University of Virginia professor Paul Cantor, curator of the Shakespeare and Politics website (thegreatthinkers.org/shakespea..., in the first of three lectures on The Merchant of Venice.
Paul is a nonpareil. He backgrounds the play so well that we are able to appreciate not only the finished edifice but every brick in the block, and every block in the building. Money is the predominant meme that permeates the warp and the woof of the text. Thank you, professor, for entertaining both the teachers and the taught, and also those who were lounging on the lawn because they couldn't stand the bad breath of the rant from the podium in the classroom. How old are you, bwana ? Going by the bravura of the presentation, you sound ageless.
The typical American Jew sits in shul and also thinks about his merchandise. C’est la meme chose. The Merchant of Venice ought to be taught in every school…… the narrowing of the American mind grows ever narrower. Thank you Professor Paul Cantor ….. Shakespeare scholar el supremo. Miss Jenny (music teacher in exile in Manhattan).
@@JohnBrack-xi6yg re your otiose quasi Yiddish comment. Being white and Jewish and a communist living through the worst years of apartheid SA….. incarcerated many times. 71 years old and still an activist.
Cantor hits all the right notes in this lecture, tho one must wonder if it is consistent with politics. Well, there arae three lectures on the play, and even so it's a really good lecture.
Love watching your series of classes on Shakespeare and Politics. One minor error, F. Murray Abraham isn't, as you stated, Jewish. All the best, Howard, New York City
I could be wrong but I read that Mr.Abraham is from an Assyrian family on his father's side.His mother was Italian.His family were members of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
W.r.t. the movie, it opens, for example, with misleading claims about Jews and usury. Yes, the Catholic Church forbade usury for moral reasons as an unjust and exploitative practice (think loan sharks and pawnbrokers, but the principle that makes them unsavory, not the degree of exploitation). But the Jews also forbade usury, but only among Jews. According to Talmudic law, Gentiles could be subjected to usury. Also, in response to the claim that antisemitism was a "fact of [...] life", it is worth mentioning that Poland was exceptionally tolerant in the 16th century (some have criticized it as excessive). Jews were relieved of being immediate subjects of anyone but the Crown and so had privileges that were not available to Gentile peasants and burghers. W.r.t. the lecture, very interesting characterization of Venetian virtue as materialistic polity.
God forbid the fragile students should be offended by something written hundreds of years ago, best to pretend it doesn't exist. Go read something else that's more hugs and puppies. University is not about learning new things or open mindedness, it's about safe spaces.
Ok so now Shylock is a victim not a villain? Are we changing history, literature, and common sense because of the jewish lobby in the US and Europe? What next to blame Muslims for Antonio’s suffering and Shylock predatory behavior?
Every time he says "Shake-Speare" he should say "Sir Francis Bacon," as there never was a person alive named Shakespeare. "Shake-speare" as the first and second folio of "Shake-Speare Plays" was always written with a hyphen. And in the folios it lists the actor, William Shakspere (pronounced "Shack-Spur" ) with the correct spelling as his will shows, since they were first published 7 years after the death of the actor. There was never a person alive named William Shakespeare. Oh course Sir Francis Bacon had been to Venice many times and was fluent in most of the language new and old of Europe at the time.
Not like it matters really. So what if there never was a guy named Shakespeare that wrote plays during the reign of Elizabeth? We have his/their plays, which is all that matters.
You are attempting to use modern phonics to read a 16th Century name. An "e" at the end did not modify the preceding vowel sound back then. And if Bacon went to Italy so many times (there's no evidence that he did, by the way), why did he get so many things wrong about the place? Venice had an elected doge, not a duke, and the doge did not decide legal cases. The trail of Antonio, by the way, was a farce which a lawyer like Bacon would never have written. Oh, and not one, but TWO plays set in Venice and no mention of canals? What about Shylock being out and about after dark, when Venitian Jews had a curfew? It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant you people are about history AND about Shakespeare.
16th and 17th century spelling in all major European languages (the ones I know sth about) was uncertain, to say the least (Cervantes-Cerbantes, Shakspear-Shakespeare), that does not prove a thing. And now that we're at it, why Bacon? why not Marlowe, or the Earl of Oxford, or Anthony Sherley...? There's a long list of candidates, all of them similarly unfounded ....
Have you read Bacon’s “New Organon,” or his “New Atlantis”? If they are worth reading in any way, it’s not because of their use of language. I love Bacon as a philosopher but his prose is ugly af.
