Religious Intolerance

Throughout the Merchant of Venice, there has been a theme of religious intolerance between the Jews and Christians.

-“If e’er the Jew her father come to heaven, It will be for his gentle daughter’s sake: And never dare misfortune cross her foot, Unless she do it under this excise, That she is issue to a faithless Jew” (II.iv.) [Lorenzo]
-“Nor thrust your head into the public street To gaze on Christian fools with varnish’d faces,” (II.v.) [Shylock]
-“The villain Jew”, “the dog Jew” (II.viii.) [Salanio]
-“Do all men kill the things they do not love?” (IV.i.) [Bassanio] -“for thy desires Are wolvish, bloody, starved and ravenous.” (IV.i.) [Gratiano]

Throughout the play, both sides show their intolerance for one another. And it's sad because both of their religions teach that they should forgive and be kind. I feel that a lot of this intolerance just comes from complete ignorance on both sides. Upon researching, I found a great website that I feel explained the matter effectively: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/ei_shylock.html Also, I appreciate what Rebecca had to say, and the links she put in her latest blog concerning the matter :).