The Image of the Miser Between Al-Jahiz and Shakespeare (A Comparative approach)

Abstract This study falls within the framework of comparative studies, and what we aim to achieve is to examine the image of the miser among East and the West, taking Al-Jahiz's "The Misers" and Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" as models for our study. We attempt to approach them using some mechanisms of cultural criticism to reveal the underlying patterns rooted in the Arab and Western mindsets through which the image of the miser has been formed, using the comparative approach as a means to clarify the points of convergence and divergence between the two concepts.