religious allusions in merchant of venice and the gospel (Mark)

Title: Religious allusions in Merchant of Venice and the gospel (Mark)
Date completed: 2/5/2003

There were indeed many religious allusions in the Merchant of Venice ¨C anti-Semitism being one of the main themes portrayed through various allusions in relation to one of the four gospels, Mark. In Merchant of Venice, Jews are portrayed to be the ¡®evil¡¯ or ¡®bad¡¯ characters ¨C the only Jews in the play were Shylock, his daughter Jessica and Tubal; Jessica later converted to Christianity after eloping with Lorenzo, which emphasized on the isolation of Shylock and Tubal, the only Jews left in a Christian society. In the gospel, Jews were also portrayed to be comparatively shallower ¨C for example, in chapter 7 of the gospel, it was stated that ¡°For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify them...