DO YOU SYMPATHISE WITH SHYLOCK?
Throughout the years Jews have been treated extremely inadequately for a prolonged period of time. Jews were badly mistreated by many and also thought of as dirty people whom contained no respect. In 70AD a roman general Titus, took his second revolt with Jerusalem, killing 1 million people. The holocaust was probably the most known, outrageous act of cruelty towards Jews . During the second world war it was really hard attempting to survive if you were a Jew, as Hitler was in control and he had a major dislike towards them. He forced the Jewish men to work in horrible conditions, he even tried to kill many of them by fitting them in gas chambers and leaving them there to die. He hated them so much that throughout the period of time he was in control and had maximum power over them he killed between 5-11 million Jews.
Jews were made to know they were hated and were not treated with the same rights, as when it came to getting a job Jews only had a limited amount of jobs they were allowed to do. A money lender was the main job given to a Jew as it was a very disrespectful job, which didn't help them as they were already hated and this just made it worse. However if a Jew was to covert from the Jewish race to the Christian one Elizabethans thought they would be cured. This is why at the end of 'The Merchant of Venice' Shylock is made to do that.
In Venice Shylock is a Jewish moneylender. He gets annoyed by the way he is mistreated by the Venetian Christians, mainly Antonio. He uses his job as an advantage to seek out his revenge on Antonio by demanding, as a payment, a pound of Antonio's flesh. Although he is seen by all the other characters as an "inhuman wretch", Shylock reveals his true nature and portrays himself to be quite human. He is also referred to as a "dog", the "devil" or just the "Jew". You do slightly sympathise with him at the point as he hasn't had the easiest of lives, as he had to bring up his daughter 'Jessica' all on by himself without her mother being present. This could be a reason why he is seen as cruel and bad. Also he has to put up with being harshly treated by the Venetian Christians just for being a 'Jew'. So the question 'Do you sympathise with Shylock is already in thought as you cant help but want to try and help him.
Throughout the years Jews have been treated extremely inadequately for a prolonged period of time. Jews were badly mistreated by many and also thought of as dirty people whom contained no respect. In 70AD a roman general Titus, took his second revolt with Jerusalem, killing 1 million people. The holocaust was probably the most known, outrageous act of cruelty towards Jews . During the second world war it was really hard attempting to survive if you were a Jew, as Hitler was in control and he had a major dislike towards them. He forced the Jewish men to work in horrible conditions, he even tried to kill many of them by fitting them in gas chambers and leaving them there to die. He hated them so much that throughout the period of time he was in control and had maximum power over them he killed between 5-11 million Jews.
Jews were made to know they were hated and were not treated with the same rights, as when it came to getting a job Jews only had a limited amount of jobs they were allowed to do. A money lender was the main job given to a Jew as it was a very disrespectful job, which didn't help them as they were already hated and this just made it worse. However if a Jew was to covert from the Jewish race to the Christian one Elizabethans thought they would be cured. This is why at the end of 'The Merchant of Venice' Shylock is made to do that.
In Venice Shylock is a Jewish moneylender. He gets annoyed by the way he is mistreated by the Venetian Christians, mainly Antonio. He uses his job as an advantage to seek out his revenge on Antonio by demanding, as a payment, a pound of Antonio's flesh. Although he is seen by all the other characters as an "inhuman wretch", Shylock reveals his true nature and portrays himself to be quite human. He is also referred to as a "dog", the "devil" or just the "Jew". You do slightly sympathise with him at the point as he hasn't had the easiest of lives, as he had to bring up his daughter 'Jessica' all on by himself without her mother being present. This could be a reason why he is seen as cruel and bad. Also he has to put up with being harshly treated by the Venetian Christians just for being a 'Jew'. So the question 'Do you sympathise with Shylock is already in thought as you cant help but want to try and help him.
