When Shylock first appears with Bassanio he is discussing a loan proposal and the terms of it are repeated so many times, this is done to show the contrast between the two characters, the cautious crafty old business man and the decent young client.
A bit later on in the play when Shylock is finalising the deal with Antonio and after he has shown the audience how much of a victim he is by way of the long speech about how Antonio has abused him on the street, he suggests a different approach to the loan in time a pound of flesh will be taken off Antonio. Shylock seems to make this deal out of friendship between them. "There is much kindness in the Jew" the quote shows that Antonio believes that Shylock is making a real effort to become friends. Shylock speech about him being a victim earlier on further makes Antonio more sympathetic to his situation and accepted the deal.
Shylock is a greedy money lender. Shylock charges high interest rates and when he is not repaid he insists on revenge. In the play Shylock loans Antonio money, and he suggests that if the loan wasn’t repaid in time Shylock may cut off one pound of flesh from Antonio's body. Soon after Shylock's daughter runs away from home with Lorenzo, a Christian, and takes her father's ducats with her. When Antonio's ships do not come in and he is not able to repay the loan, Shylock is no longer interested in getting his money back. Shylock wants revenge for the loss of his daughter through the performance of the bond. In court Shylock is defeated because of his selfishness.
Right through the rest of the play, Shylock does not do anything to show that he is a good person and anything else that he does that could be seen as him doing something good for someone else always seems to benefit himself more. An example of this is when he asks Jessica to 'lock up my doors' throughout the passage he always refers to the house as his house and not their house. Shylock does not seem to have any respect for his own daughter. Further evidence of this is when he repeatedly calls her, and shows little concern of her feelings. Also Antonio called Shylock a dog. “You call me mis-believer, cut-throat dog….” Calling someone a dog is low and mean. It makes them feel like they don’t know what’s right and wrong. An animal rather than a human being. Shylock also got spat by Antonio. “Fair sir, you spat on me on Wednesday last, you spurned me such a day, another time you called me a dog and for the courtesies….” Shylock had to endure all those bad things which start to make us feel sorry for him.
Shakespeare also shows the human qualities of Shylock throughout the play. Shakespeare brings out these human qualities by causing us to feel sympathy for him. After the loss of his daughter Shylock ran through the streets crying "My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! “As children followed him, mocking him. This causes us to feel sympathy for Shylock, even through we may feel to be an ogre. Besides the loss of his daughter and his ducats (money), after the trial, Shylock also loses his property and his religion. The loss of his property was certainly a blow to Shylock but it can hardly compare to his loss of his religion. His forced conversion to Christianity brings out more sympathy for him.
In my conclusion I do think that Shylock is an Ogre and deserved the consequences that he got.
