Quotes From The Merchant Of Venice

However, although Shylock may be a merciless character, he is hated by everybody, discriminated against, spat upon, for his race alone; because he is a Jew. Shylock’s hatred for Antonio is somewhat justified when he describes how he has been treated by the Christian.

Shylock, a jewish merchant preyed upon for nothing more than his religion, Antonio, a devoted christian, is Shylock’s biggest tormentor. This is show-cased “You, who spat on my beard and kicked as you would a stray dog out of your house” 1.3 115-116, this quotation represents Shylock’s side of the story, how he sees the way Antonio treats him, throwing it in his face. Shylock’s growing frustration towards his tormentors taunts causes a rather deeply meaningful spew of speech to flow from his mouth "I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. " 3.1 1300 Shylock is trying to convince them to stop fighting him for they all are human, all one species, all made the same. "If a christian wrong a jew, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Jew wrong a Christian , what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. " 3.1 1330 Shylock is saying what happens if a christian commits a crime to a jew or vice versa,

Discrimination and hatred across religions can be often become a normal part of everyday life, and can be difficult to eradicate and extinguish. In William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, the idea of the “normality” of everyday prejudices comes across in interactions and the portrayal of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender in Venice. Through Shylock’s character, Shakespeare provides a commentary on how his society has viewed Judaism in a dehumanizing way for many generations, but also expresses how difficult and not in a playwright’s place to change these societal prejudices.

A play that is filled with Jewish slurs, anti-Semitic remarks, and no justice for the main Jewish character is, in theory, seen as despicable. After the Holocaust, all Jewish slurs and stereotypes, like calling someone “dog Jew” or thinking Jews only care about money, have been exiled from moral society. This even applies to pieces of art that were produced pre-Holocaust. However, William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is not only read, but taught in schools across the nation. The Merchant of Venice provides the tale of Bassanio and Antonio who take out a loan from the Jewish merchant Shylock. Throughout the play’s insanity, each and every one of the non-Jewish characters waste no time to harass Shylock about his religious

Some brought up arms with the same contenders who overturned their lives or slaughtered their relatives” (In a war 1).This paradigm is an episode where youngsters are included in a war and had no childhood. One motivation behind why this unites with harassing is for the reason that tormenting prompts genocide. These kids at youthful ages experienced as much mishandle to the point where youngsters began obtaining weapons to protect themselves. Moreover, an incident in The Merchant of Venice further illustrates that harassment leads to genocide. For example, Shylock once spoke, “I hate him for he is a Christian. He hates our sacred nation, and he rails” (I.III.36-42). In other words, Shylock detests Antonio for the reason that Antonio takes part in Christianity and dislikes individuals of the Jewish faith. One motivation behind why harassment pushes one to commit genocide is for the reason the people have their limits. Shylock in The Merchant of Venice has been harassed by Antonio and other Christians as much to the point where Shylock has the desire for

Shylock on the other hand is not put on the same pedestal as Antonio. As the Jewish representation of Venice, Shylock, “as a usurer, refuses to lend money interest-free in the name of friendship.” (Bevington, pg. 76) This act of usury in the eyes of Christianity is considered sinful, immoral and inhumane. Instead of lending money interest-free he applies collateral and conditions to the bond. Also, Christians of the time looked at Jews with negativity. “It can be argued that this goes back to the earliest days of Christianity, when the tradition began of making the Jews bear the guilt of the Crucifixion. Throughout medieval and early Renaissance Europe the prejudice bred dark fantasies: Jews were accused, for

“There is no doubt that Shylock is a cunning and vengeful man, but nothing can justify the treatment he receives at the hands of the Christians.”

He was more worried about his ducats and he doesn’t care that Jessica ran away but the fact that she ran away with a Christian. He asks for justice and the law to help get his money back, because he is greedy. Emotive language is used because it emphasises that Shylock was angrier about losing his money then losing his daughter.

Shylock could be considered the victim of Antonio's bullying. Because Shylock is a Jew, he is treated in a way in which he seems like a peasant and Antonio is royalty, even

William Shakespeare 's comedy The Merchant of Venice uses contrasting religions to draw out major themes through the ethnic divides that are exemplified. The play expresses the extreme cultural divide between the Jews and Christians through a legal contract between two men. The rivalry between the two men, Shylock and Antonio is clear from the beginning of the play and only intensifies as it continues on. Modern day readers most likely take away a slightly different message from the play than what was originally intended. However, his intended message is also further strengthened with the post World War II influences on the reader 's thinking. Shakespeare’s play uses these ethnic rivalries to express thematic elements such as sacrifice and loss which are further impactful with the post holocaust lens that twentieth century readers use.

In “Merchant of Venice”, Antonio is the main character as he is the “merchant” in the story in Venice. As Antonio is a Christian, he is quite anti-Semitic and rude to Shylock, making some people believe that he is spiteful and bigoted. However, most of the play centers on him being the victim of the “villain” of the play, Shylock due to their bond they made. As Antonio is willing to give everything for Bassanio without any payment and he strikes at any chance to help Bassanio, I believe Shakespearian and modern audiences would believe him to be more of a well-intentioned and loyal friend.

In my reading, I would have to say Shylock is a villain of persecution. Shylock has made many unacceptable decisions, that are now crumbling in front of his eyes all at once. He is blaming his bad judgment on his Jewish religion. In the speech, he only talks about helping himself. Shylock does not care about anyone, not even his daughter, who he wishes was dead at his feet, wearing his jewels. It is unfortunate Shylock is selfish and a murderer, leading him to care about money more than his own blood.

To a modern audience, William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is blatantly anti-semitic, yet the people of the 16th century presumably would have described the play as a hilarious comedy. An Elizabethan audience perhaps would have argued that Antonio is the protagonist of The Merchant of Venice since he is a caring man who risks his life to help his dear friend find love. In Shylock’s speech in 3.1, Shylock notes his intent to harm Antonio, citing the innumerable ways Antonio has wronged him as his reasons for desiring revenge. Shakespeare uses syntax to ensure Shylock’s speech is clear and includes allusions in order to suggest that Antonio represents a biblical figure, therefore making Shylock the antagonist and Shakespeare’s audience able to justify the court’s decision.

Defeating the enemy, light-heartedness, and a happy ending for the lovers are all elements in a comedic play. William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice shows that love conquers all and that you can always defeat the enemy. Even if a pound of flesh is the difference between life and death, or if one wrong person chooses the casket that decides your fate. For example, The Merchant of Venice, Antonio, not only survives the fate of having a pound of his flesh taken from his body on account of his friend that could not repay the bond to a man who is seen as the devil, but gets thrice his money back and the villain is taken down. Not to mention that Antonio’s best friend, Bassanio, not only repays the bond and gets out of his debt to

This explicit demeaning of Shylock cannot but be significant in light of the historical outline that has been observed through the desecration of Jews for many years. The images of Jews as blood-thirsty murderers of Jesus who snatch innocent Christian children for slaughter in bizarre Passover rituals seems to provide a potent back-drop for the demonic appellations that are heaped upon Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (Fiedler 63).