TO WHAT EXTENT CAN THE MEANING OF A LITERARY WORK CHANGE OVER TIME? HOW DOES THIS QUESTIONS APPLY TO AT LEAST TWO WORKS THAT YOU HAVE READ?

BY APRIL AND IMOGEN

KEY WORDS

to what extent…meaning…change…how…

Because our ideologies in society change, our

interpretation of a text changes when we read it

even though the text remains the same. This is

evident in Merchant of Venice and the Reader…

TWO MAIN POINTS 1) How the text is interpreted in

the context it was written2) How the text is interpreted

today – modern/ contemporary audience – 21st century

MERCHANT OF VENICE – ELIZABETHAN ERA • In the Elizabethan era, social beliefs

of Jews were demonised. • Christian beliefs were strong and

influenced law• Everyone was religious accepted

norm• The bad treatment of Jewish people

was accepted by all • Money is linked with greed (negative

connotations) Shylock is associated • Shylock, represents all Jews in the

play, values money over relationships• Whereas Christians all value

relationships over business

THE READER – POST WWII • Guilt of Nazi War Criminals• The post Nazi generation trying to come

to terms with the past (Michael) -> very judgmental of their parent generation

• Relate to Michael and his struggles to come to terms with the past

• Relationship frowned upon within society -> Michael keeps this from his friends/family

• Illiteracy was seen as a social norm for her generation

• Takes certain people from war camps unfair treatment – favouritism

MERCHANT OF VENICE – NOW• Sympathy towards Shylock• Understanding that Christians aren’t always

good people• Shylock is bad because he lends money with

interest now-a-days this is an accepted and practiced trade

• Greed is still seen as bad but we would not see Shylock as very greedy in comparison to the Elizabethan era

• Jessica is seen as a little out of control a lot of time when Shylock looks out for Jessica

• The relationship between Portia and Bassanio during those days the method used to decide Portia’s husband was normal now it is very rare and unusual

• The age at which the characters are married is very young now it is frowned upon.

• Not everyone practises a religion

THE READER – NOW

• Feel sympathetic towards Hanna lack of opportunities

• More understanding of her actions due to her economic status

• See Michael and others like him as bad because they judge Hanna

• At first think the relationship is weird get used to it after a while

• Illiteracy is very rare in developed countries and thus we feel sympathetic towards Hanna

• Before reading the book we sympathise for the Jews but after reading we get an understanding of the German perspective

• Takes certain people from war camps see her as protecting them

CONCLUSION- It can be seen that the time period

and context in which someone reads a text affects the way in which they interpret the meaning - the actual text does not change it

- Meaning is established through the social construction at that time.

- Social norms differ greatly from now in comparison to when the texts were written and vice versa.

- Meaning is also dependent on culture, religion, demographics