Shylock is the villain of "Merchant of Venice", yet Shakespeare invites us to feel sympathy for him - Discuss.

The author has produced Shylock as the villain of the play using structure,   As soon as the reader meets Shylock he appears to value money more than anything.  This immediately caused me to imagine him as a selfish character, exactly what Shakespeare intended.  Because Shylock is a Jew, the Elizabethan audience for who this play was written  would have been prejudiced against him, something the author has carefully considered.  In Act I, Scene III, Shylock’s malicious speech, ‘How like a fawning…If I forgive him’ portrays the hatred he feels towards Antonio.  The reader feels sympathetic towards Antonio that the wicked Shylock could be so odious.  The author has effectively created this feeling of hatred using imagery: ‘catch him once upon the hip’ and powerful word choice ‘cursed’.  Using technical devices throughout the play Shakespeare has consciously invited the reader to loathe Shylock.

Although the author has gained hatred for Shylock, he also wishes us to feel sympathy for him.  Shylock’s daughter, Jessica, is used to emphasise this point.  When Jessica sells a ring that is of immense sentimental value to her father, the reader feels great sorrow for him. Another example is when his daughter elopes with a Christian he is seen lamenting in the streets:  ‘Justice! The law! My ducats, and my daughter!’  The minor sentences and structure effectively convey the pain Shylock is dealing with.  Shakespeare has cleverly used Jessica to create sympathy for Shylock.  Jessica elopes with a Christian, upsetting her father that there will be no new people in his family line.  Jessica is the main character the author has used to create sympathy for Shylock.

Shakespeare encourages the reader to feel sympathy for Shylock using other characters during the play. One of the first occasions in the play where I felt sympathy for him was Act I, Scene III throughout his speech:  ‘Signor Antonio… I’ll lend you thus much moneys’.  Onomatopoeic ‘spit’ and metaphorical ‘cut-throat dog’ are examples of emotive language used by the author to form a powerful speech showing the terrible way Antonio treats Shylock, therefore inducing sympathy.  One of Shylock’s most sympathy evoking speeches is in Act III, Scene I: ‘He hath disgraced me… better the instruction’.  Shakespeare has created a list with a flowing rhythm to show the many ways in which Antonio has hurt Shylock.

In his play, The Merchant of Venice, the author used technical devices to encourage the reader to feel sympathy for Shylock although he is the villain of the play.  E has created a hatred for Shylock using structure and powerful word choice.  Ironically he ahs evoked sympathy for Shylock using a variety of technical devices.  An intelligently written play by Shakespeare that is still relevant today.