Essay Shylock of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

The merchant of Venice is a drama and romantic play, by William Shakespeare. Regarding the test for the suitors and the final part of the book, the author is inspired by a fourteenth-century Italian novel of Giovanni Fiorentino, called “Il Giannetto”, (Bullough, 1957). The merchant of Venice is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. It is contained on the First Folio, in the contents of Comedies, sharing certain aspects with others plays. That one traditionally ends with the positive return to order expected from the genre, it also has some characteristics of a tragedy, in particular with regard to the punishment and the oppression that are suffered to Shylock Jew. The peculiarity is the title of this book, “The Merchant of Venice”, in fact, it refers to the character Antonio, and not Shylock, a moneylender, which has a pivotal role in this play. One possible reason is that by calling “The Merchant of Venice”, Shakespeare wanted to focus the attention of the readers, on the

In ‘The Merchant of Venice’ Shylock is very strong minded and is singled out of the play because he is a mean Jew that charges interest. Shylock is very stubborn and determined to keep to his bond; a pound of flesh of Antonio.

Shakespeare engages a modern audience through the character Shylock. Shylock in The Merchant of Venice is the antagonist of the play and is subject to sequences of misfortune, much to the delight of the Elizabethan audience. However, in a modern context we show slight feelings of sympathy towards him as a result of today’s ideologies. Upon meeting Shylock we see that his religious standing puts him in an isolated position against the Venetian society. A line is recited

‘Without setting, characters are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most importantly, no reason to care.’ The setting gives place for a narrative to begin and evolve from, without a strong setting some texts may be difficult to interpret without extra contextual and historical knowledge of the time period of which it was written. Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice written 1603 was set in Italy, in the Venetian Republic . This setting was gaining popularity with Elizabethan writers, maybe as a form of escapism, to have a crypto - catholic approach, as this country was the largest and still is the largest Catholic country. Or a more general form of escapism from the society at that time. Writing for a predominantly working class audience, Shakespeare’s work is an escapism from the audiences hardship of life.

The

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

Shylock is punished by the Venetian court for seeking to end Antonio’s life. He is charged under a Venetian law (of Shakespeare’s creation) and he is forced to give up his wealth and to beg the Duke to spare him his life. Viewed like this it seems simple enough; Shylock broke a Venetian law and, as a consequence, is punished. However, Shylock’s case is far from simple. Antonio’s demand that Shylock should renounce his Judaism and become a Christian and his insistence that Shylock should will his money to the Christian

The first event that demonstrates that Shylock is a victim would be that he is ridiculed by his community and his family. Antonio and Shylock were never friends. They always fought because Antonio was a Christian and Shylock was a Jew. They also have different money lending practices which cause a lot of discrepancies. Antonio always mocked Shylock. He calls him a misbeliever and a cutthroat dog. Shylock tells us that Antonio “…call me misbeliever, cutthroat dog,/ and spet upon my Jewish gabardine,” (1.3.108-109). Here Shylock demonstrates that Antonio on a day to day basis mocked Shylock. Later on, Antonio mentions that he will call Shylock that again if he wants to. Another example would be Antonio’s friends. They teas Shylock for his faith and his misfortunes. When Jessica runs away with Shylock’s money and jewelry, he asked the Duke to go help him search Bassanio’s ship for them. Solanio heard

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is so alike to our financially afflicted world. The rules of law and commerce are subject to deceptive manipulation, fear of "the other" overwhelms respect for a common humanity, duplicity is the norm, sexuality is a vehicle for ambition, and money drives and wraps almost every action. It is a classic tale that includes important details of the financial crisis in the United States during 2007-2009. Shakespeare’s Venice, like the New York of his time - and the financial capitals of ours - is a city based on borrowing, on market speculation and greed masquerading as wealth and sophistication. Behind the curtains of the practice of lending and borrowing money in Shakespeare’s play lay the transition to capitalism: the rise of banking system; the scarcity for credit in developing industrial enterprises; and the growing dispute of default facing both aristocratic landlords and, above all, small, independent early entrepreneurs on trading ventures. Even though almost 600 years apart from each other, both Shakespeare’s tale and the financial crisis in the United States during 2007-2009 have a similar financial dilemma, each has its unique Shylock, Bassanio and Antonio- people who were responsible for causing the meltdown of their days.

Stereotypes for every different religion, ethnicity, culture, and gender exist among the minds of the human race. These typecasts have ruled this world for as long as there has been diversity among people. In Shakespeare’s comedic tragedy, The Merchant of Venice, one prejudice is very central to the theme. The play is dominantly set in Venice, one of the most liberal cities of the Renaissance era. In this place and time period, anti-Semitism is very much in force. The Jewish people are discriminated against and treated terribly by the Christians living in Venice. Shylock, a wealthy Jew, is mercilessly spurned many times by men like Antonio, a Venetian merchant. In contrast to this blind hatred is the longing and lust associated with

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare portrays Shylock as a victim throughout the play, but as he seeks revenge towards the Christians and everyone who has done him wrong, Shylock defends himself with some villainous behaviour. To a modern audience, the discrimination and suffering Shylock experiences, place him as a victim. Throughout the play, Shylock, a Jewish money lender, is perceived as a greedy and miserly man due to his Jewish culture. In Shakespeare's time, exploitation of Jews was common; particularly in Venice as it was an anti-Semitic city. However, Jews thought of themselves as victims of harassment and oppression. Shylock has been discriminated against, but nevertheless seeks revenge on people who have done him wrong which displays another side to Shylock. Therefore, Shylock is viewed as a victim and a villain, but more of a victim because of the abuse he has suffered.

William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is a perplexing story of dark humor, race, religion, identity, love, and justice. Generally, most people understand The Merchant of Venice as a comedy about a bitter and outcasted Jewish moneylender named Shylock who seeks revenge against a Christian merchant who has failed to pay his loan back. However, there are many different perspectives on whether The Merchant of Venice is a comedy or a tragedy depending on one’s views on the difference between race and religion. If one views the story as a comedy, it is a dark comedy full of many problems, especially the controversial subject matter of anti-Semitic attitudes of its Christian characters. If one views it as a tragedy, it is a tragedy that concludes with majority of its characters in a “happy ending”—that is if one agrees that Jessica’s decision of love over betraying her father and giving up her Jewish identity is indeed a happy ending.

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

Shakespeare characterised Shylock in such way that he highlights the inequalities of him, them being ungrateful, vengeful, and religious intolerance. As each is explored Shylock is directed towards a harmful act to deem his vengeance upon his greatest rival, Antonio. Shakespeare’s idea in the play tells us mercy is preferable to revenge. In Act 1, Scene 3

1 scene 3 in a building in a street in Venice. The building in which