The Jew di Richard Cumberland. Nuove mappature della figura dell'ebreo nell'immaginario collettivo inglese

This article explores the new representation of the Jew in English Literature portrayed by Richard Cumberland. In particular, after giving an overview of the literary portrayal of the Jew from the end of XIV century onwards, it focuses on the comedy The Jew, which was staged in 1794. It constitutes a real turning point in the British collective imagination, as Cumberland was the first dramatist who opposed popular prejudice producing a drama in which the Jew is the leading heroic character. Sheva, the central character, is still a usurer but of a peculiar kind: he is a philanthropist. This new version of Jewish identity can be interpreted as a response to the contemporary stereotype and becomes an outstanding contrast to Barabas and Shylock who dominated the stage for centuries. This positive depiction reflects the new ideas about English politics and society during Romanticism, as long as the Romantic Movement carried on the late eighteenth-century values of tolerance and sympathy, and its trend of thought was greatly influenced by the principles of the French Revolution with its ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity.

Il contributo si concentra sulla commedia The Jew di Richard Cumberland, un’opera che nelle intenzioni dell’autore, alla luce dei princìpi propugnati dalla Rivoluzione francese, doveva sovvertire i pregiudizi popolari e disegnare una nuova mappa dell’immaginario collettivo britannico relativamente alla figura dell’ebreo. Cumberland intendeva, infatti, sradicare le radici dell’antisemitismo inglese e scalzare la forza scenica e immaginifica di Shylock. Sebbene il suo tentativo non sia del tutto riuscito, Cumberland ha il merito di tracciare una nuova rotta, rappresentata da Sheva, un ebreo, finalmente, dalle caratteristiche positive ed eroiche.