借贷与信用视域下《威尼斯商人》安东尼奥的忧郁之阐释

The Melancholy of Antonio in The Merchant of Venice: From the Perspectives of Usury and Credit

《威尼斯商人》一剧的标题彰显了经济生活在该剧中的重要性,因此对情感、种族与宗教等问题的讨论不能忽略莎士比亚所处的前资本主义时期经济生活的巨变。本文通过深入分析莎士比亚所处的前资本主义时期金钱、信用的实质的变迁,探讨剧中的种族与宗教问题,分析剧中人物与冲突的实质,从而揭示安东尼奥忧郁的根源以及莎士比亚的隐忧。前资本主义社会中货币的自我衍生属性带来的心理冲击、以血肉为抵押的信用体系取代充满情感纽带与社区归属的信用体系,以及人的逐渐商品化、物化、符号化,使安东尼奥充满着隐忧却无法表达,陷入一种无可名状的忧郁中。透过安东尼奥的忧郁,莎士比亚表达了其对生命意义、情感与内涵的追求。

This article delves into the evolving nature of money, credit, and usury in the early capitalist era in relation to concerns of religion and ethnicity to reveal the source of Antonio’s melancholy in The Merchant of Venice. It argues that Antonio’s inexpressible melancholy is caused by the gradual commercialization, materialization and symbolization of an individual as well as the social relationships as a result of the increasing power of money and the changing credit system in the nascent capitalist era. Antonio’s melancholy reflects Shakespeare’s concerns and worries about the herald of a symbolic economic system, as well as his pursuit of meaning, affection and essence amid the changing economic scenario.