how does one experience sympathy for shakespeare's shylock - in the merchant of venice

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‘’Shylock is both victim and villain.’’ In what ways is it possible to feel pity for this particular character?

Powerful anti-Semitic notions permeated in Shakespeare’s epoch; the execution of Dr Rodrigo Lopez - Queen Elizabeth’s illustrious physician who was an assimilated Jew – cultivated profound interest in the rather clandestine and shady Jewish people. The Jews were a mysterious race reputed to be financially notorious and degenerate and thus were constantly subjugated and constricted. Shylock embodies the epitome of a covetous and devious Jew and yet incurs our sympathy. Shakespeare has gracefully contrived the intrigue so that throughout the play one’s emotions oscillate between pity and disdain towards this compelling character. The portrayal of Shylock as a victim languishing in a repressive and callous Christian society has the capacity to evoke great compassion; a certain aspect of Shylock is portrayed as a reputable and dignified citizen subject to merciless Christian hostility and thus one feels pity for this beleaguered character. Even though Shylock’s twisted and depraved psyche transpires, Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock as a victim is so powerful that he can sustain our pity.

Throughout the play it is possible to interpret Shylock as a clean law-abiding citizen who seeks to benefit from Venice’s commercial excellence; he desires to conduct legitimate and authentic business like any Christian. A very distinct way one feels pity for this character is how he is primarily depicted as assertive and self-assured but gradually becoming fraught and afflicted because he is the tragic victim of jealousy and anti-Jewish sentiment deeply entrenched in the Christian ethos. He receives wanton aggression and is addressed as ‘inhuman wretch’, ‘cut-throat dog’ and ‘inexecrable dog’. His Christian assailants apply severe provocative language to inflict distress and agony; they allude to him frequently as ‘dog’ debasing his humanity and equating him to an unsavoury and sullied beast inspiring sympathy. He is humiliated by Antonio and spat upon solely because he is a Jew. Thus one firstly experiences great pity for shylock because of his depiction as a minor individual subject to customary and relentless Christian maltreatment – a condition ascribed to him unjustly because of his religious convictions. He has perpetrated no crime and yet incurs disparagement and Antonio’s ‘Rheum’. Antonio has ‘laughed at (his) losses’, ‘thwarted (his) bargains’ and scorned (his) nation’ simply because of his ethnicity. Thus it is this picture of injustice that engenders immense pity: an inoffensive character who is scorned and repudiated by society for his spiritual and religious convictions. It is not merely Antonio who condescends Shylock but also his entourage and the vast majority of those who profess the Christian faith. At the zenith of Shylock’s intense anguish (forsaken by Jessica) he is still scorned by Salerio thus arousing profound pity for Shylock.

‘My own flesh and blood to rebel!’

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‘out upon it old carrion, rebels it at these years?’

(It is an unsavoury sordid joke with sexual connotations intended to inflict greater distress. Therefore the audience, witnessing such excessive abuse fosters pity for shylock; this also exemplifies how language is manipulated to constitute distasteful and squalid imagery. Vulgar images are invoked in the midst of Shylock’s woes, demeaning him.

 

One must profess that our pity for shylock is curtailed by knowledge of Shylock’s malevolent intent and his dissolute psychology as he desires to cut a pound of flesh ‘nearest to the heart’. Our sympathy prevails as one ...

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