Shylock: victim or villain?

Michael Salisbury 10IJ

In “The Merchant of Venice” Shylock is a Jewish moneylender. Who can be seen as both a villain and a victim. Shylock is badly treated by other characters in the play; we suspect this is because of his religion although we are not sure. However, he also behaves very badly from time to time, making it very difficult for us to feel total sympathy for him.

We first see Shylock as a victim when he angers Bassanio by using the word “good” to describe Antonio. Shylock actually means that Antonio is good for the loan and he can repay it but Bassanio thinks that Shylock is judging Antonio. In the 16thcentury, when this play was written, Jews were seen as being lesser beings and they were not worthy of holding an opinion of a Christian. Bassanio is angry because he believes that Shylock is judging Antonio. We see Shylock as being a victim of his religion in this incident because he is being judged by his religion and not his personal qualities.

Shylock is seen as a victim again in Act One, Scene Three when we find out that Antonio, a Christian, lends out money “gratis” meaning that he “ brings down the rate of usance” in Venice, which is ruining Shylock's business. Shylock lends out money and charges interest on the loans he makes . Antonio, an important man in Venice, has also publicly humiliated Shylock, calling him a “misbeliever” and “a cut throat dog” and by spitting on his “Jewish gaberdine”. Antonio is not sorry, saying, “I am as like.. to spit on thee again” He says this and expects Shylock to lend him money, showing disrespect for Shylock's religion. Again Shylock is seen as a victim of his religion.

In Act Two, Scene Two Lancelot, Shylock’s servant, is discussing with his father, running away from Shylock. Lancelot tells his father “… I am a Jew if I serve the Jew any longer.” We suspect from his words that he wants to leave Shylock because of Shylock's religion.

In Act Two, Scene Five we get the impression that Lancelot has not been treated as badly as he claims. Shylock is not as damning of him as we might expect but instead says, “ The patch is kind enough” The word “patch” suggests that he is actually quite fond of Lancelot. We see Shylock as a victim again in Act Two, Scene Eight, when Solanio and Salerino talk about how “… all the boys in Venice follow him, crying his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.” They are referring to the boys mocking him because his daughter has run away with his money. Later on in the play the Duke refers to Shylock as “the Jew.” This shows the disrespect Shylock suffers because of his religion from all levels of Venetian society from the boys in the street to the Duke, the highest man in Venice. Shylock is shown as one who suffers in his day to day life simply because of his religion.

In Act Two, Scene Three Lancelot is shown to be anti-Semite not just to Shylock but also to Jessica, Shylock's daughter. Lancelot calls her “ most beautiful pagan, most sweet Jew” Although Lancelot appears to be complimenting her, he is also insulting her because of her religion. This suggests that Lancelot’s hatred of Shylock is based on his religion. Jessica is planning on running away with Lorenzo and marrying him. She also plans to steal his jewels. Shylock has no idea that Jessica is about to become a Christian and become Lorenzo’s wife. The biggest insult that Jessica could give to her father is to become a Christian but it would be equally humiliating for Shylock that Jessica would elope with Lorenzo, for in the 16th Century daughters belonged to their fathers until they were married, usually with their father’s permission. For Jessica to do both of these things without Shylock’s knowledge and permission would suggest to Venetian society that he had no control over his daughter.

Shylock is a religious man and he wants to protect Jessica from the “bad” influence of the Christian masques. He does not realize that she is about to betray him, so Shylock trusts Jessica with his keys and to lock up the house. This shows Shylock as a caring father, who does not deserve the treatment he receives from his daughter

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We feel greatest sympathy for Shylock when his daughter, Jessica leaves him. Solanio and Salerino comment, “I have never heard a passion so confused…” as they describes Shylock running through the streets shouting, “ my daughter! O my ducats!” This behaviour is quite different from anything Shylock has done before. Shylock is normally a quiet character who would not create such a scene in public. Shylock is seen as a victim because everyone thinks that because he is Jewish he does not have feelings. Shylock says that it is unfair that he is treated differently because he is just the same as a Christian apart from his beliefs: “ I am a Jew. Hath a Jew not a Jew’s eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions…” The 16th century audience would be booing Shylock now. They would have no sympathy for him at all as Jews were not liked at that time because they tended to be successful bankers. Now, in the 21st century, we feel sorry for him because of the atrocities of the Holocaust.

In the same scene Tubal, Shylock's Jewish friend, enters and Solanio says “here comes another of the tribe: “a third cannot be matched unless the devil himself turn Jew.” It is clear from this quote that Solanio does not like Shylock because of his religion and he has the same attitude towards Tubal. This confirms our suspicions that the bad treatment Shylock receives is due to the fact that he is a Jew, and not because of his character.

