It is still debatable whether Shylock can be described as a victim or villain but what is clear is that Shakespeare intended for this controversy between victim and villain to make the audience confused about what type of person Shylock really is. Shakespeare also brings out emotions like this from the audience later on in the play.
Later on in this scene, we find out that Shylock agrees to issue the bond and ironically charges no interest which is most unusual to Bassanio. However, Antonio sees this proposition as an act of friendship and is oblivious to what Shylock is doing, despite all of Bassanio’s warnings: “The Hebrew will turn Christian, he grows kind.” I think the reason why Antonio was so quick to foolishly accept this bond was because he is naïve and also overconfident in thinking he will be able to pay it back. Antonio also has a big reputation around that area and most likely doesn’t want to be challenged by a Jew as it could be degrading for his ego. However, the agreed terms were that if Antonio should fail to pay back the bond, Shylock can have a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Antonio said this because he wanted to take advantage of the fact Antonio will be indebted and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to relieve his thirst for revenge as he is convinced Antonio will fail to pay back the bond and consequently, Shylock can have his life for it. These are typical propositions of a villains mind. Shylock now feels justified because Shylock blames Antonio because he feels bitter about the way Antonio had treated him in the past: “You spat on me Wednesday last, you spurn’d me such a day, another time you call’d me dog.” Antonio is also very resentful about the way his race has been tormented by the Christians. Shylock speaks in a way that he sees himself as a representative of his nation, the Jews. “He hates our sacred nation.” Shylock feels this is a perfect opportunity to relive his hatred for Antonio as well as Christian’s and goes for Antonio’s life. This is an act of villainy. Shylock then says he will avenge the treatment of his ‘clan’ and feed his revenge using the villainy Antonio and his nation supposedly taught him: “It will feed my revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute.”
By saying this, Shylock will copy the example of Christians showing he is no better than they are even though he complains about their behaviour towards him. This shows that Shylock could also be a victim as much as he sounds a villain because it is as if all this villainy has come from the way Christians have been treating him in the same villain-like manner.
Another point I have picked up on is that he mistreats other people, even those close to him, even as close as his own daughter, Jessica. In Act 2 Scene 5, Shylock is ordering her about in a harsh way as if she is a slave: “Hear you me, Jessica. Lock up my doors and when you hear the drum. Nor thrust your head into the public street. But stop my house’s ears. Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter.”
Yet still, having said all this Shylock has not yet released any real aggression yet which confuses the audience because how could he possibly be a villain if he hasn’t distinctly acted like so? However, the first scene where Shylock first makes his hatred towards Antonio apparent is Act 3 Scene 3. This is simply because Shylock is so intent on getting his bond from Antonio and it is the repetition of this that shows Shylock to be distinctly aggressive: “I’ll have my bond.” He warns those who have treated him as “a dog” to “beware my fangs”.
Shylock’s determination to destroy Antonio continues during Act IV in the trial scene. He refuses to show mercy when asked by Portia and the Duke. ‘On what compulsion must I? Tell me that”.
If you scan over the bold quotations made by Shylock, you will notice all of them contain elements of aggression, bitterness, abuse and demands. These all emphasise how Shylock might be described as a villain. However, there are a few points we must consider which may change our view upon Shylock and might even make us feel sorry for him as you may see a different side to all this and understand what he is suffering.
Early on in the play, we learn about the abuse he has suffered from Christians. He says that he is spat upon and also called a dog. Antonio also receives abuse from other characters in the play such as Salerio and Solanio. They both mock Shylock at every chance they get, all throughout the play: “As the dog Jew did utter in the streets in the streets. My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!”
Having received torment such as this on numerous occasions, you can understand why Shylock feels the way he does about Christians altogether and a few in particular. This really emphasises Shylock as being victimized and makes the majority of the audience feel a sense of sympathy as well as sorry towards Shylock. These are other emotions Shakespeare cleverly draws from the audience which makes Shylock seem even more of a stereotypical character which I’m sure Shakespeare would have intended.
Shylock is also a victim of society. At the time, almost all of the laws were in favor of Christians. Jews had very few rights and depended only on the mercy of the society they lived in. This is the main reason why Shylock lost the trial in Act 4. Shylock’s life was then put in the hands of the Duke. His punishment was a religious conversion from Jewish to Christianity. Shylock now has no daughter, no money, and no wife and has now lost his religion. He now has nothing to live for, all because he was treated in a villainous manner by Christians and seeked vengeance. However, this would have almost been inevitable as he is living in a Christian society and consequently, he is being victimized by the laws as well as the people around him.
Having said all this, I’d say Shylock is a victim more than he is a villain despite the thin borderline although I think this was what Shakespeare intended, for the distinction between villain and victim to become indistinct which is what he does very well throughout the play.