Imagine that. A play about a loan shark who comes from a weird tribe of loan sharks would offend people from that weird tribe or loan sharks, and so they used their loan shark influence to get it banned.
@@shivangipathak6800 Yeah, it's a regular laugh riot. I especially like the way the spoiled daughter, with her boyfriend, robs her father, squanders all the proceeds of the theft, then decides she's unhappy in the relationship.
@@jamesduggan7200 Right...but I literally pity Shylock I mean he isn't that bad ... Just doing what people of 21st century would do without any second thought
@@shivangipathak6800 The traditional definition of comedy includes a wedding, and although there are three couples in the play there is no wedding. True, Antionio avoids death, a traditional earmark of tragedy, there is nothing funny about what happens to Shylock. The only funny scenes in the play are Portia's descriptions of her greedy suitors. And altho a director might find a way to play for laughs the cask choosing scene or the ring betrayals, it's most definitely not a comedy.
One thing about Shakespeare is that his stories are imminently true. Whether they are fact or fiction, one reason they endure is because they contain truths. Shylock is the quintessential Jew.
Quite worthwhile. But I recommend however, when reading text Mr. Cantor slow down and savor the lines more sumptuously. These are poetic dramas, first & foremost, not just illustrations of social issues and theatrical history.
![เกิดใหม่ทั้งทีก็เป็นสไลม์ไปซะแล้ว ซีซั่น 3 - ตอนที่ 65 [ซับไทย]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4EsinscQCfs/mqdefault.jpg)
Amazing lecture, it's great to feel someone's passion and sense of humour
Brilliant lecturer.
Paul is a nonpareil. He backgrounds the play so well that we are able to appreciate not only the finished edifice but every brick in the block, and every block in the building. Money is the predominant meme that permeates the warp and the woof of the text. Thank you, professor, for entertaining both the teachers and the taught, and also those who were lounging on the lawn because they couldn't stand the bad breath of the rant from the podium in the classroom. How old are you, bwana ? Going by the bravura of the presentation, you sound ageless.
Lordy. I like metaphor and simile as much as the next Yahoo, but try as I might, I cannot see who, the target of your deathless prose might be.
That's one dynamite commentary!!
sattar basra What a strange comment.
@@trusfratedAP It's certainly rude, though as CP says, it is difficult to work out who the 'professor' is speaking of.
Great lecture
Excellent!
The typical American Jew sits in shul and also thinks about his merchandise. C’est la meme chose. The Merchant of Venice ought to be taught in every school…… the narrowing of the American mind grows ever narrower. Thank you Professor Paul Cantor ….. Shakespeare scholar el supremo. Miss Jenny (music teacher in exile in Manhattan).
In exile
@@JohnBrack-xi6yg re your otiose quasi Yiddish comment. Being white and Jewish and a communist living through the worst years of apartheid SA….. incarcerated many times. 71 years old and still an activist.
❤️
If you go to the Jewish Ghetto in Venice there is a touching apology from the Italians on how they treated them
very useful lecture series... one request, can there be a series for king lear and for tempest?
He has both ! Great stuff both of them
Cantor hits all the right notes in this lecture, tho one must wonder if it is consistent with politics. Well, there arae three lectures on the play, and even so it's a really good lecture.
Love watching your series of classes on Shakespeare and Politics. One minor error, F. Murray Abraham isn't, as you stated, Jewish.
All the best,
Howard, New York City
F Murray Abraham isn't Jewish!
thanks!
Hii
yes
David Suchet is another Jewish actor who embraced playing Shylock.
He also converted to Catholicism.
@@jennyhirschowitz1999 Did not know that!
Great, thanks alot ☻💙
He makes one mistake: F. Murray Abraham in Arabic not Jewish.
I could be wrong but I read that Mr.Abraham is from an Assyrian family on his father's side.His mother was Italian.His family were members of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
W.r.t. the movie, it opens, for example, with misleading claims about Jews and usury. Yes, the Catholic Church forbade usury for moral reasons as an unjust and exploitative practice (think loan sharks and pawnbrokers, but the principle that makes them unsavory, not the degree of exploitation). But the Jews also forbade usury, but only among Jews. According to Talmudic law, Gentiles could be subjected to usury. Also, in response to the claim that antisemitism was a "fact of [...] life", it is worth mentioning that Poland was exceptionally tolerant in the 16th century (some have criticized it as excessive). Jews were relieved of being immediate subjects of anyone but the Crown and so had privileges that were not available to Gentile peasants and burghers.
