Rationale
Why The Merchant of Venice?
A simple Google search of “The Merchant of Venice” and “banned books” will yield nearly 300,000 results, many of which are news articles about school districts banning the text, the use of the play as Nazi propaganda, and other arguments for and against the teaching of the work. When I examine this as an educator, what strikes me as most arresting is the sheer volume of inquiries and level of discourse present among teachers. For a senior English class like mine, this discourse in itself seems appropriate to investigate for a thoughtful discussion of censorship and literature. In supporting the reading of the text in a classroom, a rationale for teaching the text despite previous and present censorship needs to be explicit.
A high school teacher, writes in “The Case against ‘The Merchant of Venice’” published in The English Journal in 1953 that “our age is slowly outgrowing The Merchant of Venice” because of increasing sensitivity to offending Jewish students. He believes that because Shylock is “almost the very model of the racial stereotype” the play’s days in the classroom are numbered (Carlin 1953). He ends his critique with insight from his students gained from an informal survey after teaching the play. He asks whether it should be taught in schools and whether they believed the play made any contribution to the understanding of Jews. The answer, distilled in the last seven words of his piece, is “My students said no on all counts.” 1
Respectfully, I disagree; though this small classroom account sheds light on the declining presence of The Merchant of Venice in today’s high school curriculum, it is literature that provides a ripe place to hold discussion on issues of racial tension, bias, and other topics potentially deemed controversial, and it is this play specifically that holds many truths for students in urban environments. The very fact that it was and is considered a banned piece of literature is a fantastic point of discussion and the mere idea of it being forbidden fruit is an incentive to read it. If one were to ban all literary works that were controversial and provocative, there would be nothing left on the shelves. Understandably, there are ebbs and flows in social consciousness that alter attitudes toward books; however, a closer look at these ebbs and flows and at what the igniting point of agitation with texts like The Merchant of Venice is exactly what should be occurring in senior English classes like mine. If, as a system, we are preparing today’s student for college readiness, it is exactly these classroom discussions and critical analysis that are necessary. It is in my classroom where I can begin to introduce an appropriate manner and vocabulary—and skill in interpretation--to navigate controversial topics and controversial texts that really do deserve to be read (granted that not all do).
The Merchant of Venice is notably a banned book regular and there is rich argument for and against the teaching of it in classrooms across the world. One may say it sits in good company with notable works like To Kill A Mockingbird, For Whom The Bell Tolls, The Awakening, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, just to name a few. There are however established models for teaching previously censored literature, so before reading a single line, to be sure our approach is sensitive in the right ways, we will examine NCTE’s “The Students’ Right to Read” and create a bank of appropriate strategies and vocabulary to use when navigating the controversial reasoning behind the censorship of the play.
Finally, for the most salient reason behind the selection of The Merchant of Venice, the answer can be found in the direct relevancy it holds for my students. The play has obvious thematic and situational connections to the complexities my students face daily, thus the immediate relevancy helps to create and sustain buy-in. If my students see themselves in the characters and situations, they are much more likely to invest themselves in the outcomes and commit to reading. Though the play was penned in 1596 (a widely accepted though still estimated date), my 21st century student will see themselves in the isolation and degradation of Shylock, in the need to put up a financial front in order to ‘get the girl’ as Bassanio does, and in the desire to help at one’s own expense as does Antonio. Additionally, the themes of poor decision making, being at the mercy of a court and the manipulations of the justice system, and of being systematically, financially oppressed are all extraordinarily relevant to everyday lives of my student.
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