By Martin Surridge Liberty Magazine – July / August 2012 The climax of The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, is a court scene in which Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, is cunningly prevented from carving a pound of […]
“Do We Not Bleed?” Religion In Shakespeare’s Merchant Of Venice (Liberty Magazine) Read More »
By Lauren Peterson — While the number of topics in poetry is unlimited, poetry is commonly thought of as that which explores love and loss. When poetry is brought up, one may be quick to think of Shakespearean love sonnets
As their final assignment for the play, I had students respond to the question, “How would you feel if your religious freedom was taken away?” The responses varied, in both length and reaction. Nearly all of the teenagers in the class are self-described Christians, but their approach toward religion varies from conservative evangelical to tolerant progressives to near-agnostic. Their reactions to a potential scenario in which they were not allowed to practice religion freely ranged from the pragmatic to conformist to vigilant resistance.
