In a fine “New Yorker” article, Shakespearean Stephen Greenblatt argues that Shakespeare was incapable to showing anything less than the full humanity of his characters, even the villains. He thereby liberates us from our “mental ghettos.”
Tag Archives: Merchant of Venice
Lit Frees Us from Our Mental Ghettos
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged anti-Semitism, cultural heritage, Humanities, Romeo and Juliet, T. S. Eliot, William Shakespeare Comments closed
The Ugliness of Racial Resentment
“The Merchant of Venice” is a story of resentment and thus is only too relevant in today’s political landscape of inflamed passion. Those who have been victimized–or who feel that they have been victimized–are only too ready to stick it to others when they are in power.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged anti-Semitism, Donald Trump, resentment, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Shakespeare Understood Trumpism
According to Adam Gopnik, Shakespeare would have understood the rise of Donald Trump better than we do today. Whereas we see him as a historical oddity, Shakespeare would have seen him as the kind of evil that has always resided within humankind.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Adam Gopnik, As You Like It, Donald Trump, Hamlet, Henry V, Hillary Clinton, King Lear, Macbeth, Richard III, Tempest, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare Comments closed
In Defense of The Merchant of Venice
Percy Shelley believes that great art transcends the prejudices of its time, even when it is cloaked in them. If he is right, then “Merchant of Venice” is less of a problem play than many people consider it.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged anti-Semitism, Defence of Poetry, Othello, Percy Shelley, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare Comments closed
The Bard Could Improve Lawyer Behavior
A judge makes his case about how Shakespeare can improve lawyer professionalism.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged courts of law, Hamlet, Henry VI Part II, judges, King Lear, lawyers, Macbeth, Othello, Richard II, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Shakespeare in the Courtroom
A Georgia judge is guided by Shakespeare and sometimes cites the Bard in his rulings.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged courtroom, judges, Justice, King Lear, lawyers, Richard II, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Shakespeare Was Mandela’s Lifeline
A copy of Shakespeare’s works that circulated through apartheid-era prisons shows the Bard providing solace for the prisoners.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Antigone, Henry V, Nelson Mandela, Shakespeare in the prisons, Sophocles, Tempest, William Shakespeare Comments closed