The Character of Shylock in William Shakespeare's Play

The Character of Shylock in William Shakespeare's Play

Shylock is a Jewish money lender living in Venice in the 1600s. He is

a widower and has a daughter who he does not care about. In Venice

Jews were discriminated against because of their religion, they were

forced to live in separate places and were spat on. The definition of

a victim is someone who is picked on. A villain is someone who

discriminates about people. Venice was a trading city with ships

coming in and out.

My first point is about how Shylock is a victim. He is a victim

because he encounters a lot of racial abuse, verbal and physical.

Walking along the street it was common for Jews to be attacked by the

Christian Venetians. They were forced to wear a red hat and a yellow

badge. They lived in the ghetto which was locked up at night. We see

this in the play when Shylock says: ‘ you called me misbeliever, cut

throat dog and spat upon my Jewish gabardine.’ Shylock is called a

dog, and is often called a lower class animal by Christians, so they

were seen at the bottom of the hierarchy. I do feel sympathy for

Shylock because I would not like to be discriminated against because

of my beliefs.

We are given lots hints by Shakespeare about how Antonio and the

others refer to Shylock. Shylock is often called ‘the devil’ or ‘the

dog Jew’. He is seen as a completely evil person and opposite to the

Christians. He also often wasn’t called by his name, but referred to

as ‘the Jew’. This is also separating him, and also shows they do not

see him as a person.

Shylock heaps further pain on Shylock when his daughter elopes with a

Christian. She also took a lot of his money. Money was one of Shylocks

main reasons for life so he misses it greatly. He also misses Jessica

as a person, ‘my daughter is my flesh and blood.’ He still misses his

daughter even after what she did.