Legally as a Jew, Shylock has different rights in court. If a Jew tries to take the life of a Christian the Jew would be killed. ‘If thoust doust shed one drop of Christian blood thy lands and goods are by the laws of Venice confiscate unto the state of Venice.’ The legal system was unfair to the Jews. Shylock was never on an equal footing.
Shylock is not seen as a person in the court room they have already decided Shylock is an evil person, they can see no good in him. ‘Hath not a Jew eyes, hath not a Jew hands…hurt with the same weapons,’ shylock is trying to convince the Christians that he is a person not an animal. This causes us to feel great sympathy for Shylock because he has a point. Even if we do not like him we should treat him fairly. This is the most emotional speech in the play and the repetition used by Shakespeare helps add emphasis to Shylocks pleading to be treated fairly. At this point Shylock is clearly a victim.
They add insult to injury when Shylock is forced to change religion. The fact he never changes before shows his love for his religion: he presently become a Christian’. Antonio is really enjoying hurting Shylock, this is because Antonio has been brought up to believe that Jews are wrong and evil so he feels that it is good to be mean to them. Shakespeare makes us feel great sympathy towards Shylock by the use of language, the characters in the court room talk more about Shylock than to him. This shows us that they think he is lower than them and doesn’t deserve their respect. The audience reaction to this is sympathy and sadness because everybody deserves respect, however this isn’t the reaction he would have received in Elizabethans times as many people were anti-Semitic.
It is a woman who brings Shylock to his knees. This must add more pain because in Shakespearian times women were considered possessions or a piece of furniture. Shylock doesn’t realise that it is a woman because she is in disguise but if he did he would have felt terrible. This causes us to feel sympathy towards him because he doesn’t know how terrible the situation is.
On the other hand there are many ways in which Shylock is a villain. He fits the criteria for a stereotypical villain because he has money as a motive, treats women badly, he is excluded and he is willing to kill. I think Shylock has been trying to plot revenge for some time. Antonio as well as many other Christian disliked that he charged interest; ‘if I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed the ancient grudge I bear him’ Shylock tells us the grudge is old and he is prepared to use violence. The feud is built up over many years; they hate each others religion, way of life and livelihood. So, we can see why the feud has developed and it is clear to the audience how we should feel towards them both.
Antonio’s request for the three thousand ducat loan falls nicely in to Shylock’s plan. Shylock says ‘well’ three times. This is because he is planning his revenge. He was only interested in the bond because he can see his chance for revenge. He is debating what to do whilst saying ‘well’. This is him being villainous because he is using his business to seek revenge. Shylocks choice of security on the loan is very peculiar and villainous: ‘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 pleaseth me.’ Only an evil person would come up with such a dastardly bond. This shows us that he is a villain because cutting off that amount of flesh would kill a person especially near the heart which is where Shylock picks. It would kill him because of the amount of blood loss and damage to a major organ would be immense. Even though Shylock this is taking it too far and it shows us what a horrible person he is. Because this scene takes place so early in the play Shakespeare is giving the audience clues that we are to dislike Shylock.
Further evidence of his villainy is his hatred for the Christians: ‘I hate him for he is a Christian.’ Antonio’s hatred for the Jews is reciprocated in Shylocks hatred for the Jews. This shows us that in the wealthy cultural city of Venice people couldn’t get along and disapproved of people with different beliefs to their own. Not accepting others is evil.
Another reason that Shylock is evil is his attitude to his daughter, ‘our house is hell.’ Jessica says she is kept prisoner in her house. She has to do all the house work and doesn’t get any money. Jessica is so miserable and knows she will never be allowed to marry so she is forced to run away. Antonio’s friends mock him for his daughter marrying a Christian which makes him want to get revenge even more.
Shakespeare brings this action to ahead in the trial. Shylock is adamant that he wants revenge and isn’t persuaded by anything, even the money. Even though money is important to him he turns down 6000 ducats because he wants his revenge so much.
When he asked to be merciful by Porsche he says: ‘I crave the law, the penalty and the forfeit of my bond.’ This shows he doesn’t have a good side to appeal to and is very evil, a nice person would have realised how cruel it was to refuse compensation for another human beings life. We don’t have sympathy for him here.
Shakespeare makes it very dramatic when Shylock sharpens his knife. This adds further drama. ‘Why dost thou whet they knife so earnestly,’ Bassanio asks Shylock, who replies: ‘to cut the forfeiture from the bankrupt there,’ Shylock shows us that he is over confident and assumes he will win the case. Shylocks use of the word ‘cut’ shows us how much he is looking forward to hurting Antonio. This shocks the audience because it appears that Shylock is going to kill Antonio. This is where we lose all compassion for Shylock because he is merciless and is taking pleasure from the thought of hurting others. Even money doesn’t mean anything to him anymore.
In conclusion I can see that Shylock is a victim because he suffers a lot of racial hatred, and also he is referred to not by his name but as ‘the dog.’ He is also a victim when his daughter elopes. However he is a villain towards Antonio and takes a lot of pleasure from the thought of others pain. So overall I believe that Shylock was a villain.
