How Is Shylock Presented In The Merchant Of Venice

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

From your reading of the play, explore the character of Shylock. Was he meant to be a figure to be mocked and despised by Shakespeare's audience or did Shakespeare want a different reaction to him?

Throughout history, Jews have been persecuted for their beliefs. Muslims and Christians have thrown Jews from their countries, segregated them when they are present in those countries, and abused them when they are near. Anti-Semitism is not so prevalent in this modern day in some countries, yet a violent religious jihad has been going on in Israel for over 50 years. Not only the vicious battle in the middle east today, but throughout history far worse attacks

But still a common view of Jews is for them to be penny pinching, both in today's society and times past. This is the most obvious prejudice represented in The Merchant Of Venice, as our character Shylock is given the role of the money lending Jew, despised by the Christian fraternity.

Our initial encounter with Shylock is in Act I Scene 3. His first words are "Three thousand ducats, well", instantly giving us the impression that money is important to him. This is a characteristic typically associated with Jews throughout history. His first interaction with any other characters is in this scene, with Bassanio. We are given the feeling during their talk that Shylock is rather sardonic towards Bassanio by his repetition of Bassanio's statements, making him immediately despicable by the audience. Bassanio is quite courteous towards Shylock, only to have his offer of dinner shot down with religious reasons and prejudices on Shylock's part. The audience's reaction would undoubtedly have been one of disgust at the man, only accentuated by Shylock's soliloquy as Antonio

That could well be construed as saying that no extreme is ever going to be the ideal choice; that a compromise will often be the apparent perfect solution. A notable theme in the scene is how Gratiano's is constant comparing Shylock to a wolf. This could have been a standard slur of the day, but it could also carry connotations of how sly Shylock is in Gratiano's eyes.

His leaving the play is much unexpected, and probably more poignant because of that. After his business is cut short, much to his dislike, he simply does all he can and leaves. We are left slightly bemused by his sudden exit from the play, not sure what to think. He doesn't react in a violent or angry way, giving the impression that he is a man of his word and he holds that word in great regard as he is accepting in defeat. The play continues for quite a long time after his departure, which is unusual in a classic play such as this. Despite his vicious intentions at the start of the scene, we feel a slight amount of pity for him as all his hopes are dashed. This feeling is quite hollow though, as his intentions were for harm.

Shylock's purpose in the story is slightly uncertain even