In III v it seems that Jessica will be saved by Lorenzo, from her being a Jew, ‘I shall be saved by my husband; he hath made me a Christian’. The audience may wonder if it was worth Jessica abandoning her father and only family member, for a husband that maybe wants her money more than love, it also depends on how the play is acted. Lorenzo tells Jessica that he is as admirable as Portia. Jessica, after Lorenzo says they should talk about the matter at dinner, says ‘let me praise you while I have a stomach’. As a joke Jessica is saying ‘if I praised you when my stomach was full I would be sick’. If one thought they were actually arguing, one would feel sympathy for Shylock, because his daughter has left him, for a relationship that is not very happy. So here, to the Elizabethan audience Shylock would be a villain still, but perhaps to the modern audience, or depending on how the scene is directed, Shylock could be considered as a victim of all this.
In III i, Shylock talks to Salarino and Solanio about the loss of his daughter. They mock him, saying that his daughter is not his own, because of various reasons. Shylock is clearly annoyed at Jessica, because he says ‘She is damned for’ running away. Salarino comments on the fact that Shylock and Jessica are not similar, he says ‘There is more difference between thy flesh and hers than between jet and ivory’ he uses antithesis to contrast them, this shows he is not oblivious to the fact the Jessica doesn’t want to live with him. Then Shylock has a long speech where he talks about what he should be allowed to do, if Christians do it. For example he says ‘Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions?’ He says this to show they are the same, Christians and Jews. He then goes on to say, if we are the same then ‘if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?’ This makes Shylock regards himself as a victim, as because he is a Jew, he has no rights. He tries to show the Christians that Jews are exactly the same, apart from their religion, and because of this they should be treated fairly and justly, with the same freedom and rights. He says ‘the villainy you teach me I will execute.’ He is going to follow what the Christians do, as an example, because surely that is only fair. After this, Shylock becomes more concerned about his money that Jessica stole, than Jessica herself. He says ‘and other precious, precious jewels!’, which shows he finds his jewels more precious than his daughter. He goes on to say ‘I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear: would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin.’ This shows that he is sadder about the loss of his money, than the loss of his daughter. This makes Shylock look a villain, and that it serves him right for losing his daughter, if he cared that little for her.
In I iii the bond is made. Shylock tells Bassanio, almost warning him that Antonio’s ships might not come back, of all the obstacles and ways the ships could not return to Venice. ‘Then there is the peril of waters, winds and rocks.’ Shylock then shows his hate towards Antonio. He recalls all the things Antonio has done to him and he tells the audience, aside from the other characters, of what he wants to do to Antonio. He says ‘he hates our sacred nation’ and ‘if I can catch him once upon the hip’. Shylock wants to do this to Antonio physically and mentally. This makes Shylock feel a victim, because of the wrong that Antonio has done him, but also a villain, because he wants to hurt Antonio.
In III iii Shylock confronts Antonio. Here, unlike any other scene of the play, Shylock is control. Shylock interrupts when Antonio is speaking. ‘Hear me yet, good Shylock –’ then Shylock begins his speech. This happens twice. Shylock demands his bond, this sudden power from Shylock is quite overwhelming and makes Shylock seem a villain. Shylock repeats ‘I’ll have my bond’ even though no-one doubts that he will. This shows Shylock is impatient and desperate to kill Antonio.
In IV i the Duke and Portia decide what happens to Shylock and Antonio. When Shylock first speaks he pleads to the Duke to carry out the bond made in I iii. The duke asks for the reason why Shylock wants his pound of flesh, but he can not give one, therefore it is simply a desire to destroy Antonio. He gives examples of other situations where there are no reasons for things – ‘Why he cannot abide a gaping pig, why he a harmless necessary cat… So I give no reason’. Shylock refuses even six thousand ducats, he says ‘If every ducat in six thousand ducats were in six parts, and every part a ducat, I would not draw them; I would have my bond.’ This makes him seem a villain, as he has no sympathy for Antonio. This also shows that he would prefer in order: Antonio dead, then the money, and then he would want his daughter back. This makes him seem an evil, selfish man. The duke asks Shylock to have mercy. Shylock proves to the judge that he is allowed to have his bond; it is fair, and an agreement. Later on in the scene before Shylock takes the flesh, Portia, having left it until the last minute for Shylock to change his mind, stops Shylock cutting the flesh. She says ‘This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood’. From this point on, Shylock is down hearted, and could be classed as now the victim, (depending on how the director wants to put the play) because he has to become a Christian and has to give half his money away. At the end, he is presented as the victim, having lost his daughter, his money, even his religion. He leaves the court after saying ‘I am not well’. Shylock uses repetition a lot in the play, for example, ‘An oath, an oath. I have an oath in heaven!’ This shows Shylocks implacable insistence.
Shakespeare’s presentation of Shylock affects our response to Shylock by making him seem a villain or a victim, depending on the director.