ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3, “The merchants of love: White privilege shades justice,” white privilege intersects with gender, class, religion, and race. Ser Giovanni Fiorentino’s Il Pecorone probably served as Shakespeare’s primary source. Wealthy, white ladies handicap undesired suitors to manipulate marriage. Portia and the Lady of Belmonte change into male gender expressions to influence Venetian court cases and save their husbands’ sponsors from death. Jessica cites Shylock’s bond as her reason to steal her dowry, convert, and marry a Venetian Christian. Portia denies Nerissa informed consent before pressing her to adopt a male gender expression. In Il Pecorone, the nameless maid advises Gianetto to stay sober to perform in bed and win the Lady of Belmonte for which he marries her to his sponsor without her permission. The Moorish mother-to-be of Launce’s child lacks presence and voice. Anti-Semitism, class, ethnicity, racism, and sexism circumscribe Italian ladies, maids, and mothers, the cisgender female and gender-fluid characters exercise as much, if not more, agency than their statuses afford.
