It is said that “prejudice is an acquired trait, you are not born with prejudice; we taught you that. In Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and in past society, religious prejudice and prejudice based on ethnicity were social beliefs and people consciously made these choices as discriminatory. People have been taught that certain groups and races are superior, while other groups are inferior to the “superior” race. “Merchant of Venice” added to the bias “towards people of the Jewish faith and who have dark complexions and gave insight into what these ethnicities experienced. This is seen through Shakespeare's portrayal of the characters Morocco and Shylock and in the way in which the statements and reactions of other characters in the play were prejudiced against these two characters. These social beliefs from the past society persisted in people's minds, even though they may not have been fully aware of them, but they influenced thoughts and feelings until they transformed into stereotypes and facts. Because these social beliefs have continued unconsciously, the opinions and beliefs of modern society have been influenced, and the discrimination that some ethnicities faced before is still relevant today. It is now clear that religious and racial prejudice is a problem that deteriorates opinions and gives people the inability to recognize and accept the differences of others, this is seen in the play through actions and remarks specifically aimed to the characters of Morocco and Shylock. which was created by social beliefs and continues unconsciously in modern society based on these religious and ethnic prejudices.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Anti-Semitism is defined as “hostility or prejudice toward Jews.” Throughout the play, the main character, Shylock, experiences this type of hostility, but this type of prejudice existed long before the play was written. The prejudice created against the Jewish people was created in biblical times, and in the Bible there are conversations that portray the Jewish people in a bad light and make them appear to be a more inconsistent ethnicity. For you have suffered the same things from your own countrymen as from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and who displease God and set you against all men in us preventing us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved - so that they might always fill the measure of their sins. But anger has finally fallen on them! This quote from the Bible describes the Jewish people as evil and says that these people will remain cursed for many more lives to come. It asserts that the Jewish people are the reason for the deaths of Jesus and many prophets, and celebrates the punishments and immense anguish they will face for centuries to come. The language used showed that the person who wrote this is a Christian, or views Christians as superior to Jews and believes that Christians have "God on their side." Christians perpetuate the cruelty that the Jewish people have long faced and are considered the adversaries of all humanity. These types of passages and writings from the Bible have contributed immensely to the way the Jewish people are viewed not only in past society but also in modern society. These texts created social beliefs that were adapted by writers such as Shakespeare, who made the characterShylock a representative of what the Jewish people faced on a regular basis. In the play, Antonio says: “Hello, nice Jew. Hebrew will become Christian; he becomes nice. Antonio makes a comment towards Shylock in which he tries to say that Shylock cannot be gentle because he is Jewish. It is obvious that only Christians can be kind, while Jews can only be rude and never gentle. This social belief has had such an impact on people, that Antonio is not able to recognize the fact that Shylock is not entirely evil and that he can be cordial if he wishes, comparable to any what other human. Being a specific race/ethnicity does not make someone more exceptional and throughout the play the idea is that Christianity is the superior ethnicity. Christians believe that they are entitled to more and should be given a higher status compared to how other religions treat them. An example of this is shown in the exchange between the Duke of Venice and Shylock: Make room and let him stand before our eyes. — Shylock, the world thinks, and I think it too, that you are only carrying on this way of your wickedness. Until the last hour of the act, and then, it is thought, you will show your mercy and your remorse stranger than your strange apparent cruelty; And where you now demand the penalty, which is a pound of flesh of this poor merchant, you will not only lose the confiscation, but, touched by human gentleness and love, you will forgive half of the principal. From this quote we can decipher that the Duke of Venice expects Shylock to show remorse or mercy towards Antonio because he is a Christian which he deserves, but Shylock never showed sympathy and compassion that he “should” show to Antonio. Thus, this social belief has had a great impact on the mentality of many religions, making some ethnicities feel more empowered while others feel powerless and anemic. These remarks made towards Shylock present the functioning of society and its mentality towards the Jewish people as a whole. The commonality in this era showed prejudice towards Jewish people based on social belief, and the character Shylock experienced this ethnic prejudice the most out of all the characters in the play, because he is Jewish. He constantly remained true to his beliefs and opinions, but he always became the antagonist of the piece because of his identity. Therefore, social beliefs have an effect on a person's actions and opinions, whether subconscious or conscious, and they have prevented people from perceiving and accepting the diversity of another group, like Shylock who was treated unfairly several times throughout the play. “Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is a learned behavior towards people with different physical characteristics. In the play, the character Morocco experienced racial prejudice based on his skin tone and a social belief that existed before the play was written. In the 1600s, before the play was written, people with darker complexions were considered slaves, which reinforced the prejudice that these people were below the "preferable" race. There are statements in the Bible that added to this racial bigotry within past society. It is claimed that not only was the enslavement of black people the fulfillment of this biblical curse, but so was their black skin color. Thus, many whites have been led to assume that blacks are inferior and that God wanted them to be servants of whites. Many black people became embittered bythe treatment they received due to this religious interpretation. Since people have darker skin tones, they are expected to be servants to people with lighter skin tones, because that is said to be what “God intended them to be.” Portia's conversations and dialogues about Morocco and people with darker skin tones showed that she considered herself to be the "taller" person/race. Evidence of this is found when Portia says, “A gentle riddance.” — Draw the curtains, leave. — May his whole complexion choose me thus. She considers herself superior to Moroccans of complexion and she believes that she is too remarkable to marry someone of dark complexion. Another example of this would be when Portia states, "If he has the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I would rather he shrivel me than marry me." » In this quote, Portiaa makes a comment on Morocco's appearance by stating that even though he is a good person but he has a dark, devil-like appearance, then she would have preferred him to hear her confession, her thoughts about the color of her skin rather than letting him marry her. This quote showed that people like Portia, who are very intelligent and wise, can still demonstrate prejudice towards another group, based on a social belief that has altered the intellect of many people. Thus, it can be established that Morocco experienced racial prejudice due to a social belief created about races with darker complexions before the performance, which influenced the mindset of many people at that time. “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life and you will call it destiny.” As we have seen throughout the play, the characters made a conscious choice to be prejudiced against religions and races, based on social beliefs that had impaired the judgment of certain groups towards others. But how has this continued today? This happened through our subconscious, as we developed over the centuries, some opinions changed, but over time the social beliefs of the past society found their way into us unconsciously. We may consider ourselves to be exhibiting rude behavior towards someone for no reason at all, this happens because of the way our subconscious works. In our modern society, much of the discrimination that characters such as Morocco and Shylock faced is still a reality. There are stories of anti-Semitism and racism towards groups that have created more religious and ethnic prejudice. For example, centuries of anti-Semitism still exist today with several cases in Europe in which Jews were attacked or some sort of hate crime was committed specifically against this group of people. Or how people are considered more beautiful than others because they possess physical characteristics such as a lighter complexion. In modern society, social problems such as differences in salary and wealth between certain groups or ethnicities in which they enjoy better privileges and have higher status, while others do not get the same luxuries, are a reality. We have seen stories from the 15th and 16th centuries that have been adapted to our modern culture and have impacted our thinking as a people. So when we see all the evidence of how our modern society works, it is clear that those views and beliefs that had remained conscious social beliefs in the past have now been unconsciously adapted to the present, affecting our understanding and positions on groups and ethnicities. Has there really been a change in.