Essay: Merchant of Venice – Shylock, attitude towards Jews

Some people might argue that Shylock is a money minded character who seemed to care about the loss of his money than his daughter of Jessica running away. Shakespeare might be stereotyping the Jews by implying that they are all money minded people. To the audience this thought will make them slide towards the villain side of Shylock as he is selfish for his own needs and does not care about anything else. ‘Oh my ducats! Oh my daughters! Oh my daughter!’
The drama was first played in 1599 to a very Christian based audience. The Jews were discriminated against virtually anything that they do that does not follow the Christian law. For example, Usury. Usury was against Christian values back then. as Jews were treated unreasonable and were not given the common jobs as the Christians got preference to it even though some Jews might be more experienced or clever. As they didn’t have many jobs to choose from, Usury was the best job for them to earn money from. Shylock was a Usurer so therefore the Christians had an extra part of hatred towards him and so did the audience as he was doing something against the Christian values. The background of Shylock is already hinting (to the audience) that he is a villainous character due to his religion and also his occupancy.
Shylock is aside to the audience. He portrays or tells the audience that he is a villain to them. ‘I hate him for he is a Christian’. Shakespeare knows that the audience are anti Jews so uses this quote to present him as an evil character towards the Christians. ‘I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him’. He uses this excuse to show his hatred towards Antonio. This quote describes that he will add on to the hatred that the Jews have had against the Christians from the past. Foreshadowing the hate with bond and the language that Shylock uses
Shylock gets insulted by Antonio and other characters directly and also is gossiped about a lot for his character but mainly because he is a Jew. ‘An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek, a goodly apple rotten at the heart’. Shakespeare loves the use of fake identity to create characteristics of someone. In this case ‘smiling cheek…rotten at the heart’. For example, in Macbeth he uses the quote ‘look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it”. So the use of fake identity is marking the presence of Shakespeare’s techniques to emphasise and create dramatic effect. Antonio speaks this line to Bassanio describing shylock in a very negative way by using the technique of similes and oxymoron. Shakespeare uses these techniques to help the audience identify the amount of hatred Antonio has towards Shylock and portraying Shylock to be bad because of the unkind words that Antonio is using to describe Shylocks character.
The phrase ‘evil soul’ portrays that the main reason for this hatred is because he is a Jew. To the audience, this demeaning quotation by Antonio would actually be quite humorous to the audience as a Jew is being insulted, to the Christians, this was a source of entertainment. Shakespeare also uses devilish words like ‘evil soul’ and ‘fiend’ to try and get the message to the audience that he is seen as the devil. The devil is always a negative symbol and in this case is used to show to the audience that Shylock is the Villain. Even her own daughter says ‘our house is hell’ which illustrates that Shylock had no one to love him. The word ‘hell’ goes with devil. Shylocks house is the ‘Devils House’. To Christians the devil is the worst possible form of being so a Jew being a devil is a very insulting thing. An antichrist behaviour.
The Jews were mistreated physically and also emotionally. It was clear prejudice against Jews. Shylock starts to exaggerate and describe how the Christians abuse him and using this to try to seek a compassionate view from the audience. You call me misbeliever, cut throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gabardine’. The word ‘misbeliever’ and ‘Jewish’ points out that Antonio was attacking Shylocks religion rather than Shylock himself. The word ‘dog’ tells the audience that Antonio feels superior over Shylock. Almost as if he is the owner of the dog(shylock). We can see shylock was particularly offended by the action of Antonio spitting on him as he repeats one of the incidents with Antonio spitting on him. A few lines later ’You that did void your rheum upon my beard’. The word ‘you’ makes the target of Shylock directed at one person only, in this case Antonio.
