A little History from Shakespeare Himself

As we know, Shakespeare did write various historical dramas including every number of Henry you could possibly think of, along with John and a couple Richards. How accurate the was historical information provided though? We don’t really know and we will most likely never actually know due to the 400 years that have passed since these plays were written. Even though these specific works are known as histories, I believe that some of the other tragedies as well as comedies also provided a perspective for how certain things were portrayed during this time.

After reading The Merchant of Venice, we learn about how the Jewish community was treated and what role they had in society. While he might not have been completely spot on about certain things like where they lived, I believe the overall treatment was accurate for that time period. Shakespeare lived in a time period where all Jews were expelled from England, so naturally, there was discrimination towards this community. History does prove this play correct in the sense of the attitude towards the Jewish community, but this play could be used as another example for the negative connotation towards the Jewish community. Even though this was a fictional drama, bias and discrimination were common during this time.

Another play that could have also portrayed parts of Shakespeare’s society is Othello. This play was written during the time of the Elizabethan era, which did not have the most positive image of the non-European individuals. During this time, non-Europeans, like Othello, were often singled due to their cultural norms and beliefs as well as being referred to as moors, devils, or even villains. Along with these actions, moors, based on their color of skin, were given the stereotype of being jealous, morally corrupt, and the worst of all—sexually overactive. These themes are all common in the description Othello by other characters as well as the prejudice inflicted upon him in his tragedy. Let’s just say the Elizabethan era may have also been foreshadowing for future history in various parts of the world. Although this is another fictional play by Shakespeare, the major of the attitudes and stereotypes types were present during the time when it was written as well.

Shakespeare may also have created some historical inaccuracy. As we talked about in class, The Merchant of Venice and Othello are both set in Venice. But it was not Italy’s Venice, it is Shakespeare’s made up idea of Venice. Though he had never actually been there, he still thought it would be a good idea to set the scene of his own idea of Venice because he knew no one at the time was going to question it. (He did this in multiple plays, not just these two). Another example of inaccuracies in Venice was how the Jewish community lived in ghettos and were secluded from the rest of society (low-key foreshadowing for some not-so-great events in the 1930s and 1940s), but Shakespeare makes it seem as if they were regular citizens just roaming the streets with everyone else, which was not the case in real life. Shakespeare was inflicting English stereotypes and societal norms onto a place he had never been to, which could cause a lot of confusion.

There are also other inaccurate depictions of history in Shakespeare’s other plays, but I have not read them, therefore, I cannot yet expose the truth.

Side Note: I did read Othello last year, I am not making up all of these ideas myself.