Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice
That Shylock is portrayed as being a typical Jewish businessman is
contentious. There seems to be a lot more to Shylock than first meets
the eye, especially when it comes to his dealings with money and
keeping his word. He has to put up with quite a bit of abuse from
Christians and others. He is a very stubborn person though, and this
seems to be one of his major downfalls within the play. To support my
argument I am going to look at both the views of the Christians and
the Jews from the play, as well as support my views with evidence from
the text. In this essay I will write about the role of Shylock being
perceived as a typical Jewish businessman and how the character would
have an effect on a Elizabethan audience, and how times and the
attitudes towards Jews have changed.
One of the main storylines in the play is that of the agreement
between Antonio and Shylock. Shylock agrees to lend money to Antonio
and not to charge interest, on one condition; if Antonio fails to pay
back all of the money on time, then Shylock is allowed to literally
take ‘a pound of flesh’ from Antonio’s body. Antonio does fail to do
this and the case is brought to trial. When it seems as thought
Shylock is going to win the case, there is a sudden twist and Antonio
is let off with his life, and Shylock loses everything. Antonio in the
lay is seen as everything the perfect Christian should be; he doesn’t
argue his case and is resigned to his fate. Shylock, however, is very
stubborn, and is determined to win the trial. It is here where it is
recognised that Shylock might not be as stereotypical as first
thought. Bassanio offers him three times the original amount of money
that was first offered to him, but unlike the stereotype of a Jew
during these times, Shylock refuses.
The main themes of the play are racism, prejudice and love.
decided that he is right about something and he will prove it. When the man doesn’t
thinks that he just merely works under them and he always has to no matter what
He is a very proud man and cares about his reputation a lot. He has a
him to think he can do no wrong and his actions towards Eva Smith were
that he is not in a good mood and is spoiling for a fight also he acts
family and make the feel guilty for what they have done. He is a very
others to do things in a way that benefits and moves him closer to his own goals. He is
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.
going wrong, he is not able to see his own faults and do anything to
In Act 1 Scene 3, we are first introduced to Shylock, we see him as
receives. So it would not be fair to say that he was totally evil as
The plot, characters, and relationships present in William Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice all revolve around the concept of money; a theme that is strongly linked to the religious dichotomies explored throughout the comedy. At the beginning of the play, Antonio and Bassanio 's money-rooted relationship is introduced. Bassanio asks Antonio to lend him three thousand ducats. Antonio agrees to take out a loan for his friend, even though Bassanio had previously borrowed money and had not yet returned it. Antonio’s willingness to help out his seemingly untrustworthy friend, demonstrates his belief that friendship is more imperative than money. As a Christian, Antonio is following the expected trend; he is valuing life over stuff. Another
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.