Abstract
This article delves into the evolving nature of money, credit, and usury in the early capitalist era in relation to concerns of religion and ethnicity to reveal the source of Antonio’s melancholy in The Merchant of Venice. It argues that Antonio’s inexpressible melancholy is caused by the gradual commercialization, materialization and symbolization of an individual as well as the social relationships as a result of the increasing power of money and the changing credit system in the nascent capitalist era. Antonio’s melancholy reflects Shakespeare’s concerns and worries about the herald of a symbolic economic system, as well as his pursuit of meaning, affection and essence amid the changing economic scenario.
Keywords
Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, literary hermeneutics, melancholy, usury, credit
First Page
172
Last Page
180
Recommended Citation
Jiao, Min. 2022. "The Melancholy of Antonio in The Merchant of Venice: From the Perspectives of Usury and Credit." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 42, (4): pp.172-180. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol42/iss4/18
