In the drama ‘The Merchant of Venice ‘ written by William Shakespeare, the character Shylock is a Judaic money loaner who lives in a ghetto with his girl Jessica. He strongly believes in his faith and being a money loaner makes him unpopular among the Christian community. He was seen more as a scoundrel to the Elizabethan audience the ground being Jews were thought to be a lower category to the Christians. The Venetian Jews had to populate in a ghetto, which would be located outside of the chief metropolis with Gatess that would be locked at the certain clip and had to have on an point of vesture to place that you were a Jew. The modern audiences have more understanding for the character and Shylock may across as a victim every bit good as a scoundrel. Harmonizing to the Collins Pocket Dictionary the definition of scoundrel is a wicked individual and a victim is a individual or thing harmed or killed.
The character of Shylock could be interpreted as both a victim and a scoundrel. As Shylock is a Jew and this would do him to be treated severely by the Christians. In the Elizabethan times the Venetian Jews were thought of every bit inferior to the Christians. He is called ‘The Villain Jew ‘ and ‘The Dog Jew ‘ throughout the drama. The Merchant of Venice is about Shylock who is a Judaic money loaner. His girl Jessica runs off with a Christian which is a faith that Shylock deeply despises. Shylock seeks ‘a lb of flesh ‘ from Antonio who is unable to pay back the debt from the bond due to his ships being lost in the sea. Due to the jurisprudence and Antonio being defended and as a consequence of following the bond through to the terminal Shylock is forced to give up his faith and money.
Shylock comes across as craft to the audience while make up one’s minding whether or non to do the bond between him and Antonio. ‘Three 1000 ducats good ; for three months, good. ‘ The repeat of the word ‘well ‘ sounds like he is believing of a program and taking advantage of the state of affairs he is in. ‘The adult male is, notwithstanding, sufficient. Three thousand ducats ; I think I may take his bond ‘ . By Shylock accepting the bond he comes across as holding a program ready to acquire retaliation on the people that have disgraced him. The manner he is talking sounds like he is plotting an thought in his caput to believe of a bond that will do the most out of this chance.
Shylock is once more analyzing the state of affairs and turning it into a scenario that would greatly profit him. ‘If I can catch him one time upon the hip I can feed flesh out the antediluvian score I bear him. ‘ To ‘feed fat ‘ agencies to acquire the most out of the state of affairs and ‘ancient score ‘ shows that his hate is non merely personal but has old ages of history attached. He has been mistreated for many old ages by the Christians and he is utilizing this bond as a opportunity to acquire retaliation for all of the hate he has built up. Shylock is doing the most out of the current state of affairs and doing certain he can acquire a opportunity for retaliation. It shows merely how far Shylock would travel to acquire retaliation and it can come across as if he is populating to acquire retaliation on the Christians.
Shylock is non bear downing involvement for the bond but alternatively he insists that he gets a lb of flesh if Antonio is unable to pay the bond back in three months. ‘Let the forfeit be nominated for an equal lb of your just flesh to be cut off and taken in what portion of your organic structure pleaseth me ‘ . This shows Shylock is a atrocious adult male who is driven by retaliation instead than money. The ‘pleaseth ‘ agencies Shylock is taking where he is able to cut the flesh from and he is likely to take portion of the flesh which is traveling to do the most sum of harm to Antonio. This makes the audience see Shylock as a scoundrel who is driven by retaliation and will seek to do the penalty every bit rough as possible for Antonio. He besides states, ‘A lb of adult male ‘s flesh, taken from a adult male, is non so profitable as flesh of moutons, beefs or caprine animals ‘ . Shylock is acknowledging that deriving a lb of flesh would non be of much value to him and he would non be able to derive a net income out of it. Shylock is being sly and making his best to convert Antonio that he is non interested in the flesh. Subsequently on in the scene Shylock is mentioning to the bond as a ‘merry bond ‘ which means that this is as a game making his best to do Antonio accept the bond. To an Elizabethan and modern audience Shylock would come across as a scoundrel seeking the take the life of a Christian. He is traveling to acquire retaliation by any agencies and utilizing it to make full his desires to pay back what the Christians have been making to him for the past old ages.
