Research Catalog

Title

The yoke of love : prophetic riddles in The merchant of Venice / Avraham Oz.

Author

Oz, Avraham.

Publication

Newark : University of Delaware Press ; London : Associated University Presses, ©1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Description

x, 253 pages; 24 cm

Summary

The theme of this book is disinheriting a father. Appropriating Shylock's Jewishness into the broader field of Otherness, and using The Merchant of Venice as a point of departure and a pivot of its discourse, The Yoke of Love is an intellectual foray into many issues and areas of thought suggested by the Shakespearean text, from cultural history and folklore to medieval philosophy and theology, from politics of the theatre to literary theory, from Jewish history to early modern debates on property, usury, and slavery - all converging in the cultural and theatrical deployment of prophetic riddles in the play involving inspired caskets, intriguing legal bonds, and problematic tokens of love. Tracing the conceptual history of prophecy since ancient times and relating it to relevant concepts such as conscience, wisdom, and time, The Yoke of Love establishes the special standing of the prophetic in early modern discourse and English Renaissance drama.

Subject

• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
• Shylock (Fictitious character)
• Shakespeare, William 1564-1616
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Characters > Shylock
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Characters > Jews
• Shakespeare, William
• Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare, William)
• Merchant of Venice
• Prophecies in literature
• Riddles in literature
• Love in literature
• Jews in literature
• Liebe Motiv
• Prophetie
• Rätsel

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-243) and index.

Contents

Introduction: Shylock and Prophecy -- 1. "As We Would Hear an Oracle": Modes of Riddle and Prophecy in Shakespeare. "The Revolution of the Times": Shakespeare and the Prophetic Experience. "Conscience Born of Love": Prophecy and the Multiple Self. "A Deed Without a Name": Prophesying and the Semantic Menace of Individualism. "Seal me there your single bond": Rebellion and Conformity -- 2. "Which Is the Merchant Here? And Which the Jew?": Riddles of Identity. "Tis Mine, and I Will Have It": Possession in The Merchant of Venice. "A Weight of Carrion Flesh": Shylock and the Discourse of Terrorism -- 3. Strategy and Ideology in The Merchant of Venice -- Epilogue: Transformations of Authenticity: Shylock Among His "Countrymen."

ISBN

• 0874134900
• 9780874134902

LCCN

93031278

OCLC

• ocm28665771
• 28665771
• SCSB-14688326

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library