Again, on the same speech of Shylock the spitting of Antonio repeats. ‘Fair sir, you spat on me on Wednesday’. Shylock shows his feelings in a different way in this quotation. He remembers the specific day on when this incident occurred which tells the audience that this was something that hit Shylock hard. Shakespeare uses ‘Fair sir’ as an ironic phrase as someone who was just would not spit on someone. All these insults by Antonio said by Shylock is part of the plan to get the audience thinking whether what Antonio was doing was right and whether Shylock was the victim or villain. The long speech that Shylock gave with all these quotations included might also suggest that Shylock was in power. This is when he can actually question Antonio as he is coming to Shylock for help. But even after all this Antonio tells Shylock that he isn’t going to stop abusing or insulting him. Showing the audience that there is no way that a Jew is going to change the thoughts of a Christian. ‘I am as like to call thee so again, to spit on thee again, to spurn thee too’.
Bassanio is in real need of three thousand ducats to claim the love of Portia. The secret admiration of Antonio towards Bassonio is clearly seen in the play. Due to this Antonio’s heart tells him to help Bassanio by acquiring this bond from a Jew, who is coincidentally Shylock. Shylock knows that this bond is very important for Antonio because asking a Jew for help is a big commitment. Therefore, the mind of Shylock is thinking to use this bond as a way to threaten and take advantage of Antonio because he wants revenge. This shows an instant change in his character from Victim to Villain. ‘If you repay not…… express’d in the condition, let the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken in what part of your body pleasth’. Shakespeare uses again, the technique of irony when he quotes ‘fair flesh’. Shylock uses the word ‘fair’ to be sarcastic about Christians flesh to be fair as Christians are better.
Lancelot is a Christian who is Shylocks assistant. As shylock is a Jew, Lancelot does not like his occupancy as he is serving a Jew. ‘for I am Jew if I serve the Jew and longer’. This quote from Lancelot tells the audience that Shylock is corrupting him. In other words, the Jewish religion is corrupting the Christian religion. As the audience are mostly Christian based so this portrays not only Shylock but in the bigger picture that Jews are villainous as they try to change or corrupt other religions. Lancelot only works for Shylock because he does not have anywhere else to go and the audience must assume that Shylock was his last choice person to come to as he is a Jew. As Lancelot wanted to go against anything and everything Shylock does. In this instance, Jessica is wanting to leave the house and Lancelot helps her leave by passing the note of her writing to Lorenzo that she wants to run away with him. Lancelot does this for two reasons. To take vengeance on Shylock but also because Jessica is converting to a Christian so he would feel that he is doing God right. To the audience Lancelot is an obedient character and a typical Christina as he does not like helping the Jews and also promoting his religion.
The hatred towards Shylocks goes even deeper into his relationships as even Jessica, his own daughter also has a grudge against her father. ‘To be asham’d to be my father’s child!’. The whole phrase just shows the amount of hatred Jessica has towards Shylock. To the audience, knowing the amount of despising Jessica has towards Shylock gives them more of a chance to hate the character. Not only Christians hate him, but also his fellow Jews and family members. The word ‘asham’d’ is a very negative and embarrassing word to use. To be ashamed of someone is to not want them to be with you or rather keep your distance with them. Shylock is someone that isn’t liked to be hung around with. ‘If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife, become a Christian and thy loving wife’. This quote by Jessica has two rhyming words ‘promise’ and ‘wife’ which show the significance of how much this means to her and her converting to a Christian. ‘Become a Christian’ tells the audience that Jessica wants to go against Shylocks beliefs and maybe is actually just getting married to Lorenzo, to make Shylock feel bad and to go against and take revenge on him. She rejected her religion because of Shylock and accepted Christianity because of Shylock. Both for the same reason. Revenge. The audience at this point might feel a bit of sympathy for Shylock as he is starting to lose everyone and everything. Shakespeare can be said to be foreshadowing the future of what will happen to Shylock. That he will lose everything and also convert to a Christian.