W.r.t. the lecture, very interesting characterization of Venetian virtue as materialistic polity.
Cantor knows his Shakespeare and this series is very illuminating, but can he stop picking his nose constantly??
God forbid the fragile students should be offended by something written hundreds of years ago, best to pretend it doesn't exist. Go read something else that's more hugs and puppies. University is not about learning new things or open mindedness, it's about safe spaces.
Chaj di bolee bol la.Center fruit khadiyo a jehda lap lap karee janda.
Ok so now Shylock is a victim not a villain? Are we changing history, literature, and common sense because of the jewish lobby in the US and Europe?
What next to blame Muslims for Antonio’s suffering and Shylock predatory behavior?
Excellent and pertinent question.
Every time he says "Shake-Speare" he should say "Sir Francis Bacon," as there never was a person alive named Shakespeare. "Shake-speare" as the first and second folio of "Shake-Speare Plays" was always written with a hyphen. And in the folios it lists the actor, William Shakspere (pronounced "Shack-Spur" ) with the correct spelling as his will shows, since they were first published 7 years after the death of the actor. There was never a person alive named William Shakespeare. Oh course Sir Francis Bacon had been to Venice many times and was fluent in most of the language new and old of Europe at the time.
Not like it matters really. So what if there never was a guy named Shakespeare that wrote plays during the reign of Elizabeth? We have his/their plays, which is all that matters.
You are attempting to use modern phonics to read a 16th Century name. An "e" at the end did not modify the preceding vowel sound back then.
And if Bacon went to Italy so many times (there's no evidence that he did, by the way), why did he get so many things wrong about the place? Venice had an elected doge, not a duke, and the doge did not decide legal cases. The trail of Antonio, by the way, was a farce which a lawyer like Bacon would never have written. Oh, and not one, but TWO plays set in Venice and no mention of canals? What about Shylock being out and about after dark, when Venitian Jews had a curfew?
It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant you people are about history AND about Shakespeare.
16th and 17th century spelling in all major European languages (the ones I know sth about) was uncertain, to say the least (Cervantes-Cerbantes, Shakspear-Shakespeare), that does not prove a thing. And now that we're at it, why Bacon? why not Marlowe, or the Earl of Oxford, or Anthony Sherley...? There's a long list of candidates, all of them similarly unfounded ....
Have you read Bacon’s “New Organon,” or his “New Atlantis”? If they are worth reading in any way, it’s not because of their use of language. I love Bacon as a philosopher but his prose is ugly af.
Why is it unconventional to treat The Merchant of Venice as a comedy? Isn’t it traditionally recognized as such?
Imagine that. A play about a loan shark who comes from a weird tribe of loan sharks would offend people from that weird tribe or loan sharks, and so they used their loan shark influence to get it banned.
Ends with a marriage, so it should be a comedy, tho . . .
It is a comedy... Just tragi-comedy instead of Romantic one.
@@shivangipathak6800 Yeah, it's a regular laugh riot. I especially like the way the spoiled daughter, with her boyfriend, robs her father, squanders all the proceeds of the theft, then decides she's unhappy in the relationship.
@@shivangipathak6800 Now I think of it, all of Antonio's shipwrecks are hilarious too.
@@jamesduggan7200 Right...but I literally pity Shylock I mean he isn't that bad ... Just doing what people of 21st century would do without any second thought
@@shivangipathak6800 The traditional definition of comedy includes a wedding, and although there are three couples in the play there is no wedding. True, Antionio avoids death, a traditional earmark of tragedy, there is nothing funny about what happens to Shylock. The only funny scenes in the play are Portia's descriptions of her greedy suitors. And altho a director might find a way to play for laughs the cask choosing scene or the ring betrayals, it's most definitely not a comedy.
Who cares if it is OFFENSIVE
IS IT TRUE?
One thing about Shakespeare is that his stories are imminently true. Whether they are fact or fiction, one reason they endure is because they contain truths.
Shylock is the quintessential Jew.
Merchant of venice was never a comedy. What are you talking about
??
Quite worthwhile. But I recommend however, when reading text Mr. Cantor slow down and savor the lines more sumptuously. These are poetic dramas, first & foremost, not just illustrations of social issues and theatrical history.
No offense but this is a university lecture
@@BinoRucker
Quite right! -- The more reason to offer those quotes with drama and delectation!
haha, we can agree to disagree, at least we are both enjoying quality material :)@@theonetruefever
Right on!@@BinoRucker