One of Shakespeare’s best plays is The Merchant of Venice. Today it is seen as a horrible anti-semitic work. I never thought too much about it until I read Through Shakespeare’s Eyes by Joseph Pearce. It is his thesis that it was not anti-semitic but instead was anti-usury. Shylock was an evil man. His being Jewish was only important because in the time and place, only Jews were able to loan money at interest. The loan he made for those who forget the terms, was that unless it was paid back in full at the specific time, he could claim a pound of flesh from the debtor. Wonderful play. I recommend it. It is difficult to ignore the slanders at Jews. The other part is the insistence on conversion. The state insisting on the terms of conversion is, IMHO, very evil. I’m sure that there’s a level in hell assigned to that sort of evil (I’m reading the Divine Comedy so I’ll have to think about that). I’m babbling. Anyway, read it and enjoy The Merchant of Venice. It’s very Catholic. Oh, and btw, Shylock is not the Merchant, Antonio is.
Good advice. Usury is evil, and Shakespeare is a genius. So is Belloc.