| Description |
386 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
pt. 1. Shakespeare's Shylock. 1. Where Does He Come From? 2. Jews. 3. Three Thousand Ducats. 4. "Shylock Is My Name" 5. Wife and Daughter. 6. "I Stand for Judgment" 7. Christians -- pt. 2. Interpretations (1600-1939). 8. From Comical to Tragical. 9. Romantics and Revisionists. 10. Henry Irving. 11. Stage and Study. 12. Between the Wars -- pt. 3. A Citizen of the World. 13. A Legend and Its Legacy. 14. Other Voices, Other Cultures. 15. An Extended Family. 16. Economic Man. 17. A Father Figure. 18. Anti-Semites. 19. Since 1945 |
| Summary |
"Like Don Quixote or Robinson Crusoe, Shylock is one of the great familiar figures of world drama, known even to people who have never read or seen The Merchant of Venice. He is also one of the most controversial characters ever conceived; his ambiguities have been a challenge to actors, directors, critics, and playgoers for more than four centuries. Is he villain or victim? Tragic or comic? What was Shakespeare's attitude toward the character described on the play's title page in 1600 as "a man of extreame crueltie," and what should be our own?" "It was the brilliant notion of literary and theater critic John Gross to explore the complex and influential history that has given Shylock a life beyond the play and established him as a figure of world mythology. Beginning with the elements that went into Shylock's creation, Gross traces his evolution on the stage at the hands of legendary actors such as Charles Macklin and Edmund Kean on down to George C. Scott and Laurence Olivier. Shylock has enjoyed equally colorful treatment on the page, where he has troubled and stimulated writers as different as Marcel Proust, Henry James, Heinrich Heine, and Erica Jong. Gross pays particular attention to Jewish attitudes toward Shylock, and to his place in the history of anti-Semitism, his use as an economic symbol, and his importance to psychologists and psychoanalysts." "The result is a remarkable cultural study that sheds as much light on our shifting attitudes and beliefs as on the rich and disquieting figure Shakespeare created."--Jacket |
| Notes |
Originally published in Great Britain in 1992 by Chatto & Windus as 'Shylock : four hundred years in the life of a legend' |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-372) and index |
| Subject |
Shylock (Fictitious character)
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Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Shylock
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Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Merchant of Venice.
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Jews in literature.
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| LC no. |
92035672 |
| ISBN |
0671707078 |
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0671883860 (paperback) |
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