약자의 저항

The Resistance of the Minority : A Woman and a Jew in the The Merchant of Venice

This paper aims to examine the ways in which maintaining difference provides for the autonomy of a Jew and a woman in The Merchant of Venice. Through their use of the law, both Shylock and Portia attempt to protect their independence from the white male forces. The conflict between Antonio and Shylock centers on the practice of usury. Shylock makes explicit the connection between the Antonio’s rejection of usury and his attack on Judaism. Antonio’s desire to eradicate usury reveals that he wished Jews to be eradicated. Portia also tries to hold her own gender difference. She is constrained by her father’s dominant will to be married with the one who choose the correct casket. As a wise lady she succeeds in manipulating her marriage. It is interesting that Portia appears as an adversary to Shylock in the court scene given their similarity. Although she acts as the crucial force in Shylock’s destruction, Portia appears to be successful at the conclusion of the play in maintaining her own difference and independence as Bassanio’s wife through her calculated use of ring-keeping contract.