Coodin, Sara. “Conversion Interrupted: Shame and the Demarcation of Jewish Women’s Difference in The Merchant of Venice.” In Race and Affect in Early Modern English Literature, edited by Carol Mejia LaPerle. 79-98. Tempe: ACMRS Press, 2022.
An examination of constructing Jewish racial difference in Shakespeare's late 16th century play The Merchant of Venice. Coodin argues that the psychic and affective details placed onto a female Jewish character—namely, religious self-loathing and shame—are critical devices by which female Jews were racialized; and that these details were shown to be factors in Christian theorizations of conversion. The article engages conversations in the study of religion, Judaism, the history of emotion, and early modern Europe.
