Shakespeare Aftershocks: Shylock

Aftershocks, this paper argues, are repetitions of Shakespearean characters, narratives and themes which make no conscious connection to, or acknowledgement of, the source which helps to register their impact (Garber xviii). The idea behind the aftershocks is that Shakespeare's plays, and especially controversial ones most visibly and differently marked by their culture, provide an earthquake-like impact, the vibrations of which continue to register throughout history. The aftershocks described in the paper are describe are faint enough to sound no explicit connection to their centre and yet they reverberate in specifically similar patterns. Here, The Merchant of Venice aftershocks in contemporary film texts such as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Tropic Thunder and Borat.