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Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
William Shakespeare wrote the merchant of Venice in the Elizabethan
period. The play is a tragic-comedy. It is set in a place called
Venice in the late 15th century. Venice is situated in the north east
of Italy and is known as the 'Queen of Adriatic' for its strong naval
power.
The play is about Shylock a Jewish moneylender, who is trying to make
a living in a community and a Country that despises him and alienates
him!
At the time when the Merchant of Venice was written England was a
Christian country, all children would be baptised soon after they were
born and were taught the basics at a very early age. Also at this time
Christians hated Jews because of the profession of lending money and
charging interests. Jews were isolated in England for being sinful to
a great extent because Christians by religion were unable to lend
money. Jews had become a money lending society because they were often
forbidden to own land or work in businesses. So the only real job left
to them were they could make a lot of money, was to lend money and
charge interests.
There was a great hatred between Christians and Jews in Venice; the
Christians made the Jews live around the outskirts of Venice while
they lived in the centre. The Christians pictured the Jews as inferior
because of their religion. Shakespeare made shylock as a very
interesting and an entertaining character, because he was able to
capture sympathy and understanding from the audience towards Shylock.
If Shakespeare had written Shylocks character showing that he was
backing up Jews he could have lost his head for that!
Shakespeare has made Shylock a very avaricious character this aspect
of him can be seen in the very first line he says 'Three Thousand
Ducats. Well'. This big part of Shylocks character can be seen
throughout the play. To its extreme when Jessica, his daughter runs
away taking his money and jewels with her, he says ' I would my
still a common view of Jews is for them to be penny pinching, both in
They had an idea to make as much money as they could and buy a little
Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice An ogre is according to the Collins Dictionary “a monstrous or cruel being” but more significantly as “something or someone who eats human flesh.” Is this how Shylock is portrayed in the play or is he a simple human being, a species capable of showing emotions and feelings such as vulnerability and love. Certainly, Shylock is presented to the audience in so powerful a way that even though he only appears in five scenes, many consider him the central character. Throughout the play Shylock appears to be the butt of all the jokes and many critics see his status in the play as the tragic hero.
‘villain’; he is a complex mix of both. In the first part of the play,
Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice Shylock's character in Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice' has long been a controversial subject- more so now than it was when the play was written in the late 16th Century. First performed in 1605, it seemingly conforms to the anti-semitic stereotypes towards Jews and their conduct but, unlike Shakespeare's rival's work ('The Jew of Malta) by Christopher Marlowe, the main Jewish character is attributed not only the negative traits associated with Jews at the time, but also a side that sees to show humanity. Therefore, in this essay, it is my aim to explore whether calling Shylock the villain in the play is justified or not based on his actions and those of the characters surrounding him (to see if there is evidence of provocation), and placing this into the context of Elizabethan England and thus coming to conclusions abut whether views towards the extent of his villainy have remained the same. The one single action in the play which seems most convictive of Shylock is his argument with argument over the lending of 3,000 ducats-and the penalty fixed in case of its late return in Act 3 scene 1.
Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice "Shylock is a two dimensional villain who does not deserve our
Shylock as the Villain in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare wrote 'The Merchant of Venice' in about 1597. It was first performed by The Chamberlain's Men at the Theatre Shoreditch. The Merchant of Venice was in the repertory of Shakespeare's company before they took up residence at the Globe in 1599. The play was written as a comedy, but has become a serious drama.
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare features, Shylock a very controversial character due to his religion, profession and personal traits. Professionally Shylock lends money to people in debt, in order to gain interest and profit. Although, this is very much central to our modern way of life, in the Elizabethan period, money lending was not accepted as an acceptable profession. Throughout "The Merchant of Venice" Shylock is portrayed as menacing, inhumane and slightly eccentric, yet at times misunderstood and induces sympathy from the reader.
get his own back, as the text says; 'Cursed be my tribe if I forgive
Antonio, in which he gets to cut off a pound of flesh from his body,
In Act 1 Scene 3, we are first introduced to Shylock, we see him as
This character sketch will be on Shylock, describing his physical and personality traits. Shylock is an older, Jewish money lender who has one daughter named Jessica. Shylock is introduced into the novel when Antonio’s friend, Gratiano needs money in order to impress a girl. Antonio at the time does not have any money and sends Gratiano to Shylock to borrow money from him. Shylock does not like Antonio because of past experiences where Antonio made fun of him publically. This leads to an interesting bond that Antonio must agree to in order for Gratiano to get money. Shylock has many different character traits such as vengeful and his greed which will be displayed in this character sketch.
It is evident in both plays by William Shakespeare that ambition and pride seem to be the
things he has called him and for all the many times he has spat on him
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.