[Verginius Rufus]

I haven't read the play since I had to for a class in high school, but I once ran across a book by a Jewish author (maybe a rabbi) in the 1930s (I don't recall the author's name) arguing that the play is not anti-Semitic. It could be argued that Shakespeare is presenting anti-Semitism as wrong, but I haven't studied the text to see if that can be supported.

Shylock calls the judge a second Daniel. That alludes to the story of Susannah and the elders, which the Reformers relegated to the Apocrypha (since it's not in the Hebrew Bible)...Shakespeare evidently could expect his audience to be familiar with it anyway.

[Mamzelle]

"I hate him, for he is a Christian!" is one of Shylock's more memorable lines.

Shakespeare used a stock cliche (which he did for many of his plays) in Shylock-- but so did Walter Scott in "Ivanhoe" to very little criticism. Shylock is unforgettable and brilliant-- Othello and his Iago (can't stand Desdemona) are my other favorites from Shakespeare.