Theme Of Vengeance In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet And Merchant Of Venice

This paper discusses the influence of wealth, money, and its circulation as well as transactions on two of Shakespeare’s plays The Merchant of Venice and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet from a cultural point of view. Although the effect of economics is more evident in the former than the latter, mercantile terms abound profusely in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Excavating elements of mercantilism in these plays recasts these plays in a light that is different from the long-established philosophical study of them.

The contribution of this study lies in that it addresses a rather unexhausted critical area in Shakespeare’s scholarship.  While the thesis explores the dialectics of usury, in its monetary (The Merchant of Venice) and emotional manifestations (William Shakespeare’s Hamlet ), it also looks into the Elizabethan culture of theatre going, of patronage, and of Shakespeare’s interest in catering to the economic and mercantile mentality of his audience.  Based on British Cultural Materialism theory and New Historicism, such a reading not only explains some of the equivocal issues in the plays, such as Shakespeare’s characterization of Shylock, who shares a lot with the playwright.  It also elaborates on the influence of economic dynamics in generating the movement of the plot which oscillates between the Christian anti-usury attitude and the money-driven prosperity of the Empire.