Merchants, moneylenders and a mad man: Shakespeare and Cervantes survey the moral landscape in a global culture of commodities

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

International Journal of the Humanities

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Abstract

Globalization! Conflict with the Islamic world! The period, of course, is the 1570's and the conflict is the war between the Catholic Holy League and the Ottoman Empire. In the Battle of Lepanto, Miguel de Cervantes was one of 30 thousand Catholic soldiers wounded or killed, while inflicting a similar number of casualties upon the Muslims. Twenty-five years earlier, Henry VIII had lifted the age-old Catholic ban on usury, opening the door for the private investment in overseas trade, which would allow London to overtake Venice as the world's commercial capital. While historians recorded the outward clash of civilizations, Shakespeare and Cervantes explored the internal societal contradictions created by the influx of foreign capital: the values of Belmont versus the values of the Rialto in the Merchant of Venice (the only play Shakespeare named after an occupation) and Spain's futile attempt to create a closed society with a uniform set of beliefs while attempting to compete in a global economic free-for-all. Their deep insight into the moral implications of capitalism continues to resonate today. © Common Ground, Thomas Sorger, All Rights Reserved.

Volume

9

Issue

5

First Page

93

Last Page

106

DOI

10.18848/1447-9508/cgp/v09i05/43235

ISSN

14479508

Link to Full Text

Share

 
COinS