William Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice, is often labeled anti-Semitic as the work places unfavorable light on the Jewish character, Shylock. However, the term only comes from a surface reading of the play. Through careful dialogue, Shakespeare makes the statement that Christians and Jews are equal as both Shylock and the Christian characters have their faults, despite their religious values and stereotypes.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare focuses on what values are important to the characters in terms of their relationships. Bassanio becomes the first to show the hypocritical nature of the Christians. When asked about Portia, he describes her first as “a lady richly left,” second as “fair,” and third as “[wondrously virtuous]” (1.2.168-170). Bassanio’s priorities become clear; he is primarily interested in the superficial aspects of Portia those being, her money and looks, and then her personality. The way Bassanio views Portia does not align with the Christian doctrine for an individual to be righteous in all affairs. His marriage to Portia is not bore by his love to her values or beliefs, but for his need to get out of the monstrous debt he has created for himself. Shylock seems act the same. Fitting into the stereotypical view that all Jews are greedy, Shylock only seems to care about his money, lamenting, “O, my ducats! O, my daughter!” (2.8.15). Like Bassanio, Shylock first mention his money and then his daughter, placing material aspects in front of his human relationships. Only the money purloined from Shylock matters, not his daughter. He deems Jessica a thief without giving her the benefit of the doubt and thus loses the only family he has. Shylock cries about the money that has been lost, but not his own blood. As they both value material goods over their loved ones, the Christian and the Jewish characters demonstrate their inconsistence to their religions and morals.
Both religious groups appear in favorable light in their relationships as well. As Antonio bemoans about his unidentified sadness, his friend Salarino excuses himself as “[he] would have stayed till [he] had made [Antonio] merry, if worthier friends [Bassanio] had not prevented [him]” (1.1.63-4). By carefully choosing the word “worthier” to describe Antonio’s other friends, Salarino recognizes that Bassanio has an important sphere of influence to Antonio. Considering the Christian concept that people fall short to the glory of God, Salarino allows Antonio the best opportunity towards happiness, understanding that it is not within him but within Bassanio. His friend truly considers Antonio’s emotional state and acts accordingly. Antonio passes this good act of friendship to his conversation with Bassanio. He grants his friend a loan, despite his past debts, because Bassanio stands “within the eye of honor” (1.1.144). Antonio’s generosity is sincere to Bassanio. Despite his ships out at sea and lack of liquid cash, Antonio promptly offers to help his friend in need, as any good Christian would. As Antonio’s generosity is easy to see, Shylock’s goodness is a bit more difficult to spot. Although Shylock is enraged due to his missing ducats, Shylock seems more upset that Jessica sold the ring given to him “of Leah when [he] was a bachelor” and claims that “[he] would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys” (3.1.120-1). The ring given to Shylock by his deceased wife means more to him than the loss of the ring’s monetary value. In this case, the relationship Shylock holds with his passed wife means to him more than money. Shylock shows himself to be a contradictory character in terms of what he values the most as the Christians shift back and forth as well.
The question of whether either religion values the quality of mercy is ambiguous. Shylock knows that the law sides with him as when asked his reasons for specifically wanting a pound of flesh, he answers that he is “not bound to please thee with my answers” (4.1.66). The Christian characters expect Shylock to show mercy because asking for a sum of Antonio’s flesh is extreme, despite those being the terms of Shylock’s agreement to Antonio. From one perspective, Shylock’s reasoning is understandable; he is finally in a position for retribution as he was treated badly for his religion by Antonio. Even the offer of three times the sum of original loan does not convince Shylock who is set on his revenge. As Shylock’s terms for his unmerciful behavior come directly from “the bond,” and his past experiences, Portia’s terms for mercy involve God as she says, “[mercy] is an attribute to God himself” and urges Shylock to “mitigate the justice of thy plea” (4.1.200-209). In Portia’s argument, Shylock should be merciful because God is merciful. Although Jews and Christian have different religious traditions, they pray to the same God and thus should be subject to the same standards. Portia uses a Christian concept of forgiveness in her plea to Shylock.
However, the same cannot be said of Portia later. She has the opportunity to grant Shylock the same mercy that she asked for before and forfeits it. She commands Shylock to “beg mercy of the Duke” after she judges that the law should seize Shylock’s land and his life (4.1.378). After Antonio offers a conversion to Christianity for a lesser punishment, the consequence of Portia’s argument strips Shylock of his religion and reputation which hardly constitutes a merciful act. Originally, Shylock uses Christian law to validate his mercilessness against Antonio and later Portia also uses Christian law against Shylock. Both parties are not consistent in their execution of mercy rather they value it only when it works in their favor.
The characters in The Merchant of Venice, shift between the values defined by their religions. Through this work, Shakespeare makes the point that, although people may be unequal in their faiths and their good deeds, people are equal in their faults. Each religion and its characters are too complex to deem them moral or immoral, right or wrong. Religions should not be judged by one aspect of their doctrine but should be taken holistically, as people should. The important concept to understand, especially in today’s time, is that people should not be defined by their religion, immigration status, color of their skin, or any other set of characteristics. People should be understood by their motives, reasoning, and character because, as Shylock and the Christian characters show, the values of religion are sometimes too complicated to define in one moral code. Therefore, despite being labelled as anti-Semitic, Shakespeare’s play presents a lasting lesson to the world.