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Shakespeare was not really aware of anti-Semitism as a specific phenomenon. There were very few Jews in the England of his day, and those who were there did not practice their religion openly. He did have a Jewish character in his play The Merchant of Venice, and that play also has anti-Semitic characters in it, but he was basically exploring the psychology of prejudice generally.

The play has been used to discourage anti-Semitism by portraying Shylock, the Jewish character, in a sympathetic light and the anti-Semitic Venetians unfavourably. It has also been used to encourage anti-Semitism by portraying Shylock as a villain and the anti-Semites like Graziano as heroes.
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12y ago

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