plan.On that time there was no political ownership of newly created local governments which led provincial governments to interfere in both policy making and implementation at the district level (Abaft & Hussy, 2010). Citizen Community Boards (CBS) were a great way for the representation in local government, but they became functional to a certain degree, to quite in the way envisioned in the Devolution plan. Usually â€Å"CBS have become splinter groups lobbying for small investment projects and often captured by local elites or contractors looking for project funding† (Abaft & Hussy, 2010) 4.To characterize decentralization in the country â€Å"all these components (political, fiscal and administrative) must complement each other to produce more responsive local governments that will deliver effective, efficien t and sustainable services and maintain fiscal discipline† (Never, 2001). Never provided a set of questions for each component of decentralization in order to assess the level of decentralization. Considering the scope to this paper only political decentralization is being assessed in context of Pakistan using the indicators given by Never.With the descriptive answers, every situation has been given marks out of 10 ('10' is best/strong yes while ‘O' is worst/strong No) in relevance to the description. 1 . Are governments elected? Yes generally governments are elected as long as military take over and dissolved in the ill situation of law and order and bad governance. 10) 2. Are there multi-party elections? Yes elections are multi-party; there are a number of small medium and large, old and new political parties which participate in general elections. (10) 3. Are ballots cast secretly in government elections?According to constitution, ballots are and should be cast secret ly in all the areas. Exception prevails at some electoral stations which are under a high influence of some political parties but such areas are very few in number. (08) 4. Are elections held at regular intervals? 2008-13 is the first time in history of Pakistan when elected National government employed its 5-years tenure and elections were held after exact five years that is in May 2013. Before this, military has been taking over in the situation of bad governance and ill law and order. (03) 5.Are elections free and fair? There has been a big question mark on the fairness of elections as there are a few old political parties which have been controlling the country politics for a long time. Moreover, every party has its area of influence in which it can use its power and influence people and sometimes elections also. (05) 6. Is the head of local government elected directly, indirectly or appointed? According to electoral process defined by the Devolution plan which has been discusse d earlier, head of local at keeping a check on local corruption?In real practice, civil society has no power to keep check and balance on local elected representatives. They are Just elected locally but they are not in control of or accountable to the general public as envisioned in the Devolution Plan. (00) 5. The Devolution of Power Plan which has been promulgated through Local Government Ordinance 2001 is a revolutionary step in the history of decentralization in Pakistan. Mustard introduced a number of reforms which helped in reducing the AP between state and civil society.All the powers distributed to the newly created lower tiers came through provincial government without distributing the powers of federal government. Provincial governments which used to be very powerful tier become less authoritative as local tiers were directly connected with the center. Initially local governments were given constitutional protection of six years against any kind of amendments but later som e political powers, which got affected by the direct linkage of local government with center, made amendments to recover some of the lost powers.The reverse campaigning because of structure of government affects fairness of electoral process as Nazism campaigns for their own union councilors to secure their future elections rather than union councilors campaigning for the elections. This promotes sense of self benefits among the union councilors and the interests of community are ignored. Though the Devolution plan transferred powers to local tiers and empowered local communities at very bottom level but still there are some issues which hinder the efficiency of plan and limited the benefits to the citizens of Pakistan.The assessment of political decentralization in Pakistan on the basis of Never indicators shows that political system is well decentralized at least on the policy documents but in real practice issues of transparency and accountability exist. There are still some gaps in the real practice as civil society is still lacking the actual power to keep checks and balances on the representatives. 6. RECOMMENDATIONS All the powers and authority distributed at local level has been taken from province while center keeps all the authority and decision making power as it is including sisal authorities.There should be distribution of powers of center as well in order to develop a balance between center-province and province-district relation. In real practice, plan has not work up to the mark because of absence of transparency in the system particularly in financial matters. There should be complete transparent system which allows common public to look into the country's on-going matters. Voters should have power to keep check and balance on the decisions made by their representatives as they are the one who elected them through electoral process.

There Is No I in Government George Orwell´s 1984 Novel

There is No I in Government George Washington once said, â€Å"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.† With the ability to change society in vast directions, government is the controlling power of its people. Its power to control our nation’s economy and law are something to be feared. However, there are always more numbers in society than in government. Society is limitless, broad, and expanding. Government is small, limited, and finite. For this reason, the general population should hold no fear in guiding the government in its choices. 1984 written by George Orwell and V for Vendetta directed by James†¦show more content†¦For example, the head of the Mouth manipulates the newscast to report that V’s terrorism upon the Old Bailey is a planned demolition, to reduce the spread of revolution. However, contrasts still remain even within these blunt comparisons. In 1984, the Inner Party does not limit itself to watch every single move of residents. Cameras are installed in every location, even in houses, to make sure citizens do not revolt. In contrast, the government in V for Vendetta is more permissive on its surveillance. The Norsefire party does not set up cameras in the houses of citizens, but there are still cameras in public properties. Furthermore, the police forces act on a different level in 1984 and V for Vendetta. The Finger’s secret police tried to abuse their power by attempting to rape and possibly kill a lonely woman who was straying at night during the story. Conversely, the Thought Police show no such vulgar act as they are devoted to the Inner Party. Incidentally, Big Brother is a mysterious figure whose true nature is unknown to the reader. It is not shown if Big Brother is merely a fabricated idea or a tangible human being. In contrast, Adam Sutler is a real person as shown, which allowed him to be shot in the head during the final scenes of V for Vendetta. Most importantly, while the Norsefire Party and the Inner Party are representations of totalitarian commands, the government in V for Vendetta is incapable of constraining radical beliefs before they spark. SinceShow MoreRelated1984 Argument1249 Words   |  5 PagesGeorge Orwell’s book 1984 is a very interesting novel. The novel is set up in Airstrip One. In George Orwell’s book 1984 it has many situations. One of the many situations are that some people refer society as â€Å"Orwellian.† What does Orwellian mean? Orwellian means, of or related to the works of George Orwell ( especially his picture of his future totalitarian state.) People believe that Orwell is realistic and say his work part of our society now. 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