Shylock is besides seen as a scoundrel by his ain household. His girl Jessica finds life in the same house as Shylock in which she describes it as, ‘Our house is hell ‘ . This is a metaphor comparing her place to hell which shows merely how bad he is as a male parent for his ain girl Jessica to be stating it. ‘Hell ‘ can be considered as anguish and it shows that she is non acquiring treated reasonably. It is a manner of demoing utmost sadness and a topographic point that she does non happen peaceable and gratifying to be in. Shylock besides tells her to maintain herself locked up inside the house while he is non at place. ‘Lock up the doors ; and when you hear the membranophone and the despicable squealing of the wry-neck ‘d fife, scramble non you up to the casements so, nor thrusts your caput into the public street to stare on Christian saps with varnish ‘d faces. ‘ He is promoting Jessica to be isolated from the universe because of what has happened to him. He is non demoing any trust or religion in his girl because he is promoting her to lock all the doors and Windowss halting her from coming in contact with any Christians. He is demoing his hate for Christians by non desiring her to acquire near to them and at the same clip is besides being prejudiced. She is being imprisoned in her ain place and at the same clip Shylock is commanding what actions she is allowed and non allowed to make. He is being over-protective about the well being of his ain girl.
Jessica says that she is ashamed to be related to her ain male parent. ‘Alack, what flagitious wickedness is it in me, to be asham ‘d to be my male parent ‘s kid! But although I am a girl to his blood, I am non to his manners ‘ . Jessica is embarrassed to be Shylock ‘s girl which makes him seem like a scoundrel. He is handling his girl so ill to the point that she does non desire to be his girl any longer. To state she is ‘asham ‘d ‘ shows merely how broken she is by her male parent and does non desire to be associated with him as his household. Jessica besides says to Lorenzo, ‘O Lorenzo! If thou keep promise, I shall stop this discord ; Become a Christian, and thy loving married woman. ‘ Jessica stating this shows that she is despairing to get away her current life with her male parent and live an gratifying life with person she loves whilst holding the freedom to make as she chooses. Jessica stating this can connote that Shylock is handling his girl cruelly and making non taking what is best for her. She wants to populate a life without her male parent shows how overbearing it must be for her to be controlled on how to populate and what to make every twenty-four hours. She is besides willing to alter faiths and go a Christian. She is despairing to go forth the house and will make anything she can to get away, even if it means altering what she has been brought up in for her whole life. Jessica is besides uncomfortable and humiliated by Shylocks actions which is shown by her stating, ‘I am girl to his blood, I am non to his manners ‘ is cogent evidence that she is ashamed to be his girl and does non hold with the actions and sentiments of her male parent. The Elizabethan audience would believe of Shylock as a barbarous character who mistreats his girl so much that she wants to run off and leave place.
When Shylock hears about his girl running off with a Christian, he seems more concerned about the loss of his money instead than losing his lone blood relation. ‘My girl! O my ducats! O my girl! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats… ‘ . To an Elizabethan audience and Contemporary audience Shylock would come across as a scoundrel for caring more about money than his ain girl. Shylock may come across as being money driven as he is more overwrought about losing his money than anything else.
Shylock will non be made to look weak in forepart of the Christians and hence will non listen to Antonio. He is determined to acquire his retaliation and reassure Antonio there will be no clemency for him. ‘I ‘ll non be made a soft and dull-eyed sap, to agitate the caput, relent, and sigh, and output to Christian mediators. ‘ This is demoing his hate for the Christians one time once more. Shylock is worried that if he listens to Antonio his head will soften and he will be persuaded. It will demo failing in the manner that he is moving. Shylock cleverly uses the abuses he has been given to the Christians to his advantage. He is impeaching Antonio of naming him a ‘dog ‘ without any ground. Since he was called a ‘dog ‘ he has a right to be able to act like one now that he has a opportunity to. ‘Thou call’dst me a Canis familiaris before thou hadst a cause, But since I am a Canis familiaris, mind my Fangs ‘ . This shows that Shylock is severely treated by Antonio, Christians and shows that there is a strong bias against the Jews. Shylock is being cunning by utilizing the Christian abuses against them. He is taking the most barbarian of a ‘dog ‘ and stating if he is a Canis familiaris in every other manner, so he has Fangs and can be every bit as barbarian.
