English 510: Some possible topics for Critical Paper #2

Please consult the endnotes and note for further reading in Shakespeare and the Bible, and the list of supplementary readings on reserve

• The theme of slandering or humiliating the king/god
• David [Nabal I--Sam 25 ; Shimei--2 Sam 16; Jesus [Matthew 26-27]; Lear, Gloucester, Duke--Friar by Lucio, Williams and Henry, Caliban and Prospero
• Shylock’s evocations of Jacob in relation to breeding and usury
• Other allusions to Genesis in The Merchant of Venice--Abraham, Jacob and Isaac [Launcelot Gobbo and father] Leah
• Substitution, sacrifice, and suffering
• Biblical references–Abraham and Isaac [Genesis 22], the scapegoat in Leviticus 4.23 and elsewhere
• the figure of the suffering servant--Isaiah chapter 43: 14-28 and chapter 53-55, Jesus, Paul
• Shakespearean references–Miranda for Ferdinand, King Henry for his people, Edgar for the sins of his father and brother, Lear for his people, Cordelia, Mariana for Isabella, Ragozine for Claudio, Antonio for Bassanio, Shylock for the cruelty and greed of the Venetians
• The characters of Isabella and Portia
• Trial scenes in MV, MM, Lear and Matthew
• Gratiano and Lucio as irreverent "Fantasticks"
• The theme of betrayal--of parent, sibling, king, Lord, spouse in any Shakespeare play and biblical book
• The bedtrick in MM and the lawyer's trick in MV in relation to Christian doctrine and Biblical stories
• Flesh vs. Spirit in Romans and in MV
• The figures of bond, debt, ransom and redemption in MV and the New Testament
• Belmont and the community of Christians in Matthew and Paul
• Paul's version of the providential plan of history and the plot of comedy
• The Duke Vincentio and Portia in disguise
• Idealism and cynicism about marriage in MM and MV
• Justice and mercy in Romans, Matthew, MM and MV
• The contrast between Jews and Christians in Matthew, Romans and MV
• The operation of the law in King Lear and MV
• Christians and wealth in MV and Matthew
• Portia and Paul