What did Shakespeare criticize in his plays?
The conscientious playwright criticized various kinds of human vices and sins，like greed, betrayal» pride, prejudice and deception, including acts of social inequality, sexual and racial discriminations in plays such as The Merchant of Venice and The Tempest. In his tragedies, he condemned the hypocrisy, treachery and general corruption at the royal court. He does not hesitate to describe the cruelty and anti-natural character of the civil wars, against religious persecution and the corrupting influence of money and gold. In King Lear, he criticized the bourgeois egoism while he feared anarchy, hated rebellion and despised democracy. (P28)
