FREE ESSAY ON WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE - SHYLOCK

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE - SHYLOCK

Throughout the course of history, Jews have been relentlessly persecuted. The English are
not an exception, since their history shows that the general English attitude towards
Jews during the Elizabethan Era is anti-Semitic. This negative bias towards Jews is
apparently clear in Elizabethan literature, including William Shakespeare's The Merchant
of Venice. Shylock, the Jewish antagonist in Shakespeare's play, is stereotypically
portrayed as a villain in accordance to popular prejudice. Thus, Shylock is labeled as a
villain because he is a Jew. This misconception of Jews as being villainous in nature
persisted well into the 20th century until the recent mass genocide of Jews in Hitler's
Nazi Germany. This appalling incident is the marking point that sensitized the modern
reader to Jewish sufferings. Thus, in the eyes of the modern reader, Shylock's
characterization as a villain due to his religious convictions is refuted. Still, it is
not only sympathy that deems Shylock as a hero but also the injustice he suffers in the
hands of the Christian society which includes his converted daughter Jessica. 
Shylock's character is defended from its villainous interpretation upon two factors: "the
sociological, which exonerates Shylock on the basis of environmental pressures, and the
racial, which assimilates him to the whole appalling history of anti-Semitism" (1). Based
on the racial issue, Shylock's character is condemned because he is a Jew. Shylock's role
as a villain in the play reflects the general racist prejudices against Jews. Therefore,
from his first appearance, Shylock does not have a chance to appeal to the audience.
Thus, to the modern reader, Shylock is a victim of injustice which is representative of
his race. By understanding the history behind the creation of Shylock, his tribulations
can be assimilated to the general Jewish suffering. 
Judaism has a long history of persecution. A brief historical analysis of Jewish and
Christian relations in England reveals a general anti-Semitic attitude towards the
outnumbered Jews. A drastic example of this negative feeling is King Edward the First's
expulsion of the Jews in 1290 which staged a virtual mass deportation of Jews from
England. For the next three hundred sixty six years, the Jewish population dramatically
decreased to a few hundreds until the reinstatement of Jews back into England in 1656 by
Oliver Cromwell. Still, anti-Semitic feelings were strong as illustrated by the
popularity of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice as well as Marlow's drama The
Jew of Malta. Shakespeare, taking advantage of the public's anti-Jewish feelings,
"borrowed" ideas from his fellow playwright Marlow and designed the character of Shylock.
This proved to be advantageous since the play achieved much success and Shakespeare was a
major shareholder of his theatrical company (2). Shakespeare's play was popular not only
because it was a well written copyright infringement, but it gave the audience what they
wanted. Another example of the popularity of Shakespeare's play due to its anti-Semitic
undertones is the strong protests elicited by the Drury Lane theater when they failed to
stage the play during the controversy over the Jew Bill (3). The Jewish Naturalization
Bill, or Jew Bill, was simply "a slight alteration in the requirements for how foreign
Jews could become naturalized British subjects" (4). Even though the bill was a minor
amendment, Englishmen were so adamantly obsessed with the idea of hating Jews that the
Jew Bill was finally repealed. Thus, Shylock's character was created in an era where
religious intolerance alienated Jews from the Christian commonwealth. 
Based on the sociological factor, Shylock is a sympathetic character because of the
environmental pressures in the play. Antonio, Shylock's mortal enemy, is a prime example
of the treatment that Shylock constantly receives in the Christian society of Venice.
Antonio holds a personal vendetta towards Shylock simply because he is a Jew; "He hath
disgraced me.... thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies-and what's
his reason" I am a Jew" (III.i. 97). Antonio also wrongs Shylock by hurling insults at
him such as "cutthroat dog", "misbeliever", and even goes to the extent of spitting on
him (I.iii. 35). This is the unfriendly environment that Shylock is staged in. He has no
hope for reconciliation with the Christian community because they feel exactly what
Antonio malignantly admits; "I am as like to call thee [cur] again, To spet on thee
again, to spurn thee, too. If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not as to thy
friends....but lend it rather to thine enemy" (I.iii. 36-37). This is the "Christian
example" that Shylock has to live with; "Around [Shylock] is the society of Venice, a
world of golden youth, richly dressed....but quite insufferable to those outside its own
circle, where Shylock is so obviously placed" (5). Shylock's character deserves the
reader's sympathy because he is not only alienated, but he is cursed and "spet" on as
well. 
Besides his alienation from the Christian society, Shylock draws sympathy from the modern
reader through Jessica's betrayal. With one blow, Shylock loses his daughter and a huge
portion of his hard earned fortune due to Jessica's sacrilegious defilement of her
loyalty to her father. Jessica is "bad and disloyal, unfilial, a thief; frivolous,
greedy, without any more conscience than a cat and without even a cat's redeeming love of
home" 
(6). Alienated from society, the only other person besides Tubal whom Shylock can count
on and trust is Jessica, his daughter. Even though Jessica knows that it is wrong to
betray her father, she still goes ahead and commits the sin; "what heinous sin is it in
me to be ashamed to be my father's child?....I shall end this strife, become a Christian"
(II.iv.61). Jessica betrays her father for Lorenzo, her religion for Lorenzo, and her
integrity for Lorenzo. If Shakespeare is to be labeled as being prejudiced against Jews,
it has to be for the portrayal of this infidel child. Even though critics argue that
Shylock mistreated his daughter, he still loved her; "[he was] constantly calling her
name [after her betrayal], which tells us of a lonely man! He has looked to her for
everything, has tasked her hard, no doubt; he is her jailer, yet he trusts her, and loves
her in his extortionate way" (7). Thus, in Shylock's state of incredulous disbelief in
Jessica's betrayal, the only thing that he can make sense out of is his ducats that have
never betrayed his faith. Therefore, he overemphasizes on his "diamond [that] cost [him]
two thousand ducats in Frankfurt" and his "precious, precious jewels" not as a sign of
greed, but a manifestation of a father's misery. 
Furthermore, Jessica strips Shylock from his wife's ring. When Shylock finds out that
Jessica bought a monkey with Leah's ring, he exclaims in a tone of anguish; "It was my
turquoise! I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor. I would not have given it for a
wilderness of monkeys" (III.i. 101). Jessica and the ring are the only two irreplaceable
possessions that Shylock ever had. Yet, by trusting Jessica, he loses both of them. Not
only does his anguish leave room for the reader's sympathy, it also shows how
"Christianity" mistreats Shylock. Shylock accepts Antonio and his friends' treatment, but

