ABSTRACT
The marginalized status of the Jew is addressed in many of the Romantic era plays that represent period Jewish characters, themes, and music. For the purpose of a survey of the Romantic period, it is more pertinent to focus on the commentaries by Cumberland's own contemporaries. The degree of caricature in the stage representation of the comic Jew could be even further exaggerated by having another character don the disguise of a Jew. For one thing, there was a growing presence of Jews in the theater audience, and all audiences, Jewish or not, were attending plays written by Jews and performed by Jews, listening to music composed by Jews and sung by Jews. Departing from an older tradition of stage Jews as comic caricatures and cunning villains, Edmund Kean attempted a sympathetic portrayal of Shylock. Wicked Jews still stepped forth in the melodrama of the Victorian era, but there were no more Baddeleys.
