ABSTRACT
Although Shylock's influence looms large over the English literary imagination, other factors are at play. As the changes in how Shylock was performed demonstrate, the representative dominance of the character is often mediated by ongoing developments, such as the Jew Bill controversy, that affect popular notions about Jews. Despite the unusual variety of Smollett's Jewish characters, they are still dominated by stereotypical features. More than that, his examinations into Jewishness always circle back to economics. Sheva also exemplifies this trend of complicating Jewishness through reorienting the commercial character of Jews by inverting a negative sociability relying on corrupt or withheld exchange with a positive sociability defined by charity. D'Israeli aside, conservative writers maintained a degree of suspicion towards Jews, especially regarding their transnationalism and their associations with finance. Unsurprisingly, these traits were precisely those celebrated by radical writers. The distinction of property is evoked throughout the novel by the personae that Caleb imitates.
