99,000 Essays & Term Papers: Where You Buy Essays and Papers Online
Direct Essays, Where You Can Buy Essays and Papers Online

Instant Access to Buy Essays and Papers Online!
Acceptable Use Policy
Customer Service
Site Search


Login to View Essays and Papers Online

Join Now - Instant Access to Essays and Research Papers!

  Essay and Research Paper Topics
Acceptance Essays
Arts Essays
Custom Essays
English Literature Essays
Foreign
History Essays
Miscellaneous Research Papers and Essays
Movie Essays and Papers
Music Term Papers
Novels
People and Biography Research Papers
Politics Research Papers
Religion Research Papers
Science Essay Topics
Sports Research Papers
Technology Research Papers
 
  FAQ
Technical Support
Site Map
Direct Essays
 

 



Welcome to Direct Essays

This is a short summary of this paper!

Already a member? Go here to log in and view the entire paper!


Join Now!
by: Credit Card
Join Now!
by: Online Check
Join Now!
by: Phone 1-900
Special! View this paper for FREE!
  

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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Some common words found in the essay are:
Antonio Christian, Jew Bassanio, , Shylock Shakespeare's, Shakespeare's Shylock, Bassanio Shylock, Jew Shakespeare, Christians Rialto, character shylock, Elizabethan Jew, thousand ducats, elizabethan audience, six thousand ducats, bassanio offers, shylock villainous, play shylock, honorable jew, bassanio shylock, shylock character, antonio christian, William Shakespeare,
Approximate Word count = 933
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)


  

Special! View this paper for FREE!
Click here to JoinNow!
by: Credit Card
Click here to Join Now!
by: Online Check
Click here to Join Now!
by: Phone 1-900

 

All papers and essays are for research and reference purposes only!
Copyright 2002-2009 Direct Essays , LLC. All Rights Reserved. DMCA
Webmasters make $$$$
Saved Papers