Primary Source 4

Click on the picture to see the full woodcut.

Much of the poor treatment of Jews during the Early Modern Era (and even currently) was focused on the idea of their guilt by association in Christ's crucifixion. Never mind that it was (according to Christian mythology) a necessary sacrifice created by God to save sinners from the stain of their sin. At any rate, one interesting point in this woodcut is the depiction of circumcision in the lower left corner. In addition to their portrayal as shrunken and hunched evildoers, it connects through juxtaposition the myth of Jewish male menstruation to the blood debt which they owe for the killing of Jesus. Mary Metzger, in her article "'Now by My Hood, a Gentle and No Jew': Jessica, The Merchant of Venice, and the Discourse of Early Modern English Identity," points out that Jewish men, unlike Jewish women, were physically marked as different even if they were fair like Jessica. Even if they were to be accepted as converts, they would carry the mark on their body of difference, making it that much more difficult to integrate into society.