The Portrayal of Shylock
The portrayal of Shylock, a Jewish character in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, has been the bud of controversy surrounding the play for decades. The attitude towards Jewish people and the fully charged discriminatory language of the play has resulted in it being banned from many school curriculums. While this attitude towards Jewish people as portrayed in The Merchant of Venice is appalling to modern day folk, this view was traditional for the English society of Shakespeare's time. However, while the language of the play is extremely antisemitic, close examination of the play proves it to be more of an attempt to critique antisemitism rather than a direct expression of antisemitism. The character of Shylock is supposed to be the typical, blood-thirsty Jewish villain, but Shakespeare portrays Shylock in such a way that the audience sympathizes with him and sees him not as a villain, but as a human being. By expressing these antisemitic views in The M
erchant of Venice, Shakespeare does not promote antisemitism but deconstructs it. Shakespeare's critique of antisemitism can be seen through examination of act 1.3 of the play: the scene where Antonio asks Shylock to lend him 3 thousand ducats for his friend Bassanio. Upon Antonio's entrance in the scene, Shylock has an aside which reveals his hatred for Antonio. In this small speech, Shakespeare reveals the seed of Shylock's hatred for Antonio: "He hates our sacred nation, and he rails,/ Even there where merchants most do congregate,/ On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift,/ Which he calls interest" (1.3.45-8). Shakespeare seems, in this small speech at least, to understand the ill-treatment of the Jewish merchant, and the audience, in turn, feels empathy towards the character of Shylock. He is not just being cruel for no reason, it is society that has brought him to this extreme. A few lines later in the same scene, Shylock questions Antonio a
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Approximate Word count = 648
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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