Saccio, Peter. "The Merchant of Venice: Shylock." Lecture 8 of William Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Chantilly, Virginia: The Teaching Company, 1999.
For years, lectures from The Teaching Company (now known as The Great Courses) have been a staple of my listening diet. They have made doing chores, commuting, and trying to fall asleep much more pleasurable over the years.
Peter Saccio's lectures on Shakespeare are delightful and insightful in equal measure.
In one of his lectures on Merchant of Venice, Saccio speaks about one of the most troubling parts of the play—it's one of the scenes that leads to people mistakenly calling the play a tragedy instead of a comedy. That element is at the end of the courtroom scene where Shylock is offered "mercy" in being ordered to convert to Christianity. And Saccio recounts how the scene was played by Laurence Olivier in a stage production he witnessed.
Here's that portion of Saccio's lecture:
The film of The Merchant of Venice that stars Laurence Olivier isn't the same as the stage performance Saccio describes, but it has similarities:
That production nicely captures the tragic elements of the comedy. Shylock has been told that he should extend mercy so that mercy might be shown to him. And that's all well and good and a reasonable and meaningful lesson. But at the end of the scene, we see how those who hold the power in Venice redefine "mercy" for their own ends. They're trying to spin the punishment they're exacting on Shylock as merciful, but I'm not certain that true mercy is found in not being as completely harsh as you could be.
I have more to say about Merchant, so stay tuned.
Links: The Film at IMDB. Peter Saccio's Lectures at The Great Courses.
Links: The Film at IMDB. Peter Saccio's Lectures at The Great Courses.
Click below to purchase the film from amazon.com
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
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