Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

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Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

There have been many variations over the hundreds of years in how the

character Shylock has been played in productions of “The Merchant of

Venice” by William Shakespeare. Shylock is often noted as the most

important character in the play, so the way he is performed can change

how people interpret the play itself.

Shylock can be interpreted as the villain or the victim of the play.

Sometimes in productions the audiences’ sympathies can swing first

one-way then another, the actor will portray Shylock as a consistent

character however; certain scenes create sympathy for him.

Racism is a key issue in the play. Both the Christians and the Jew

(Shylock) indulge in racist acts towards each other. Shylock admits at

his first appearance that he hates Antonio because of his beliefs, “I

hate him for he is a Christian” this is not a valid reason to hate

someone and would illustrate Shylock as a villain. In some people’s

view Shakespeare has created philosophical characters, Shylock - evil,

Bassanio - loving and Antonio- self-sacrificing. Antonio was in some

ways willing to sacrifice his life so that his best friend could have

a happy one. This is an allegory with Christianity, Jesus laying down

his life, reinforcing the Christian message. However there are many

incidences where Shylock is the victim of racial banter e.g. puns of

gentile. “If you prick us do we not bleed… if you poison us do we not

die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” Here Shylock is

saying that Christians and Jews are both human and deserve to be

treated the same. In the scene of Antonio’s trial, the Duke, who

should be impartial is very obviously biased towards Antonio and

doesn’t feel the need to conceal this. We do not feel pity for Shylock

here because he is causing so much pain due to his hatred of the

Christians this makes us perceive Shylock as a villain.

The way characters behave shows what they are really thinking.

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