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Four Images of Jews in Early Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Šárka Nováková Four Images of Jews in Early Modern English Drama Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Filip Krajník, Ph. D. 2017 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. .............................................................. Šárka Nováková I would like to thank everybody, who had to suffer from my outbursts of the variety of emotions I went through during writing of this thesis, for not killing me. Also, I would like to thank the Masaryk University for founding the CPS. Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1. Context .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Jews in England...................................................................................................... 3 1.2. Usury ...................................................................................................................... 4 2. Literary Analysis ........................................................................................................... 6 2.1. Gerontus in The Three Ladies of London ............................................................... 6 2.2. The Jew of Malta .................................................................................................. 10 2.2.1. Barabas .......................................................................................................... 11 2.2.2. Abigail ........................................................................................................... 19 2.3. The Merchant of Venice ....................................................................................... 22 2.3.1. Shylock .......................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2 Jessica ............................................................................................................. 26 2.4. The Jewes Tragedy ............................................................................................... 28 2.4.1. Ananias and Gorion ....................................................................................... 30 2.4.2. Joseph ............................................................................................................ 31 2.4.3. Eleazer ........................................................................................................... 31 2.4.4. Jehochanan, Simeon and Zareck ................................................................... 32 2.4.5. Miriam, a Jewish lady .................................................................................... 33 2.5. Physical Appearance of Jews in the Plays ........................................................... 35 2.6. Depiction of Jewishness and Christianity ............................................................ 37 2.5.1. The Jew of Malta ........................................................................................... 37 2.5.2. The Merchant of Venice ................................................................................. 39 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 42 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 45 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 49 Resumé ............................................................................................................................ 50 Introduction The main purpose of this thesis is to introduce the Jew as dramatic figure and confront it with the public perception of the time. Since their arrival to England, Jews have suffered from persecution, social isolation and overall contempt. They were always portrayed as aliens, never accepted as English citizens. Consequently, their appearance in literature or on stage aroused interest of Englishmen. Although Jews appeared in the English literature as early as the Middle English Period, the scandal in 1590s concerning Queen’s Jewish physician stirred up the public interest of this theme. It is no wonder then, that the two most famous English Renaissance playwrights, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, have turned to the Jewish theme for inspiration. The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice mostly depicting the Jews as villainous figures, plotting against the Christians, have shaped the public opinion. The this thesis, however, analyses two less known plays of the same period. The Three Ladies of London written by Robert Wilson almost a decade before Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, and The Jewes Tragedy written by William Heminge approximately thirty years after Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Nevertheless, it is generally acknowledged, that there were no Jews, openly professing their faith, in England in the early modern period. Therefore, the image of Jews was derived from the stories passing from generation to generation for several centuries and from narrations of travellers. Since the Jews could not profess any other trade than money- landing, they were closely associated with the banking business and usury. Indeed, this association is noticeable in three of the analysed plays. The thesis will briefly describe the history of Jews in England and the practice of usury. Then it shall proceed to the close analysis of each play individually, with special focus to 1 the Jewish characters. The characters are presented in the context of the play and mark their impact on the development of the plot. 2 1. Context 1.1. Jews in England The Jews do not seem to have lived in England before the Norman Conquest. They came to from the northwest France and almost from the outset had specialized in the banking business (Chazan 154). The Jews did not have many rights. Apart from the money- landing, the only trade they were allowed to profess, they were also perceived as nomadic people, who “have no land” (Adelman 19), therefore they were generally accepted as aliens. The money-lending, and the fact that the English Jews “belonged” (Chazan 154) from the beginning to the kings, alone caused the intense anti-Jewish hostility. The earliest record of a king, King Henry I, owing money to the wealthy Jewish businessmen, already portrayed Jews as benefiting from these royal obligations. Later, the monarchy used the Jewish lenders as an instrument of access to the money of the Christians, which only stirred up more population’s hostility towards them. In 1194, it was ordered by the government, that all Jewish loans have to be recorded for better control. The newly established officialdom could easily monitor and manipulate the business. Although the Jews were already allowed to live only in the parts of the towns specially established for them, often outside of the town walls, the Third and Fourth Lateran Council stipulated measures for even easier distinction of the Jews – a Jewish garb. Thus, they were immediately identifiable. After 1222, the royal authorities also limited the allowed contact between the Christians and Jews. In 1232, a home for the Jewish converts to Christianity, Domus conversum, was established and it remained for the rest of the thirteen century. 3 Kermode states that “the Statutum de Judeismo attempted to ban all Jewish usury” in 1275, and encouraged Jewish engaging in other trades, promising rights to property (16). On July 18, 1290, it was announced, that all Jews are expelled from England and must leave by the November 1. The reasons of the expulsion are still a subject matter of the argument among the historians. Consequently, the English Jews faced an uneasy decision between migration and conversion (Chazan 154-67; Kermode, Three Plays 16). Kermode observes, that many Jews have lived in England for several generations and thus “well settled” (Three Plays 17). Even though many Jews converted to Christianity, Berek suggests that they at least occasionally kept participating in Jewish worship (132). Nevertheless, they did not continue in their Jewish practices openly. Therefore, the dramatists of the following centuries had to create their characters on the basis of the Jewish figures “from narrative rather than experience” (Berek 128), in other words, they had to draw on the stereotypical image of a Medieval Jew. Kermode argues that, in practice, Jews began returning to England in small numbers from about 1540 (Three Plays 17). Although still forbidden to live in England, it is generally accepted that some, officially converted, Jews lived there during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (Mabon 413). One of them was a Portuguese Jew professing Christianity, Roderigo Lopez, who became a physician to Queen Elizabeth. About eight years later was accused of, and executed for, a high treason of planning to poison the Queen (Brown xxiii). 1.2. Usury Usury is lending money at interest, historically ascribed to the Jews. In order to fully understand following literary analysis of the early modern English plays, some terms need to be explained. One of them is “principal”, which in this context means a sum of money 4 lent by the usurer. “Interest” is the extra
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