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Shylock merchant of venice character analysis
Shylock merchant of venice character analysis
Shylock merchant of venice character analysis
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Is Shylock Victim Or Villain in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare wrote the Merchant of Venice in the Elizabethan period. The play is about Shylock, a Jewish money lender¡: trying to make a living and survive in a community that despises him and marginalia's him. Before the plot even starts, Shylock is condemned for being a Jew, and a moneylender. Jews were forbidden to be successful businessmen in Venice, so the only occupation open to him was money lending which they exploited to the full, this gave Shakespeare an opportunity to capture sympathy and understanding from the reader towards Shylock. One of Shylock's first phrases in the play is "Three thousand ducats". This can be seen in two ways: as a man making a living at one of the very few occupations open to him, or a greedy cold materialistic man. I think he fits the cold greedy character more, because he makes such a big point about locking up the house and protecting his possessions. Also this shows him as a victim scared of the outside world. Shylock is left alone with no family, as Jessica, his daughter, elopes with Lorenzo, a friend of Bassanio's. Shylock earns pity from the audience when he tells Bassanio that, "My daughter is my flesh and blood", meaning that with her gone it is as if a part of him has been taken too. He turns into a villain when he screams in rage showing his emotions and strong views "My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! Only Christian ducats" This shows his hatred for Christians, and that his property has more value to him than his daughter's life. Shylock's famous plea for equality ... ... middle of paper ... ...ck can be seen as both comic and tragic because of his quick-witted responses, almost playing with the insults that are thrown at him from day to day. And tragic because of the loss of his daughter, friend and possessions. I think because he has been driven to the edge of insanity, from the torment and prejudice pushed on him throughout his life by his own Venetian community. That has led him to such misfortune and bitterness. I feel that shylock is both a villain and victim as we can see in the play. When a gap opens for him to get revenge his true colours are shown, and the reader can see how evil he really is. Also he is a victim of great torment and is judged for something he believes in. Shakespeare wrote the play for you to decide and have your own opinion on Shylock, I feel he is a victim and deserves revenge.
In Susan Pharr's "The Common Elements of Oppression", she defines "the other" as the outcast of society, the ones who stand up for what they believe in, no matter how `against the grain' it may be, the ones who try the hardest to earn acceptance, yet never receive it. In Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice", Shylock, the `villain' is portrayed as the other simply because of his faith, because he is Jewish in a predominantly Christian society.
But as the plot unfolds and his plan comes to action, he is more of a
He is particularly hated as a moneylender. Ultimately he is forced to convert from Judaism to Christianity. There are no winners or losers, victims or villains when it comes to religious or racial hatred. Everyone is a victim, locked into a vicious cycle of intolerance that produces acts of inhumanity to members of a different race or religion. Shylock is both the victim of such acts of inhumanity, but also the villain who, admittedly out of revenge, perpetrates similar acts of inhumanity.
If these characters were both purely evil, and had no guilt whatsoever, this would be simply a boring story of unhinged men. Adding both good and evil sides to an individual adds a little something extra to the story that distinguishes it from many other pieces of literature. Aside from adding to the storyline, these morally ambiguous characters give students a chance to practice their skill at analyzing characters and think for themselves, forming their own outlooks on the characters and the book as a whole.
say, “If I can catch once upon the hip I will feed fat the ancient
This is shown by 'If it be proved against an alien' (Act 4 Scene 1
hate him for he is a Christian” this is not a valid reason to hate
to pay it back. We see Shylock as a Villain in this scene as he plans
which tells us that Shylock is being referred to as a dog, not like a
... only reason why he really wanted the bond was to get an upper hand on
just a pound of flesh.” To cut off an exact pound of flesh and have it
William Shakespeare shows how two tradesmen can have completely different lives when others view them differently in the play The Merchant of Venice. In the play, Bassanio, Antonio’s friend, needs money to pursue his love. They seek a loan from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender in Antonio’s name. The contract is for three times the value of the bond in three months or else Shylock cuts off a pound of flesh from Antonio. While all this is happening, there are love plots going on. One of which is for Shylock’s daughter to elope with Lorenzo, a Christian. Later on, Antonio’s source of money, his ship, is reported sunken in the English Channel, dooming him to the loss of one pound of his flesh. There is a trial on the bond, and when it seems sure that Antonio will die, Portia, disguised as a doctor of laws legally gets Antonio out of the situation and Shylock recieves harsh penalties. Antonio and Shylock, two similar businessmen of Venice, are viewed differently and are treated oppositely to heighten the drama of the play and mold a more interesting plot.
In every great play, there must be a villain to assist in forming the base of the plot. Without a villain, no story or play will be successful or interesting. Shakespeare is well known for his use of different types of villains in his plays. “What constitutes a villain? -- You could probably write a whole thesis on that one. I'm going to adopt a rather loose working definition - villains are people who do bad stuff.” (Dooley) Dooley’s description of villains is a very accurate summary of the description of villains. They are, essentially, people who do things that are seen as morally wrong by readers. Many of the villains in Shakespeare’s plays come across as almost sociopathic. In Shakespeare’s plays Othello, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet, the villains are Iago, Oberon, and Claudius, respectively.
It is difficult to say if Shylock is a complete villain or a victim, as his character is complex and ambiguous. However, it is difficult to view Shylock as anything other than a devious, bloodthirsty and heartless villain in the majority of the play. There are a few points in the story where he can be viewed as victimised, as most Jews were at that time, but Shakespeare has purposely portrayed Shylock as a stereotypical Jew, greedy, and obsessed with money. Shylock has been written to be very inflated and exaggerated. Even when Shylock makes his first appearance in the play, his first words are “Three thousand ducats,” Act 1, Scene 3.
There can be many similarities drawn to both the character Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and Barabas in the Jew of Malta. However besides the obvious fact that they were both Jews, and the common stereo-types that were attributed to both of them such as being miserly and conniving, there are gaping differences in the dynamics of the characters themselves. “There are profound differences in Barabas and Shylock. The role assigned to by Shakespeare to his Christian characters is far more extensive, his Jew on the other hand has been scaled down and domesticated. Shylock has none of the insatiable ambition that makes Barabas for all his grotesque acts, a character along the lines of the great Faustus and Tambourlaine.”(Shylock,21) There is a much greater roundness in Barabas then Shylock. Marlowe portrays Barabas the Jew in a dynamic and somewhat curios manner. It is difficult to surmise Marlowe’s intent when portraying the Jew, yet it is certain that there is more than what seems topically apparent. It is very clear that he is an outsider, not only in the obvious aspect that he is a Jew in the less than theologically tolerant and politically correct Elizabethan drama, but he is also an outsider in terms of evil and his mode of thought. He is obviously a villain, lying cheating, poisoning a entire nunnery, even killing those we thought were close to him, including his daughter, yet through his Machiavellan quest for power and riches we somehow become almost endeared to him and he becomes an anti-hero. All these aspects combine to make Barabas a character that we are somehow drawn to in the same way people are drawn to stare at a traffic accident...