Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

“The Refusal of Compassion”: Teaching The Merchant of Venice in a General Education Course

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Teaching Shakespeare Beyond the Major

  • 64 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter, I explore the high-impact practices that work best with non-majors who enroll in my Shakespeare courses for a general education requirement. Specifically, I describe how I situate The Merchant of Venice among classic and contemporary texts in several genres, how I provide historical and cultural context for Shakespeare’s play, and how the study of deictics and etymologies can help students understand the deep origins or bigotry and undergird the text. I discuss how I engage students at all levels and from all disciplines. Ultimately, these strategies, coupled with frequent writing and class discussion, allow students to consider the ways in which language can create suspicion and conspiratorial thinking as well as dramatic action and attachment. 

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Arendt, H. (1994). Franz Kafka: A Revaluation” in Jerome Kohn (ed). Essays in Understanding: 1930–1954, Harcourt Brace, 1994. pp. 69–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘bond,’ n. Oxford University Press. Retrieved June 30, 2021, from www.oed.com/view/Entry/57475

  • Colbert, S. (2017). Like Trapdoors: A History of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the Trigger Warning. In E. J. M. Knox (Ed.), Trigger Warnings: History, Theory, Content (pp. 3–21). Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elam, K. (2001). The Semiotics of Theater and Drama. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freinkel, L. (2000). Merchant of Venice: ‘Modern’ Anti-Semitism and the Veil of Allegory. In H. Grady (Ed.), Shakespeare and Modernity: Early Modern to Millenium (pp. 122–141). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘gentle,’ adj. Oxford University Press. Retrieved June 30, 2021, from www.oed.com/view/Entry/57475

  • Gross, J. (1993). Shylock and Nazi Propaganda. New York Times, April 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heschel, S. (2006). From Jesus to Shylock: Christian Supersessionism and The Merchant of Venice. Harvard Theological Review, 99(4), 407–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutson, L. (2006). Forensic Aspects of Renaissance Mimesis. Representations, 94(1), 80–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ‘kind,’ adj. Oxford University Press. Retrieved June 30, 2021, from www.oed.com/view/Entry/57475

  • Luther, M. (1971). On the Jews and Their Lies. In H. T. Lehmann & M. H. Bertram (Eds.), Luther’s Work (Vol. 47). Fortress Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGann, J., & Samuels, L. (1999). Deformance and Interpretation. New Literary History, 30(1), 25–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendoza, K. N. (2019). Sexual Violence, Trigger Warnings, and the Early Modern Classroom. In H. Eklund & W. B. Hyman (Eds.), Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare: Why Renaissance Literature Matters Now. Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Archives. National Archives Currency Converter, 1270–2017. Retrieved June 21, 2021, from https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter/

  • Nussbaum, M. (1995). Poetic Justice: The Literary Imagination and Public Life. Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarat, A., Anderson, M., & Frank, C. O. (2009). Law and the Humanities: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shakespeare, W. (2010). In J. Drakakis (Ed.), The Merchant of Venice. Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shakespeare, W. The Most Excellent Historie of the Merchant of Venice, printed by James Roberts, 1600. Folger Library website. Retrieved June 21, 2021, from https://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/view/search?q=MFHD_Repository_Number%3D%22STC+22296+Copy+1%22&pgs=250&res=2&cic=FOLGERCM1%7E6%7E6&sort=MPSORTORDER1%2CAuthor%2CCD_Title%2CImprint

  • Shapiro, J. (1996). Shakespeare and the Jews. Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sophocles. (2003). Antigone (D. Franklin, Trans. and J. Harrison and J. Affleck, Eds.). Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • “suspect,” 1a. Oxford University Press. Retrieved June 30, 2021, from www.oed.com/view/Entry/57475

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, USA

    Joanne Diaz

Authors
  1. Joanne Diaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanne Diaz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Honors College, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    M. Tyler Sasser

  2. Department of English, University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL, USA

    Emma K. Atwood

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Diaz, J. (2024). “The Refusal of Compassion”: Teaching The Merchant of Venice in a General Education Course. In: Sasser, M.T., Atwood, E.K. (eds) Teaching Shakespeare Beyond the Major. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24224-3_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24224-3_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-24223-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-24224-3

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation