Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin, an English professor, says in her literary criticism "You have rated me: Insults in The Merchant of Venice" that the insults in Shakespeares Merchant of Venice are unfunny, uncreative, and unsettling due to racism. While insults are fun and entertaining in other plays, such as Much ado about Nothing or A Midsummer Night's Dream, Vienne-Guerrin explains that she finds the insults in The Merchant of Venice boring and can not possibly be funny. Firstly, she believes insults in Shakespeares plays to be, "...are paradoxical words that are offensive and yet entertaining, that they only seem to be bad words but are actually a good theatrical and artistic material." When she reads Shakespeares other plays, she typically is …show more content…
In Shakespeares time period, Jews were lower class in society and were victims of racism. This must be shown and evident in The Merchant of Venice or it would not be realistic. This does not make Shakespeare a racist or anti semetic, but only demonstrates the reality of this time period. Without this, it would be even more insulting towards Jews to not acknowledge the racism they went through. In this way, The Merchant of Venice gives us a glimpse into history and reminds us of the troublesome times Jewish people went through. If you look at The Merchant of Venice in this light, one can realise that the insults could have a different purpose and meaning. In todays world, everyone is politically correct and meticulous about racially insulting people. Therefore many people, like Vienne-Guerrin, can consider the insults in The Merchant of Venice to be unsettling when truthfully they are simply reflections of their time period.
Vienne-Guerrin makes a major flaw in comparing The Merchant of Venice to Much ado about Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The three of these plays have completely different plots and characters. Each of these plays have a different message, therefore each have their own style of humour. Therefore, it is not logical to compare them to each other. Each Shakespeare is it's own work of art with different themes and motifs. One may enjoy King Lear more than Macbeth, but that does not make Macbeth a poor story without humour. It is a matter of opinion and what ones style and preferred genre of story