The Merchant of Venice

To find myself laughing during such a play as The Merchant of Venice proves just how much we find humor in what we can relate to. It is now known to me just how much controversy could have been brought upon by this play but the portrayal of “the Jew”. It proves that such a stereotype or thought on the Jewish faith could have derived, or even lived among culture. Laughing throughout the whole first half, along with the second, seemed as a shock to even myself. Being a “Jew” myself, I should not find humor in the downgrading and prejudice on the religion, or as others put it, the race. My laughs were accompanied by other laughs, creating a burst of laughter when all that was being done was setting up a negative image on the Jewish faith. We see Shylock wanting a piece of flesh as a payment for the money he was owed back when he was being offered 10 times what he lent. I am sure if they were portraying a Christian they would not have created such a beast, making the flesh of a man more worthy than cash. Yet I still laughed? It reminds me of Goat Boy (a skit by a stand up comedian previously observed in a class by Nericcio). We find ourselves uncomfortable in situations we normally are not used to, thus creating us to laugh. I suppose its just an automatic reaction, atleast for me, to ease a tension. Although we see the Jewish faith in a negative light, I am glad I can still laugh at the fact that people used to (or perhaps do still) think such thoughts. I am guessing Hitler got a kick out of The Merchant of Venice, along with other theatergoers. I am just hoping that the theatergoers in present day are only laughing because it is uncomfortable, not because they really believe it.