Home › Forums › Seforim, Books, & Reading › Was William Shakespeare an Anti-Semite?
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February 5, 2013 9:43 pm at 9:43 pm #926988ConfuciousMember
Mark Twain was a great admirer of the Jews.
February 6, 2013 1:31 am at 1:31 am #926989OneOfManyParticipantjust my hapence: …okay…
February 6, 2013 1:37 am at 1:37 am #926990OneOfManyParticipantYserbius123: Is that the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you are talking about?
February 6, 2013 3:41 am at 3:41 am #926991Yserbius123ParticipantOneOfMany: Yes. The one where the sole black character who is given any voice is constantly looking up to a pair of troublemaking 12 year olds because they are de white man. It’s also the same book where a character offhandely mentions that no one died on a steamboat boiler explosion, but a couple of n*****s where killed.
February 6, 2013 3:50 am at 3:50 am #926992OneOfManyParticipantYeah, you definitely didn’t read it right…
February 6, 2013 4:11 am at 4:11 am #926993ThePurpleOneMemberya mark twain wrote a whole poem how throughout all the generations the jews r so small yet always survive.. very sweet in my opnion!!
question-
never read shakespeare (def sounds interesting tho!!) but why wud s/o wana read “tradegy”? i know ppl like 2 cry s/ts but tradegy sounds scarrrryyy…
February 6, 2013 4:16 am at 4:16 am #926994popa_bar_abbaParticipantFor the record: Anyone who thinks Huck Finn means that Mark Twain was racist, is being ridiculous. You are confusing his own opinions with the opinions of the people about whom he is writing.
February 6, 2013 4:18 am at 4:18 am #926995ThePurpleOneMemberduh!! but also the time era when he wrote the book was very racist
February 6, 2013 4:58 pm at 4:58 pm #926996Yserbius123ParticipantMy point is that racism was the norm in Twains era and by no fault of his own, he also believed in it to a certain extent. Just read the scene near the end of Huckleberry Finn where Jim is captured and locked in a small shed while Huck and Tom work on an overly romantic plan to get him to escape. The whole time Jim obviously has no idea what is going on, but he goes along with them because he just assumes that they know better than he as to what to do. There’s even a line where Jim muses on the fact that they are white, so they must know what they’re doing.
Also, several times throughout the book, blacks are referred to as almost sub-human by some of the main “good” characters.
February 6, 2013 6:05 pm at 6:05 pm #926997OneOfManyParticipantYserbius123: You are definitely misinterpreting Twain’s intent. I recommend reading some of Twain’s other works – especially his short stories. Personally, they really helped me flesh out my understanding of his general opinions and style.
February 6, 2013 6:06 pm at 6:06 pm #926998OneOfManyParticipantNow that I think of it…his style is rather a lot like popa’s…
February 6, 2013 6:48 pm at 6:48 pm #926999zahavasdadParticipantThe better question would have been if DICKENS was an anti-semite.
Forget what you saw in Oliver, read the Book Oliver twist, Dickens constantly says Fagin, the jew and the pictures in the book of Fagin have a beard and a long hooked nose.
There is a 1930’s movie version of Oliver twist where Fagin has a long hooked nosed, beard, Long Black coat and Tzitith
February 6, 2013 6:49 pm at 6:49 pm #927000popa_bar_abbaParticipantI have read every work of Mark Twain which I could get hold of. I even have a collection of his letters, and they are quite amazing.
One of my favorites is the essay where he makes fun of Fenimore Cooper. I actually read Deerslayer after that to see what he was making fun of, and of course I couldn’t enjoy it anymore.
February 6, 2013 7:13 pm at 7:13 pm #927001OneOfManyParticipantI definitely see the influence. ^_^
Which are your favorites? Mine are “Journalism in Tennessee” and “Cannibalism in the Cars.”
February 6, 2013 7:49 pm at 7:49 pm #927002webwrightMemberIt is typical to misunderstand an historical work using modern interpretations. The Christian attempt to convert Shylock near the play’s end, is an act of kindness. It was believed that acceptance of yushke chas v’sholom would save him from an eternity in hell.
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