The Merchant of Venice and The Tempest: Moral Dilemmas Concerning Religious Authority in the English Reformation

DOI: 10.5176/2251-3566_L31288

Authors: Andrew Wiggins

Abstract: This paper examines the problematic religious archetypes employed in Shakespeare’s plays The Merchant of Venice and The Tempest. Through comparing and contrasting the different ways in which Portia (The Merchant of Venice) and Prospero (The Tempest) exercise their religious authority, the author argues that their inability to perfectly live up to the standard of a religious archetype imitates the view of many 17th century British citizens that felt that the monarchy often failed to fulfill the religious claim of the divine right of kings. Similarly, the characters’ interaction with the symbol of the book reflects the problem of interpreting sacred and secular texts that arose in Europe after the invention of the printing press. Ultimately, Shakespeare’s characters either admit their morally ambiguous positions as religious authorities or fail to see the potentially harmful repercussions of their decisions, commenting on what Shakespeare possibly viewed as an effective or ineffective religious leader in Renaissance England.

Keywords: component; Shakespeare; Christianity; Prospero; Portia; Bible; Protestant Reformation; Renaissance Studies; The Merchant of Venice; The Tempest; Divine Right of Kings; Religious Authority; Moral Ambiguity;