Annotated Bibliography

Here is the part of what I hope to be an extended annotated bibliography. I’ve actually been collecting sources since before phase one, so this kind of takes you through my process from the beginning as well. I’ve ended more at looking at abuse (current issue) by applying Shakespearean examples.While it’s more conventional to list my sources in alphabetical order, I’m going to shake things up a bit and go chronologically (in my research, not when they were published). I know, crazy stuff.

Armato, Philip M. "Good and Evil" in Lillian Hellman's "The Children's Hour" Educational Theatre Journal , Vol. 25, No. 4 (Dec., 1973), pp. 443-447 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3205597

Beautiful. Compares The Merchant of Venice and The Children's Hour by talking about the cycles of victimization. In the end, Karen and Antonio's mercy is the answer. The victimized become the attackers. Neither Antonio nor Karen had been very nice to the people that then turned around and gave it back to them when they finally got the power. Maybe the characters could say that the other deserved it, but in the end, justice doesn't help anyone.

Willson, A View of Justice in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure, 70 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 695, 721 (1995)

Portia is showing mercy when she tells Shylock to show mercy. She already knows that there is a way for Antonio to escape the bond, and allows Shylock the opportunity to still get the money and not have his life on the line. (Page 712)
Judaic law v Christian mercy: one calls for eye for an eye, the other is the fulfillment of that law with the coming of the Messiah (who gives the higher law).

Breaking the Cycle of Abuse

Byron Egeland, Deborah Jacobvitz and L. Alan Sroufe

Child Development , Vol. 59, No. 4 (Aug., 1988), pp. 1080-1088

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1130274

This article in Child Development talks more about the statistics and research behind the abuse cycle. (It is disputed whether it exists.) This article claims to prove its existence, and gives some reasons beyond the normal that’s-what-they-grew-up-with-and-know theory. It points out that poverty is something that extends through generations, and tends to have a higher percentage of abuse. This makes sense in The Merchant of Venice. Not only do the characters treat each other in ways that they have historically been treated, but the lifestyle Shylock has become accustomed to involves contracts and enforcement of them.

NiCarthy, Jenny. Getting free: you can end abuse and take back your life. 1982.

Look at "Isolation" and Emotional Abuse. Shylock? He’s isolated in a foreign land where he can’t become a citizen.
This book is one of the most famous ones on abuse. It talks about how sometimes the victim tries to retaliate and momentarily gets a sense of power, but it “doesn’t enable you to live the kind of life you want.”
Other topic is the one of sympathizing with the abuser (which is kind of the opposite of Merchant). This is when the victim thinks that the abuser only act this way because s/he doesn’t understand how this makes the victim feel. In this case, it is the job of the victim to inform the abuser, otherwise they’re just enabling. Shylock never tries to explain the problem to Antonio or work out a solution; his issues are mostly discussed in asides.
Something interesting: the book talks about making empty threats (like, “if you do that again I’ll leave,” if you really won’t). Don’t make a threat unless you plan to carry it out, it says. So I guess Shylock has something going for him there.

Jones, Maria. Shakespeare’s Culture in Modern Performance. London: 2003. Print.

I actually found this book while looking for another book in the library. The system told me the book was available, but alas, it lied. Luckily, this one was nearby and I like it all the more. In the chapter “Producing Consent in The Taming of the Shrew,” Jones talks about the choice that is taken away from Kate of who to marry. Her reputation is marred, an emotional abuse probably worse to her than physical, and the only way to restore it is through an unwanted marriage. This makes me want to work some more Taming of the Shrew in here.