That Troublesome Jew Shylock and the Corruption of “The Merchant of Venice” By Aaron Botwick   In 1947, the actor and playwright Maurice Schwartz rather audaciously rewrote The Merchant of Venice. The result, Shylock and His Daughter, is a radically philosemitic text, one that throws out most of Shakespeare’s play and replaces it with a kind, Jewish moneylender surrounded by antisemitic, unforgiving Christians.[1] Comic villain had become comic hero. But only five years after 1942—a date that, like 70 CE […]

Categories: Article, Spring 2013 Issue • Tags: anti-Semitism, Holocaust, Shakespeare, theater