المستخلص: |
Scholarly work on The Merchant of Venice (1596-1598) has predominantly focused on the character of Shylock and the Jewish question, while the issue of mixed relationships involving his daughter, Jessica, and the Moor figure(s) in the play remains understudied. This article investigates intermarriage and interracial relationships in The Merchant of Venice, which is particularly fitting as a case study in this regard because it enacts examples of two categories of mixed relationships. It explores mainly the case of intermarriage involving the Jewish Jessica and the Christian Lorenzo, but also reads it in conjunction with interracial relationships involving the character of the Moor. It would be interesting to investigate whether the cultural, racial, and gender features that differentiate the characters involved result in disparities in approaches to, and outcomes from, mixed relationships. My main argument is that the Jewish female character, whether male or female, is more successful in mixed relationships than the Moor figure.
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