he holds up the Jew to ridicule through the role of Isaac Mendoza, the money-lender; “The School for Scandal” has a Jewish figure in the person of Mr. Moses, likewise a moneylender.
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The Pro-Jewish Stage Tradition
The pro-Jewish Stage Tradition in England exhibits itself perhaps first in the character of Zabulon in Beaumont and Fletcher’s “The Custom of the Country”; he is a rather low character, in whose mouth, however, a praiseworthy sentiment is placed, to the effect that Jews are men, and have compassion when they “find fit subjects” for their bounty. But it remained for Richard Cumberland (1732–1811) to challenge positively and unflinchingly, the anti-Jewish dramatic tradition. He dared oppose popular prejudice, and produce plays wherein the Jew was portrayed, not only not as a villain, but as the leading and heroic figure. His two plays: “The Jew” written in 1794, and “The Jew of Mogadore”, a comic opera
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