Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

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Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

The play was "A merchant of Venice" was written in 1599, in

Elizabethan times. Shakespeare's main two sources for writing the play

were two folk tales woven together. One involving a marriage suitors

choice among three chests and therefore winning here hand in marriage.

The other as based on a greedy creditor trying to extract a pound of

flesh from a man. A contemporary play written by Christopher Marlowe

gave Shakespeare the inspiration for the character of Shylock.

In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice the antagonist of the play is

Shylock. Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender. Shylock is probably

the most memorable character in the play because of Shakespeare's

excellent characterization of him. In the play Shylock loans Antonio

money, and out of jest he suggests that should the loan not be repaid

in time Shylock may cut off one pound of flesh from Antonio's body.

When Antonio's ships do not come in and he is not able to repay the

loan Shylock is no longer interested

in getting his money back. Shylock wants revenge for the loss of his

daughter and as his treatment as a Jew through the fulfilment of the

bond. After the loss of his daughter Shylock ran through the streets

crying "My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!" as children followed

him, mocking him. This causes us to feel sympathy for Shylock, even

though we may feel him to be a villain. Besides the loss of his

daughter and his ducats, after the trial Shylock also looses his

property and his religion. The loss of his property was certainly a

blow to Shylock but it can hardly compare to his loss of his religion.

His forced conversion to Christianity brings out more sympathy for

him.

However I believe that the context of the play does determine the

response of both the characters and audience, but I also believe that

Shylock is not as bad as he seems. Often, The character Shylock, in

Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, is portrayed as a beastly

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