Shakespeare uses Salerio and Salanio to tell the audience about Jessica and Lorenzo and how Shylock would react. ‘Villain Jew’ is used by Salanio to describe Shylock. In this talk between Salerio and Salanio shylocks name is not used and is swapped with cruel adjectives to describe him showing the amount of respect they both have for the Jew. Salanio impersonates Shylock to what he would say if he finds out about Jessica running away with Lorenzo. ‘My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats……. two sealed bags of ducats, of double ducats stolen from me by my daughter! It looks like Shylock is more concerned with his money as he gives more importance as the word ‘ducats’ has been repeated more than his daughter. More than being sad for the loss of his daughter, he is almost angry about this as he says ‘stolen from me by my daughter’. This implies that he is angry that she had stolen the ducats, not that she left him. Salanio almost exaggerates the impersonation of Shylock. Shakespeare uses the technique of caricature to show this. Shylock is being present as selfish and greedy as he wants the money more than his daughter giving a villainous trait that the audience might perceive. As Salanio and Salerio are Christians there, they are imposing Shylock, who is a Jew, as a ‘villain’ showing racial conflict between them. The most important point to consider is that Shylock did not actually say those very words but was just another method Shakespeare used to create more tension and to impose Shylock as a villain.
In Act 3 Scene 1, Shylock gets to hear both the good news and bad news. Shakespeare might have used this to also nudge in a point that Shylock is also good and bad. He is both a villain and a victim. The Jew, after hearing the news that Jessica ran away was pure anger. ‘My own flesh and blood to rebel’. This quote shows how upset he is that his own daughter ran away from him. The only family he had. As Salarino brings up the topic of Antonio’s ship (shylock does not know yet that Antonio’s ship is wrecked) he stood up for himself and was arrogant. ‘If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge’. The word ‘feed’ shows the greed Shylock has towards obtaining Antonio’s flesh. This greed makes him look like a villain as he is hungry for the blood of Antonio. This was a foreshadow of what Shylock said in Act 1 Scene 3 ‘If I can catch him once upon the hip. I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear’. Showing that Shylock always wanted to take revenge upon Antonio and always had that greed within him as he uses the word ‘feed’ to resemble his anger and evil desires. He stands up for his religion. ‘Scorned my nation…… I am a Jew’. His ‘nation’, in this case his Jewish religion was derided by Antonio. He is proud to state that he is ‘A Jew’. Shylock then directs the whole play to the audience, asking them rhetorical questions about equality. Shakespeare is trying to get to the audience that Jews also have the same emotions and feelings as anyone else. ‘If you prick us, do we not bleed?’. Shylock is questioning his audience whether what the Christians (the audience and characters in the play) are doing is right. Shakespeare presents him as a Victim as he is fighting for not only him but his ‘Nation’.
Shylock’s anger towards Jessica continues. ‘I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear. Shylocks is a villain as he is portraying that he would rather have the money that his daughter, which continues to show the general character of Shylock, selfish and like a deadpan. Tubal almost tries to get more anger out of Shylock for the audience to recognize the villainous being Shylock is. ‘Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, one night four score ducats’. Anything that has Shylock losing money is a tear in his heart, and that too ‘four score ducats’ is a more than just a tear, it’s a rip. Tubal changes the mood a bit for shylock but the mood in the audience is still going to be seeing Shylock as a villain as Tubal has deliver the message to Shylock that the Antonio’s ships are wrecked. ‘I am very glad of it. I’ll plague him, Ill torture him. I am glad of it’. The repletion of the pronoun ‘I’ shows that Shylock wants to take this joy and revenge in his own hands with no one stopping him. It shows that Antonio has lost everything. Scene one shows the mixture of emotions of Shylock from sad to a cruel happiness, but to the audience, their feelings have not changed but have stayed as thinking Shylock is a villain.
