Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

Throughout the education system, there seems to be an unofficial consensus that pieces of literature that are deemed “controversial” should not be taught in school. The Merchant of Venice falls into this category due to the Anti-Semitism which exists within the play making it “controversial” therefore, banned. On the contrary, this play should not be considered controversial and it should not be banned due to the learning experiences and knowledge that can be gained by reading this play. The contrastive style of literature will provide students and teachers alike who read this play the chance to expand their horizons when it comes to their English skills. With this in mind, The Merchant of Venice written by William

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare takes place in 16th century Venice, a social, artistic and political, hub of Europe. The protagonist Antonio, a wealthy merchant, takes out a loan so that his dear friend Bassanio can travel to Belmont in hopes of winning the heart of Portia, the daughter of an affluent nobleman. As it is against Christian law to loan money with interest, Antonio seeks out Shylock, a Jewish money lender who has had quarrels with Antonio in the past. One of the most important aspects of the play is how Shakespeare presents gender roles, and the opposition of societal norms to critique the standards of the time related to men, women and the relationship between the two.

This week’s Lecture was focused on the third play in the four comedies book named “The Merchant of Venice”. This play was known for being controversial but also very interesting play that captured the attention of the viewers. Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is set in Renaissance Venice, with a few scenes in a town called Belmont. The setting is important – Venice was one of the wealthiest towns in Europe, as it was right on the sea, with excellent shipping facilities for trading with the east. During this time, there was a large population of Jew’s in Europe, although 16th-century Venice was more tolerant of foreigners than Elizabethan England, Jews in Venice were confined to ghettos at the time Shakespeare wrote “The Merchant of Venice”. If a person compares “The Merchant of Venice”, to the other Shakespeare’s plays that have been covered in this class already and also to the ones that have not be covered yet, such as “As You Like It” or “Much Ado About Nothing”, some common features can be found throughout each of these plays. Some of the common features are: Multiple plots, Dual settings, Games/Trials/Practical Jokes/Music, Love Vs. Friendships/Multiple Marriages, Different types of relationships and a comic villain. Each of these features will be explained in greater details.

Shylock is a character famously known as being the antagonist of Shakespeare’s play merchant of Venice. In this play, Shakespeare portrayal of Shylock the moneylender is one of anti-Semitic stereotype. Shylock is depicted as a typical bloodthirsty Jew who lives a life void of any depth or meaning. His sole purpose for living seems to be to amass wealth and vengeance as seen from his adamant claim for his “pound of flesh”. Despite Shakespeare’s attempts to humanize Shylock at points in the story, it appears that his primary focus is to steer the audience against Shylock, painting him as being a cruel, bitter and inaffable figure. It is clear that in both Shakespeare’s merchant of Venice and Grace Tiffany’s Turquoise Ring, Shylock exposes

Shakespeare has also presented Shylock as a hateful and revenge-driven character when Shylock says ' I hate him for he is a Christian.' The verb 'hate' Shows that Shylock detests, loathes, anathematizes, and scorns upon Antonio. However, Shylock hates Antonio, because of all the bad things he's done to him, like spit on him and call him a dog, so his hate is out of his hands. The noun 'Christian' in the quote shows that Shylock hates Antonio just because of his religion. Another way to interpret this is by saying that Shylock is discriminating the whole Christian religion due to one man. This links to context because in the Elizabethan era, Jews detested Christians because of their religion and vice versa.

Shakespeare skilfully demonstrates religious intolerance towards Jews in the Elizabethan era automatically emphasising the kindness of Christians through the discerning use of evidence from the text of The Merchant of Venice. Christianity was the centre of society for Elizabethans, this resulted in discrimination against Jews. The character of Shylock, a Jewish money lender is portrayed as immoral, thirsty for Christian blood and is dehumanised by other characters in the play whereas the Christians were drawn as the moral and righteous human beings of the Elizabethan era. This is depicted through the quote commenting Shylock as, “The Hebrew [who] will turn Christian. He grows kind.” (1.3.175), a metaphor insinuating that Jews were unkind and

