Growing up with anti-semitism, Shakespeare experienced the separation of the Jews firsthand. Few Jews lived in England, but still there remained anti-semitism. Statistics show that over 70,000 Jews remained in England (~1.6% of the population) and converted to Christianity. Reasons for the separation of Christians and Jews includes the belief that Jews were heretics, the notion that Jews were associated with the devil, that Jews were a threat to their livelihood, and the stereotypes against the Jews. Christians, believing that the Jews weren’t as good as them, concluded that Christians are naturally superior to Jews. Unfortunately, this led to Christians acting bitter and hostile towards the Jews. An incident involving the deportation of the Jews in 1290 and Jews being legally titled as threats, further illustrates the extent of anti-semitism throughout Europe. Many distinct characteristics of the Jewish lifestyle displays the difference between Christians and Jews in society. For example, Jews were forced to wear red hats and live in specialized ghettos. Jews were publicly degraded by being forced to wear special hats or stars because the Christians did not want to be mistaken for a Jew. Jews were given much less rights also. In fact, Jews could not practice their religion openly, become nationals, and were restricted to only money lending and peddling as
Growing up with anti-semitism, Shakespeare experienced the separation of the Jews firsthand. Few Jews lived in England, but still there remained anti-semitism. Statistics show that over 70,000 Jews remained in England (~1.6% of the population) and converted to Christianity. Reasons for the separation of Christians and Jews includes the belief that Jews were heretics, the notion that Jews were associated with the devil, that Jews were a threat to their livelihood, and the stereotypes against the Jews. Christians, believing that the Jews weren’t as good as them, concluded that Christians are naturally superior to Jews. Unfortunately, this led to Christians acting bitter and hostile towards the Jews. An incident involving the deportation of the Jews in 1290 and Jews being legally titled as threats, further illustrates the extent of anti-semitism throughout Europe. Many distinct characteristics of the Jewish lifestyle displays the difference between Christians and Jews in society. For example, Jews were forced to wear red hats and live in specialized ghettos. Jews were publicly degraded by being forced to wear special hats or stars because the Christians did not want to be mistaken for a Jew. Jews were given much less rights also. In fact, Jews could not practice their religion openly, become nationals, and were restricted to only money lending and peddling as