Shylock is obsessed with acquiring his retaliation on Antonio and the Christians and his finding to travel through with the bond is shown in the scene of the test. Alternatively of taking three times the sum of money offered in the bond Shylock insists to travel through with the bond. ‘If every ducat in six thousand ducats were in six parts, and every portion a ducat, I would non pull them ; I would hold my bond. ‘ This shows us that Shylock is focused on acquiring retaliation on the Christians. Earlier on in the drama he showed that money was more of import than his ain girl. Shylock thinks of acquiring retaliation as more of import than the money which shows how serious he is with the bond and that he is improbable to alter his head on traveling through with what the bond says. He has no clemency turning down that much money and he will hold his manner no affair what, even if a big sum of money is offered to him. The Elizabethan and a Contemporary audience would happen him highly cruel and a character that has no feelings for others.
Shylock acknowledges the fact that a lb of flesh is worthless and will non hold every bit much value as acquiring the bond paid back to him with involvement. ‘If it will feed nil else, it will feed my retaliation ‘ . It goes to demo how much Shylock is driven by retaliation and the lengths that he will travel to acquire what he desires. Even though money is the most of import thing to him, it merely shows how much he desires to acquire retaliation on the Christians since he rejected money for a opportunity of retaliation. It merely shows how passionate he is about acquiring his lb of flesh. ‘It will feed my retaliation ‘ shows us that he is non making this bond for the money but alternatively he is traveling to make to Antonio what he has been having for old ages and that will carry through his desire to revenge against the Christians.
In the tribunal of justness, Portia asks Shylock whether there are balances ready to weigh the flesh. Shylock has them already prepared to weigh the flesh from Antonio. ‘I have them ready ‘ . Shylock holding the graduated tables all ready to weigh out the lb of flesh, it shows the thirst he has for acquiring retaliation by coming prepared but can besides turn out that he has been trusting for this state of affairs to go on as he had planned it.
Jessica runs off with a Christian and he has besides had his money stolen. ‘ … I have a male parent, you a girl lost ‘ . Shylock has lost the lone blood relation that he has left. Coming from his girl must be a daze to him and besides a great loss. Shylock is blamed for Jessica running off but she ne’er gets blamed for stealing his money or running off from place. Alternatively Shylock is blamed once more for something that was non needfully his mistake. Shylock considered Jessica to be his girl and bonded by holding the same flesh and blood. ‘I say, my girl is my flesh and blood ‘ . This implies that Shylock had ever considered Jessica to be portion of his household. By Jessica running off and disinheriting him as a male parent, Shylock had lost all his household related to him by blood. Jessica is the lone household that Shylock has who is still alive. By her abandoning Shylock it shows there is no 1 left who he can name household. A modern audience will feel for him for losing his lone household and being abandoned merely for seeking to guarantee the safety of his girl. He is besides disquieted when he hears the lone belonging which he has left of his married woman Leah, a jade ring has been given to a wilderness of monkeys. The audience can see that she has emotions like a regular individual and is non needfully the barbarous individual we perceive him to be throughout the drama.
Shylock has no understanding for Antonio due to the ground he has been treated by him in the yesteryear. Usurer is merely handling Antonio how he got treated in the yesteryear. . ‘He hath disgraced me… and what ‘s his ground? I am a Jew ‘ . This is farther grounds that Shylock is being mistreated for his faith and being hated without people acquiring to cognize him foremost. This makes the modern audience feel sorry for Shylock ‘s character and hence he can come across as a victim for merely being judged on his faith.
