Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

Shylock is in many ways much more difficult for us to deal with today

than for Shakespeare's audience. We have seen a hatred for the Jews

since Shakespeare's time with Hitler's attempt to wipe out the Jewish

race, but people in Shakespeare's day were unlikely to have met Jews

who had not converted to Christianity as they had already been banned

from England for three hundred years. So people in England would be

opposing the character Shylock because they are ignorant of the Jews.

Jews had always been seen as a problem in the Middle Ages and had been

practising Judaism privately and secretly giving the impression that

they're scared and cautious of their religion, not being tolerated in

this country.

Throughout the last two thousand years, into the twentieth century,

Jews have been the victims of random pogroms. For instance, the

crusaders, who sought to rid the holy land of infidels in the middle

ages, murdered Jews and pillaged Jewish property whilst travelling to

the Middle East.

Racism still exists today and in 'The Merchant of Venice' through the

sufferance and rogue character of Shylock.

Shylock is portrayed as both a victim and a villain. His character is

ambiguous - he is portrayed as both a stereotypical Jew: vicious and

cunning, and also as a fastidious, compassionate person who deserves

our sympathy. His role is very complex.

At the beginning of the play, we find out that Shylock has suffered

lots of abuse at the hands of the Christians, particularly Antonio.

Antonio publicly humiliates Shylock and criticises him about the way

he lends money, which s...

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...Semitic, but in places

Shakespeare lets Shylock speak from the heart and we suddenly see him

as a human being, not an alien stereotype.

We can only guess at the way in which Shakespeare intended Shylock to

be portrayed. I feel that Shakespeare intended Shylock to be victim;

he was created to challenge the pre-conceptions and ideologies of the

Elizabethan era. I also think that it is not dynamic enough for us to

simply categorise Shylock as either victim or villain.

In conclusion, I feel that ultimately Shylock is a villain. The way he

treats those he is close to, for example his daughter Jessica exposes

his vindictive and ultimately evil character. He lets his lust for

vengeance engulf all other aspects of his life and his complete lack

of mercy towards Antonio renders him a villain in the eyes of the

audience.