Saw Merchant of Venice last night SPOILERS....that is if there CAN BE

[ikojo]

spoilers on a play that's hundreds of years old...but I digress....

I have never read the play and knew of it only because of the character Shylock. I really enjoyed it. Knowing a bit of history helps when seeing this movie/play. There was a crawl before the movie began that explained that Jews were forbidden to own land and thus were pushed into being moneylenders.

I felt so sorry for Shylock at the end...forced to give up his Judaism....in the middle ages a Jew did not fare well in any disputation with a "Christian."

[donco6]

1. Reset it in modern times

Jews were certainly not sympathetic characters back in Shakespeare's day. Not saying they should/shouldn't have been - just stating the facts. Wonder what people would think if the Shylock role was recast with Ken Lay?

[ikojo]

2. Seeing the movie I could totally understand why Shylock did

not want to allow Antonio to repay the loan. His heart was absolutely broken at losing his daughter Jessica. I saw Shylock as feeling as if HIS heart had been ripped from him when he lost his daughter so he was going to make Antonio feel his same pain. Also, Antonio and his kind were none to kind to Shylock and the Jews yet they expected Shylock to willingly be there for them when they needed something.


I felt sorry for Shylock

Al Pacino did an excellent job