Perspectives on Shylock from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

Shylock is a character famously known as being the antagonist of Shakespeare’s play merchant of Venice. In this play, Shakespeare portrayal of Shylock the moneylender is one of anti-Semitic stereotype. Shylock is depicted as a typical bloodthirsty Jew who lives a life void of any depth or meaning. His sole purpose for living seems to be to amass wealth and vengeance as seen from his adamant claim for his “pound of flesh”. Despite Shakespeare’s attempts to humanize Shylock at points in the story, it appears that his primary focus is to steer the audience against Shylock, painting him as being a cruel, bitter and inaffable figure. It is clear that in both Shakespeare’s merchant of Venice and Grace Tiffany’s Turquoise Ring, Shylock exposes his dark side of hatred and contempt. However, by providing keen insight into Shylocks personal life prior to the events of the court case, Grace Tiffany adds a complexity and depth to Shylock, which allows the reader to sympathize and understand what compelled him to be the man he was.

The novel begins by describing Shylock’s relationship with his wife Leah and the events leading up to there subsequent marriage. In so doing, it shows an aspect of Shylock not seen in the merchant of Venice. It reveals Shylocks sense of kindness and sensitivity through his romance with Leah. Never in this ordeal is Shylock portrayed in a negative light. This point is best illustrated in the incident where Shylock returns from being interrogated by two men from the Christian brotherhood. Although Shylock tells his wife the events which transpired, seeing that his wife was already in a fragile state of shock, he refrains from mentioning the harsh details of their threats, as it says “he said nothing to Leah of the c...

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...esses the fact that he recognizes that not all Christians are inherently evil as he says “good gentiles live”. As well, he obviously had the generosity to lend Bassanio money in the first place, despite the apparent risk of nonpayment which proves that he could not have hated them. Shylock even states that he has no real intentions of enforcing his bond. It is only because of the way Antonio persecutes him both verbally and physically, which evokes past memories of Christians abuse, that his tolerance is pushed to the limit so that he is forced to act the way he does.

Shylock is generally a kind, caring, and sensitive person as seen through his relationship with his wife. “His ability to mask his anger was the means by which he thrived”. It is only through cumulative stress that he explodes, a common human flaw which is understandable and somewhat pardonable.