The Merchant of Venice which Shakespeare was likely familiar. (Auden sees the theme of usury in the play as a comment on human relations in a mercantile society.) Other interpreters of the play regard Auden's conception of Antonio's sexual desire for Bassanio as questionable. Michael Radford, director of the 2004 film version starring Al Pacino, explained that, although the film contains a scene where Antonio and Bassanio actually kiss, the friendship between the two is platonic, in line with the prevailing view of male friendship at the time. Jeremy Irons, in an interview, concurs with the director's view and states that he did not
The Jew (play) Shylock in William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and Barabas in Christopher Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta". In a series of articles called "Observer", first published in 1785, Cumberland created a character named Abraham Abrahams who would later serve as a template for Sheva, the title character in "The Jew". In one instalment of "Observer", Abrahams is quoted as saying, "I verily believe the odious character of Shylock has brought little less persecution upon us, poor scattered sons of Abraham, than the Inquisition itself." A decade later, in writing "The Jew", Cumberland sought to create a positive image of a