Religious views of William Shakespeare his time in his sensitivity to the Islamic world and its inhabitants." According to the conclusion of Prof Matthew Dimmock, Shakespeare's depiction of Islam and Muslims "denied either scriptural congruence or religious coherence, embodied in the martially aggressive male." Shakespeare's works included several Muslim characters, including Aaron the Moor in "Titus Andronicus", the Prince of Morocco in "The Merchant of Venice" and Othello in the eponymous play. These works are said to have been inspired by several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England around 1600, such as that of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud. Shakespeare also makes one explicit reference
Antonio (The Merchant of Venice) Antonio (The Merchant of Venice) Antonio is the title character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". An influential, powerful and wealthy nobleman of Venice, he is a middle-aged man and a merchant by trade who has his financial interests tied up in overseas shipments when the play begins. He is kind, generous, honest and confident, and is loved and revered by all the Christians who know him. His willingness to die for Bassanio is a manifestation of his character. Antonio manifests anti-semitism by cursing and spitting at Shylock (anti-semitism was common in Europe in Shakespeare's days). He is a structural