The Character of Shylock in 'The Merchant of Venice' by William Shakespeare

The Character of Shylock in 'The Merchant of Venice' by William Shakespeare

- Victim or Villain?

Who is Shylock? If you’ve heard of one of The Famous Shakespeare’s

plays “The Merchant of Venice” then surely you’ve heard of the

character “Shylock the Jew”, who is mostly well known for his meanness

and his typical Jewish character. He is seen as both the victim and

the villain in different parts of the play, but the question is, which

of both is he really? I see Shylock as both victim and villain, and

below I will explain how I have come to that conclusion.

His villainy is driven mostly by revenge and jealousy towards Antonio

(his opponent). We first encounter this in Act 1 Scene 3, where we are

first introduced to Shylock and we learn of his usury when Bassanio

asks to borrow money from him in Antonio’s name. ‘ I hate him for he

is a Christian; but more, for that in low simplicity he lends out

money gratis, and brings down the rate of usance here with us in

Venice.’ In this line he complains that Antonio lending out money

gratis is affecting his business but we also discover his hatred

towards Christians in general. This hatred especially increases when

his daughter Jessica runs off with Lorenzo (a Christian) and his

ducats. ‘My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a

Christian! O my Christian ducats!’ confused, he doesn’t know whether

to sob for his daughter or for his stolen ducats. I really have no

sympathy for Shylock by the loss of his daughter because I believe he

was more slightly more concerned about his ducats than his daughter.

‘I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear:

would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin!’(Act

3 Scene 1) This harsh quote also proves to me that he loves his money

and jewels more than his daughter. The loss of his daughter also

fuels Shylocks for Antonio (for he is a Christian) ‘I’ll plague him;