Act 4, Scene 1 is where the trial scene begins. Realistically the most important scene of the play. At the start of the scene, there is already prejudice against the Jews implying that this court is going to be in favour of Antonio. ‘Stony adversary, an inhuman wretch, uncapable of pity void and empty’. Shakespeare uses negative description to describe Shylock showing him as a villainous character once again to the audience. The word ‘inhuman’ that was quoted by the Duke hints that Christian think that Jews are less than humans. They don’t count to be a human purely because of their religion. But after saying this the Duke pleads to Shylock for mercy which shows that he doesn’t feel bad for what he said and not ashamed to plead after the racial abuse he gave to Shylock. ‘We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.’ Even the duke does not use Shylocks name put calls him a ‘Jew’ which tells the audience that no Christian has any sort of respect for Jews. Shylock does not care what anyone says and will have nothing but his bond. His arrogance later leads him into trouble. ‘Have I sworn to have the due and forfeit of my bond. He’s showing clearly by his distinctive words that he is not going to be merciful showing him as a Villain. ‘I give no reason’. Shylock is telling the court that there is no need to argue against him but to just give him the bond.
Grationo is the most hateful towards Shylock in the trial room. Shakespeare devotes a whole long speech on the hatred Grationo has towards Shylock. ‘O be thou dam’d, inexecrable dog…. are wolfish,bloody,starv’d, and ravenous’. The harsh animalistic words that Grationo uses show that Christians view Shylock as nothing than an animal. Shakespeare uses Grationo to build up hatred to Shylock from the audience to present him as villain. ‘I stand here for law’. Shylock is presented to be naïve as he believes that he can get his law in the Christian court.
Portia is disguised as a lawyer to attempt to help Bassanio’s friend Antonio. At first it looks to the audience and Shylock as if she is helping Shylock gain his bond. ‘The quality of mercy……but mercy is above……when mercy seasons justice…. the deeds of mercy’. Portia uses the word ‘mercy’ a lot in one of her speeches to try to imply to Shylock that he must forgive Antonio, have some mercy for him. Even after the pleading of Portia, Shylock’s reply is the same as it always was. ‘I crave the law, the penalty and forfeit of my bond’. There is still no mercy from Shylock showing how evil and how much hatred he has towards Antonio. Portia offers Shylock the choice to show mercy but the Jew does not accept it. Portia goes ahead with the bond which might surprise the audience. ‘You must prepare your bosom for his knife.’ Shylock, at this point, is very happy because not only he can procced with his bond but also has someone to support him. ’O noble judge, O excellent young man’. When shylock appreciates the ‘young man’, he is being deceived by Portia’s appearance, but soon will be deceived by her words. This is foreshadowing Shylock turning from villain to a victim. Portia recommends to hire a surgeon to precede with the cutting of Antonio’s flesh. ‘Have by some surgeon Shylock, on your charge’. But Shylock being the ‘devil’ he is, has no thought of bringing anyone to cut the flesh other than by his own hands. ‘Is it so nominated in the bond?’.
Shylock is being targeted. He is being attacked by the court. The Jew tries to change things and get the money but everything he does from now is against him. ‘I take this offer then. Pay the bond thrice and let the Christian go’. Even after his bond not going through, he still wants the money showing that he is embedded with greed. The villain is still inside the victim and Portia knows this. ‘He shall have nothing but the penalty’. The audience at this point might fell that Portia is being harsh on Shylock but he deserves this for what he decided to do to Antonio is arguably much worse. ‘Give me my principal, and let me go’. The word ‘principal’ can be replaced with the word mercy due to the circumstance Shylock is in. He is indirectly asking mercy as everything is being taken away from him. This idea of him losing everything portrays him to be a victim. Portia continues to torture Shylock by taking his goods and money which to Shylock is as bad as taking his life. ‘Take my life and all’. The word ‘take’ shows how inferior Shylock is at this stage of the play. Shakespeare uses this to create sympathy for Shylock to the audience.
Antonio who is now on the upper hand still has no mercy for Shylock and takes the punishment for Shylock to the next level, showing that Antonio has a lot of anger and hatred towards Shylock after what he was going to do to Antonio. ‘He will let me have the other half un use, to render it upon his death unto the gentleman that lately stole his daughter.’ Giving money to a Christian for nothing in return is something a Jew would never dream of doing but that is the reason why Antonio is making Shylock perform this action. Antonio makes Shylock feel guiltier of giving his money to Lorenzo as he uses the phrase ‘stole his daughter’ to really stick the dagger into Shylock.