Shylock:the quintessential villain

A detailed Summary of Shylock:the quintessential villain

The character of Shylock was written to be acted in a certain way, in which Shakespeare himself would have been on hand in order to instruct the particular actor on how to play the part. However, modern actors and readers do not have this luxury, and thus are forced to determine the true nature of the character of Shylock. It is extremely important to fully understand the Elizabethan attitudes towards Jews for this determination to be made correctly. These Elizabethans held the view that Jews were vicious killers, well poisoners, inhumane monsters who could never be trusted. This view dominated Shakespeare's time period, and is reflected in his writing. It is certain that Shakespeare's Shylock is a villainous "well poisoning" Jew and not a heroic, respectable defender of a persecuted race. In this play, Shylock is not just a dreadful usurer, but also a conspiring and resentful character who plots revenge against Antonio. It is evident that this is the case from the onse!

t of the play when Shylock demonstrates his villainous nature from the moment he is introduced as he converses with Bassanio.

Shylock is a wealthy man as a usurer and is less interested in collecting Antonio's money than in the probability of Antonio fai

The Merchant of Venice: William Shakespeare

think I may still take this bond"(I. 3. 26). He is obviously foreseeing the outcome of the future deal with Antonio and the penalty of a pound of flesh, which implies murder. Shylock wants so badly to murder Antonio that he refuses twice the amount of Antonio's loan in the court scene. When Bassanio offers six thousand ducats instead of three, Shylock remarks, " If every ducat in six thousand ducats were in six parts, and every part a ducat, I would not draw them. I would have my bond."(IV 1. 85-87). Shylock doesn't care about Antonio's money or about the legitimacy of "his bond", but rather about the pound of Christian flesh owed to him.

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Shakespeare obviously did not intend the character of Shylock to be a character of admiration. Shylock proves himself to be a villainous character from the very beginning, as he devises a plan to kill Antonio and avenge the countless amount of times that Antonio has berated him upon the Rialto. The nature of the Elizabethan audience also gives insight into the fact that Shylock had to have been a villainous character. The perception of the Jew was that of a villainous one already, and it was not the meaning of Shakespeare to compel the Elizabethan audience to think otherwise. It was, however, the intention of Sh

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Approximate Word count = 933
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English