ECONOMIES OF SACRIFICE IN THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: GOD, THE GIFT AND SHAKESPEARE
Em McAvan
ABSTRACT
In this paper, I read Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in relation to the Kiekegaardian influenced thoughts Derrida developed in the The Gift of Death. I trace the religiously mediated economies of debt and sacrifice through the play. Who sacrifices, and to what end, I find, is a highly contentious and pressing question for both critical theory of religion and the study of Shakespeare.
KEYWORDS
Shakespeare; Merchant of Venice