| [00:00.30] | |
| [00:01.00] | Jews, too, weren't supposed to lend at interest |
| [00:03.90] | But there was a convenient get-out clause in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, chapter 23 |
| [00:10.44] | you aren't supposed to lend to your brother at interest |
| [00:13.40] | But to a stranger? Well, that was a different matter |
| [00:16.30] | In other words, a Jew couldn't lend to a Jew, but he could lend to a Christian |
| [00:25.28] | The price the Jews paid for performing this service was social exclusion |
| [00:30.67] | Hence the ghetto. And hence the centuries - long association between Jews and finance |
| [00:38.30] | one of the few forms of economic activity from which Jews were not once excluded |
| [00:46.33] | In the end, of course, Shylock is thwarted |
| [00:49.37] | For although the court recognises his right to a pound of flesh |
| [00:52.84] | the law also prohibits him from shedding Antonio's blood |
| [00:57.31] | And, because he's a Jew |
| [00:58.83] | the law also requires the loss of his goods and life for so much as plotting the death of a Christian |
| [01:04.69] | He only escapes by submitting to baptism |
| [01:08.97] | It turns out to be a risky business to be a moneylender |
| [01:14.83] | The Merchant of Venice raises profound questions about both economics and anti-Semitism |
| [01:20.59] | Why don't debtors always default on their debts? |
| [01:24.15] | Especially when the creditors belong to unpopular ethnic minorities |
| [01:28.41] | Why don't the Shylocks always lose out? |
| [01:33.59] |
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