Series | Studi e ricerche
Edited book | The Merchant in Venice: Shakespeare in the Ghetto
Chapter | Trying Portia
Trying Portia
Abstract
Extraordinary in itself, the 2016 performance of The Merchant in the Venetian Ghetto produced an equally extraordinary collateral performance. Staged in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, a ‘Mock Appeal in the Matter of Shylock vs Antonio’ was heard by a bench presided over by Ruth Bader Ginsberg. A curious aspect of the Appeal was that Portia made an appellee. This essay investigates the decision to try Portia. What cultural, political, religious needs were served by bringing Portia into court? Thinking about Justice and Mercy, law, bonds, and love, this essay asks: when the verdict was pronounced, was antisemitism recuperated by misogyny?
Published June 10, 2021 | Language: en
Keywords Adaptation • The Merchant of Venice in the Ghetto • Antonio • Children reading Shakespeare • Shakespeare’s comedies of love • The quality of mercy • Portia • Shakespeare’s trial scenes • Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Mock Trial: Shylock v • The Merchant of Venice
Copyright © 2021 Carol Chillington Rutter. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-503-2/009