when Jessica converts to Christianity by eloping with Lorenzo, Shylock's world becomes
vile and spiteful, which leads to revenge. 
Many critics have argued that what really makes Shylock a villain is the pound of flesh
that he wants to exact from Antonio for his forfeiture to the bond. Even though
Shakespeare makes it appear merely as a revenge, Shylock has every right to collect what
is due to him. Technically, Shylock is conducting business as usual. Antonio had boldly
stated that if he should break the bond, then Shylock has the right with "better face
[to] exact the penalty" (I.iii.37). Antonio understood perfectly well the consequences of
the bond, yet he signed it. What is really unfair for Shylock is the conspiracy set
against him at the court. Besides being cheated from claiming his due from Antonio
because of trivial technicalities, a conspiracy between the Christians sets a plot for
their revenge against him. The Duke, as the figure of authority and the decision maker,
consults with Antonio concerning Shylock's punishment. If they had indeed understood the
true meaning of "Christian Mercy", then Antonio's due to Shylock of three thousand ducats
should have been paid and the entire incident forgotten. Yet, Shylock is cheated from his
money and is levied with a heavy fine, which Antonio (his mortal enemy), not the Duke
dictates; "So please the lord the Duke and all the court To quit the fine for one half of
his goods, I am content, so he will let me have The other half in use, to render it Upon
his death unto the gentleman That lately stole his daughter" (IV.i. 169). What makes
Shylock a more sympathetic victim is that Antonio, besides stripping Shylock of his
fortunes, taunts him by forcing him to leave his inheritance to the man that "stole" his
daughter. Also, as one of the conditions to pardon his life, Antonio demands that Shylock
"presently become a 
Christian" (IV.i. 169). This request surpasses any of his previous acts of cruelty
because he is asking Shylock to denounce his faith, and therefore his life. Shylock, who
has been mistreated by Antonio throughout his life in Venice, is forced to succumb to his
enemy. At the verge of justice, Shylock is robbed from his only hope for consolation.
Critical analysis on Shakespeare is not an easy task because no one will never know what
he really meant. Shakespeare might or might not have been an anti-Semitic but the
evidence clearly shows that The Merchant of Venice has anti-Semitic undertones. Shylock's
fate falls concurrent with the disturbing history of Jewish persecution. He is robbed not
only of his dignity, but also his daughter, his turquoise ring and human justice.
Betrayal drives his vengeance, yet his vengeance is not driven by malignity. Shylock
deserves the sympathy of the modern reader because he suffers, because Jews suffered,
unjustly.