Shylock feels that Christian and Jews are equal and are merely every bit of import as each other. ‘Hath non a Jew eyes? … do we non decease? ‘ . Shylock is doing a address in act two scene three doing a passionate address declaring that it does non count if you are Judaic or a Christian people are still the same. You both die and you both have eyes to see. This brings across the message that everyone is the same and that merely because you believe in a certain faith does non alter your position or how you should be viewed and treated. Shylock is acquiring his point across to the audience that everyone is equal and therefore should be treated with the same sum of regard. By the terminal of the address he changed from a victim to a scoundrel who is determined to acquire retaliation. ‘Why retaliation. The villainousness you teach me, I will put to death, and it shall travel difficult but I will break the direction ‘ . He is demoing his true colorss and that he will non be easy convinced to save Antonio ‘s life. He is following the illustration of the Christians and giving them the same attitude as he was given to them in the yesteryear.
In the tribunal act four, the Duke is demoing sympathy for Antonio by stating ‘I am sorry for thee. Thou art come to reply a stony antagonist, an cold wretch, incapable of commiseration, nothingness and empty from any drachm of clemency ‘ . Shylock can be seen as acquiring victimised as he has no manner to support himself since he is acquiring mistreated from when he enters the tribunal. He did non hold a opportunity of acquiring judged reasonably and as a consequence it would take to Shylock being seen as the one whom is retaliation driven. Since the bulk of the people in tribunal are Christians they would side with Antonio doing Shylock victimised by being entirely and holding no 1 to support his side of the statement. Shylock is being lowered to the lowest person who is non human and a individual who in unable to experience any emotions. He is unable to experience sympathy for Antonio since he is traveling to follow his bond through. Shylock is being described as a individual who is unable to experience any emotions, and as a consequence is non experiencing any understanding for Antonio. An Elizabethan Audience will happen Shylock a victim as he is declining to give up on the bond and is willing to follow it through to the terminal. However a modern audience may hold understanding for Shylock character. He is unable to support himself against the Dukes words, and is hence a victim.
Antonio punishes Shylock by doing him go a Christian and giving half of his luck to Antonio and the other half to his girl. He is forced to give up everything that is of import to him and which keeps him traveling in mundane life. ‘Nay, take my life and all ; pardon non that: You take my house when you do take the prop that doth sustain my house ; you take my life when you do take the agencies whereby I live ‘ . Shylock is devastated by losing his faith and his luck – the two things which he cherishes the most. It shows merely how of import those things are two him when he is willing to take his life ‘Nay, take my life and all ‘ . He is willing to lose his life as a consequence of losing everything he greatly values in life. ‘You take my house when you do take the prop that doth sustain my house ‘ is a mark of how faith and money keep him traveling in his mundane life. A house is supported by a foundation, and when he says ‘you do take the prop ‘ is intending that the foundation of his life is being taken off from him. He can be seen as being a victim since he is being stripped of everything that is of import to him and is being forced to go a Christian even though everyone else knows how much he hates them. Shylock would be hated by the Christians when he becomes 1s but at the same clip he would non be allowed to be with the Jewish community any longer. As a consequence, it would take to him outcast in both of the communities. He would hold no friends and hence be isolated for the remainder of his life.
In decision Shylock can be seen as both a scoundrel and a victim. He is driven by retaliation and plots his manner when he plans to come up with a manner to take out his hate for the Christians that has build up over the old ages. On the other manus, Shylock may besides come across as being victimised. He is invariably being mistreated because of his faith being called ‘a Canis familiaris ‘ and many other contemptuous words. As a consequence of the faith he is non liked by the Christian society and may ne’er been seen as person who is equal to them. Even though Shylock is viewed as both a victim and a scoundrel he has stronger grounds as approaching across as a scoundrel since he seems driven with retaliation more than anything.
