Abstract

The Merchant of Venice is a play written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare. It is a play that reveals history, culture and religion and deserves reading. In this play, the Jewish people have been oppressed by Christians and the law is harsh to them. They are humiliated and badly treated by Christians. Their long-lasting Jew-hatred history cannot be ignored.
In this thesis, the author analyses The Merchant of Venice from the perspective of religious conflicts which are reflected through Shylock and his daughter Jessica. Shylock in this play is considered a bad Jew by Christians. He is treated unfairly by both Christians and the law of Venice. He is longing for equality, so he struggles and fights for himself, his nation and his religion, but unfortunately he loses everything including his daughter and his belief in the end. Shylock’s daughter Jessica doesn’t want to be unfairly treated, and looks forward to Christian’s life. So she runs off with Shylock’s money and marries a Christian to convert herself, which she believes is the only way for her to escape from the Jews’ unfair fate. The conflicts between the Christians and the Jews in the play, is actually the conflicts between Christianity and Judaism.

Key Words: religious conflict  Shylock  Jessica  Christianity  Judaism

摘  要

《威尼斯商人》是伟大的剧作家威廉•莎士比亚的作品,揭示了莎士比亚时期的历史背景、文化与宗教等因素，是一部值得品读与研究的戏剧。在这部剧中，基督徒的迫害与法律的严苛，给犹太人带来了极大的伤害。他们被侮辱、遭受不公正待遇，他们那段长久的屈辱史不应该被忽视。
在本论文中，作者通过介绍这部剧以及对剧中所反映在夏洛克和他女儿杰西卡身上的宗教冲突，客观地从基督教与犹太教之间的宗教冲突这个角度来分析《威尼斯商人》这部作品。在剧中，夏洛克是基督徒眼中的坏人，受到了来自基督徒与威尼斯法律的不平等待遇。他渴望平等并为自己、为他的民族和宗教奋起反抗，但最后却不幸地失去了包括他女儿和信仰在内的所有一切。夏洛克的女儿杰西卡不喜欢他们的不公平境遇，渴望过上基督徒的生活。她带着夏洛克的财产出逃并嫁给了一个基督徒改变自己的信仰，她认为这是摆脱犹太人不幸命运的唯一方法。剧中的犹太人与基督徒的矛盾冲突，实际上是犹太教与基督教之间的冲突。

关键词：宗教冲突  夏洛克  杰西卡  犹太教  基督教