Antonio was a typical narrow minded christian when it came to religion; however, he was so true and passionate about his friends he was willing to risk his life to help his friend in need. Antonio, a christian, strongly abhors and is very abrasive towards Shylock, a jew: “You call me misbeliever, cutthroat dog, And set upon my Jewish gaberdine,... You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur” (1.3.121-128). Within this quote Shylock is talking to Antonio and telling him after he has called him a dirty dog, spit on his beard and Jewish clothes, and kicked him he wants to ask to loan money from him. This shows that Antonio is very narrow minded because the main reason he mistreats Shylock is because he is a Jew. In addition, this shows that he is very abrasive when it comes to Shylock because he has done so many terrible things to him over a period of time and hasn’t felt sorry or bad once for what he has done and how he as treated him. In addition, although, Antonio is very narrow minded when it comes to religion he is willing to risk his life to help a friend in need. Bassanio, one of Antonio’s friends had asked Shylock to put a loan under his name to wow his dream girl, and Antonio ends up sealing a bond risking his life for Bassanio: “Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken In what part of your body pleaseth me….” (1.3.160-163). Within this quote Shylock

Hamlet believes that his life now revolves around a life of madness, blood, and having his revenge any way he can get it, he is willing to give any life but a chosen few that between him and the death of his horrible stepfather he believes that without the death of the King nothing will ever be good for just again in the state of Denmark. That the corruption, decay, and disease will continue to spread. He will not only lose the honor of his family but the respect from himself. In Act II, Hamlet comes to the decision that he has no other choice than to kill Claudius, at that point he still thinks he can save so many from his uncle's deceit. “ O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction,

Shylock’s theological knowledge changes the audience’s perspective on him as his religious belief warrants an adoption of Semitism to understand, in addition, the modern historical effects of the holocaust gives a sympathetic view and interpretation to his character for modern audiences. Alternately, Shakespeare’s depiction of Shylock appears Anti-Semitist in nature, portraying him as somewhat greedy and hateful, causing a stark contrast to the beliefs held in the modern day. However, this affects the audience’s perception of him in comparison to the Christian characters as the treatment he receives seems undesirable

William Shakespeare composed the tragedy of Macbeth in 1606. The play encompasses the lives of people in Scotland during the murder of their king- King Duncan. One of King Duncan’s Thanes, Macbeth, becomes aware of his future prophecy after the witches predicted it. Lady Macbeth eventually persuades Macbeth to become eager and greedy- which ultimately leads to him committing the murder of King Duncan. Afterwards, Macbeth becomes the King of Scotland. As time passes, Macbeth felt guilty and culpable- the prophecies that he believed in so much led him to ultimately kill others. Macbeth can be described as brave and ambitious at the beginning of the play, but his downfall, towards the end of the play, is caused by his guilty conscious and feelings of regret.

In the play the ‘Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare the antagonist Shylock is both the victim and the villain. Shylock is a Jewish moneylender and is initially portrayed as anger filled and bloodthirsty but as the play continues we begin to see him as more human and his emotions become more evident. As the antagonist, Shylock is a fearful adversary to Antonio, the protagonist. But as good begins to win over evil, Shylock is crushed and we see evidence of his mortality in his grief. Shylock changes significantly though out the course of the play and he is formed into a too complex character to be labeled just victim or villain.

This story is where Jacob was told by laban that he could have any ewe

did this through Shylock. In Act 3 Scene 3, Shylock tells of how he is

In The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare examines attractive qualities in a royal suitor through the casket test designed by Portia’s late father. Each suitor’s choice represents his perception of himself, Portia, and marriage, therefore can be anticipated by his words and actions prior to and during the test. The presence and expression of bravado among the men functions as the most indicative characteristic of the men’s choices, as a man’s portrayal of himself can tell a great deal about his views towards women and relationships. This foreshadowing is accomplished through their boastful diction, willingness to risk, and reactions to the caskets. As the three caskets each represent a different viewpoint, the three men also represent three distinct personality types, thus different expressions of confidence which the reader is able to detect through the suitor’s words and actions as they are systematically written by the author.

In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is one of Shakespeare’s most complicated characters. Throughout the play he seemingly hates everyone save Tubal, a Jewish friend. He even refuses to acknowledge his daughter because she runs away to marry Lorenzo. Nevertheless, Shylock is a fascinating character because initially it is difficult to know whether to embrace him or reject him. To support Shylock is to condone murder, but to reject Shylock is to ignore the plight of someone who seems to be hated possibly because of his religion and race. However, as Shylock’s character is gradually revealed through his famous defensive speech, Shakespeare leads us to dislike Shylock and recognize his character as one of pitiful selfishness.