The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2445  Thursday, 25 October 2001

[1]     From:   Louis Swilley <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Wednesday, 24 Oct 2001 15:56:04 -0500
        Subj:   Re: SHK 12.2431 Re: Leah and Merchant

[2]     From:   W. L. Godshalk <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Wednesday, 24 Oct 2001 17:19:44 -0400
        Subj:   Re: Fwd: SHK 12.2418 Re: Leah and Merchant


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Louis Swilley <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Wednesday, 24 Oct 2001 15:56:04 -0500
Subject: 12.2431 Re: Leah and Merchant
Comment:        Re: SHK 12.2431 Re: Leah and Merchant

Gabriel Egan wrote,

" Stephen Orgel's plenary paper "Shylock's tribe" at the Seventh World
Shakespeare Congress in Valencia on 22 April 2001 offered ...[that] we
are to infer that Antonio is already a known bad risk  among the
Christian money lenders, hence his resort to the Jew."

Could Mr. Egan please give us Mr. Orgel's textual reference for such an
inference?

        L. Swilley

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           W. L. Godshalk <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Wednesday, 24 Oct 2001 17:19:44 -0400
Subject: SHK 12.2418 Re: Leah and Merchant
Comment:        Re: Fwd: SHK 12.2418 Re: Leah and Merchant

David Evett writes:

>Closer to Mer, its core story, in which Jacob goes to seek one
>of Laban's daughters as a wife not because they're lovable but because

>by marrying one of them he can become rich, and then is lucky enough to
>find love, too, is very like Bassanio's.

In The Geneva Bible, apparently the one Shakespeare had access to, Izhak
tells Iaakob: "take thee a wife of the daughters of Laban" (Genesis 28:
2).  Izhak gives Iaakob his blessing, but doesn't seem to suggest that
Iaakob should marry for wealth. In fact, Iaakob "loued Rahel" (Genesis
29: 18) and tells Laban that he will give him seven years' labor to have
her.  When he finds that Leah has been substituted for Rahel, Iaakob
undertakes to serve another seven years so that he can have Rahel
(Genesis 29: 25-28).  Why would he do this, if he were marrying only for
wealth?  Leah is the oldest daughter, and Iaakob already has married
her.

And why does Shakespeare have Shylock refer to Leah, when Rachel -- the
one truly loved -- was equally available to his pen?

Yours, Bill Godshalk

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