The Role of Scripture in The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice By Rebecca Seidman
Comments(3) Upon reading both The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice something which stood out to me was the employment of proverbs/scripture and when/how they were used by the different characters.
In the Jew of Malta, (I.II) Barabas expresses his knowledge of the scripture and how Ferneze has deliberately manipulated scripture to justify his actions.
“Bring you scripture to confirm your wrongs? Preach me not out of my possessions. Some Jews are wicked, as all Christians are. But say the tribe that I descended of were all in general cast away for sin, shall I be tried for their transgression? The man that dealeth righteously shall live. ” (I.II)
In this scene Ferneze has claimed Barabas of his estate and all his riches. It is at this point that Barabas begin to makes comments about Christian hypocrisy and provides us with the suggestion that Ferneze is using scripture in support of his actions and as justification. It is also here that Barabas note his race as being a Jew in referring to his “tribe” eluding to the fact that Ferneze is using Barabas’ identity as a Jew as an excuse to take all of his wealth and to treat him as less of a citizen. Barabas then cleverly turns the tables citing a biblical proverb of his own (“The man that dealeth righteously shall live.”).
Interestingly, when Abigail converts to Christianity Barabas then employs the exact tactic of which he criticized the Ferneze in justifying the murder of his own daughter and referring to the story of Cain and Abel.
Now, when reading The Merchant of Venice in Act I, Scene III Bassanio is requesting a loan from Shylock, the Jew. Shylock agrees to lend Bassanio the money on Antonio’s credit and then refers to the biblical story of Jacob and Laban (I.III.94-99). A few lines later Antonio warns Bassanio; “Mark you this, Bassanio, The devil can cite scripture for his purpose. And evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O’ what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”
It is in this quotation that I think Shakespeare was saying a lot and sort of speaking to Marlowe’s point of “religion as a childish toy”. Religion and the religious can use God as a sort of weapon to justify the ultimate evils. For those that are truly evil their knowledge of this fact, is power and with it they can push their agenda and manipulate those who aren’t necessarily as clever and evil because after all, they have the ultimate witness backing them up- God. How many wars have been fought in the name of “God”?
You bring up a strong point, Rebecca. After finishing “The Merchant of Venice”, it so easy to see how both authors agree that religion is more of a tool rather than inherited wisdom. Both Barabas and Shylock were accused of using religion to prove their theories. It seems so wrong, but both the Christians and the Jews in both plays did exactly the same thing. They both justified their actions in such a manner as to make relgious scripture ‘convenient’ and ‘fitting’ to their arguments. This idea of ‘bending’ religion must have been shocking to the English masses who saw these plays.
Many wars have been fought in the name of God. I am sure you know this since we are taking a religion class together.
Scripture is being used to justify actions. The funny thing is the circumstances that it is used. Both deal with business transactions. Religious texts do have a word in these types of situations.
When one thinks of religion, the term righteousness usually comes to mind. It is unfortunate that people taint the reputation of religion just to advance in society. But religious hypocrisy have and will always exist.
Rebecca, thanks to your post I found what I wanted to write about for my essay topic. I definitely agree when you say that the characters in The Jew of Malta manipulate scripture for their own self interest. It is intriguing for me to see how two distinct religions share part of the same religious text, yet have many different views about it.
To think that the Bible, which is supposed to be the supreme law (for those who follow it), before the law of man and the world, can be manipulated in a way that it justifies evil boggles my mind a bit. How is it that people can use a text of so much good for doing evil? The Bible is supposed to be a handbook on how to live a holy life according to the way God would want one to live it.
There is a difference too, in the way each of these religions view God and how they utilize the Bible. In one, God is forgiving and in another, he is wrathful. These differences give explanation as to how each religion uses the Bible and certainly gives some explanation to the actions done by each group in The Jew of Malta. In the play, it seems that the only thing these groups share however, is part of a religious text. Their hatred from each other is so strong that they cannot come to a common ground on anything except for the mere scripture that they base their religion upon.