This seems as Shylock is bloodthirsty. But he wants to keep a good record during the play. This scene sets the play up as you would want to know what is going to happen to Antonio.
The Second scene Shylock is in is act 2 scene 5. In this scene Shylock’s servant, Launcelot, that Bassanio would not be as good a master as he would. Launcelot is thinking of becoming Bassanio’s servant. Also Shylock tells his daughter, Jessica, not watch the Christians having fun on the streets. Shylock has to leave and meet Bassanio. Whilst Shylock meets Bassanio, Jessica has planned to run away with Lorenzo. Jessica steals all of Shylocks money and jewels in the house and runs away.
This scene made me feel a bit sympathetic for Shylock because his own daughter has just stolen all of his money and he hasn’t done anything wrong.
The third scene Shylock plays a part in is act 3 scene 1. Shylock is delighted in the fact that there is a rumour spreading that Antonio’s ships have been wrecked. These ships contained all of Antonio’s wealth. Shylock is happy now because he can kill Antonio, as he hates him.
I think Shylock isn’t a bad man or a lawbreaker; he just wants revenge as Antonio calls him and makes fun out of him. Shylock tries to explain to Antonio that he is still human and deserves to be treated like a human.
The penultimate scene Shylock is involved in is act 3 scene 3. Shylock has the duty of taking Antonio off to prison; this is so that the duke can decide on Antonio’s fate. Solanio condemns Shylock as the worst of all men that he will carry out his actions. This scene is very short but it explains that Antonio thinks he will die very soon. I think that Shylock is carrying out his actions so his reputation is intact. He also hates Antonio.
The final scene, act 4 scene 1, is the longest that Shylock is in. It is the courtroom scene where Antonio is judged on his fate. Shylock would not accept six times more than the original loan amount. He wouldn’t take this because of hatreds between each other and the way Antonio has treated Shylock. Shylock dismisses that he is being called names by Graziano because the day he has been waiting for has finally come. While Shylock is comfortable during the trial the doctor of law steps in and makes Shylock go back on what he said originally. But the doctor says that he can have a pound of flesh or nothing else. This was said because no blood could be spilt. After deciding that he would not lose all his possessions he decides that his only option is to convert to Christianity.
This scene was very important and shows that Shylock is a wealthy man because he would have lost his estate to Antonio. It also shows that he is more bothered about his money than anything else.
An important quote that Shylock said in 4:1 is “what judgement shall I dread, doing no wrong?” this means that he believes he has done nothing wrong and that he followed the contract. Another important quote is in 1:3 and it said “cursed by my tribe, if I forgive him.” This means that if Shylock was to drop the bond then the Jews that he knows will hate him.
Overall I think that Shylock can be misjudged for an evil person who doesn’t show any mercy. I think that it is present in some of his scenes as he just wants to kill Antonio, whereas he does have a human side to him.