Act Four Scene One is in court. Shylock is trying to legally take a pound of Antonio’s flesh for not repaying his loan. The Duke describes Shylock as "... an inhuman wretch, incapable of pity.." This indicates the duke's support for Antonio. The Duke is again prejudiced against Shylock when he asks Shylock not only to "lose the forfeiture" but also to "forgive a moiety of the principle" These two quotes show how biased the Duke is towards Antonio and suggests that he is possibly taking advantage of Shylock. Perhaps the Duke asked Shylock to write off most of Antonio’s loan because Shylock is a Jew and the Duke believes Christians are superior to Jews and that Jews should obey Christians. Shylock gives no reason for wanting to harm Antonio, other than that he hates him, perhaps because he thinks that no one will listen to him if he tells them of Antonio's treatment of him. Or perhaps he thinks that they will not care. because of his religion.

Shylock seems to be publicly supported for perhaps the first time in his life when Portia points out that "lawfully by this the Jew may claim a pound of flesh" but she turns the tables on him when she tells him that the bond "...doth give thee here no jot of blood" meaning that Shylock can take his pound of flesh but there must be no blood shed. Portia behaves like this perhaps to show Shylock's bad side when he gets excited about the fact that he might win the case, or perhaps she likes to see him suffer.

Shylock loses the case and according to the Alien law which applies in Venice, must not lose both his life and all his wealth for plotting to harm a citizen of Venice. He is considered to be an Alien simply because he is a Jew. Shylock is due to lose all his wealth. Antonio requests and is granted, partial mercy for Shylock: Shylock can keep his life and half his wealth. Antonio has two conditions. He wants Shylock firstly to

"...presently become a Christian;

The other, that he do record a gift,

Here in court, of all he possessed

Unto his son, Lorenzo and his daughter."

Shylock is in a humiliating situation. He is being forced to change his religion to be able to keep some of his own money and to save his life. He cannot refuse unless he wants to die. "I am content", he responds when asked how he feels about the ruling. The 16th century audience would probably be extremely happy at this time because of Shylock's misfortune. The audience in the 21st century, will feel more pity for Shylock because our society does not accept the racist ideas expressed in the court of law. The 16th century audiences had not witnessed events such as the Holocaust and the people were jealous of the wealth that Jews seemed to be able to accumulate so they did not feel any pity for the Jews.

Although Shakespeare does encourage us to feel some sympathy for Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, there is no denying that he does behave in a villainous fashion at times in the play. We first see Shylock as a villain in Act One, Scene Three. Bassanio wants to borrow money from Shylock in Antonio’s name. This is a rare occasion for Shylock to hold power over an important Christian so he plays with Bassanio, by not giving him straight answer and by repeating everything Bassanio says.

In the same scene Bassanio politely invites Shylock to dinner but Shylock rudely refuses saying: "I will not eat with you, drink with you nor pray with you." We see Shylock as a victim in the play because of the anti-Semite attitudes of the other characters but we now see Bassanio as a victim and Shylock as a villain because of his anti-Christian attitude. We see Shylock expressing his anti-Christian feelings again when he tells the audience in an aside that he hates Antonio "...for he is a Christian" This is a piece of dramatic irony because we, the audience know more about the situation than the characters in the play. He also says, when politely asked to dine with Antonio "... I'll go in hate to feed upon the prodigal Christian.'

In Act One, Scene Three we see Shylock setting Antonio up. Shylock wants a pound of Antonio's flesh if Antonio cannot repay Shylock's bond by the time agreed. Shylock makes Antonio think that he is joking with him by claiming that " a pound of man's flesh” would be no use to him. I think that Shylock does not care if he gets his money back or not; he just wants an opportunity to harm Antonio. I get this impression when Shylock says talking about Antonio, “I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him."

In Act Two, Scenes Two and Three we get the impression that Shylock does not just dislike Antonio but Lancelot and Jessica too. We see Lancelot complaining to his father about how he is "...famished in his (Shylock's) service..." and that "...you may tell every finger..." he has with his ribs. Jessica does not enjoy living with her father and she claims "our house is hell..." Jessica also seems afraid of him "...I would not have my father see me in talk with thee." It seems from this Shylock does not like anyone who does not have the same beliefs as him an that he enjoys bullying people who are not as important as him, such as Lancelot and Jessica.

Lorenzo appears to like Jessica, Shylock's daughter. We think this because Lorenzo calls Jessica "most beautiful pagen most sweet Jew" so it cannot be anti-Semitism that motivates Lorenzo's hatred of Shylock. Lorenzo must just dislike Shylock because of his personality. If this is true for Lorenzo then perhaps it is true for other characters.

Shylock treats Jessica as a housekeeper. Maybe this is why Jessica hates her father and is prepared to run away from him, become a Christian and marry a Christian without her father's permission. We can see from Shylock's use of words that he considers her as a servant "what Jessica!...what Jessica!.. why Jessica"

When Shylock realizes that his daughter has run away he does not seem to care about his daughter; he is worried because "... she hath the stones upon her and the ducats!" Shylock does not seem to mind that he has lost his daughter but that his money has been stolen. Shylock then expresses his wish to have his daughter "dead at his feet." This shows Shylock as a greedy, unloving father.

In Act Three, Scene One, Shylock seems to have no respect for the lives lost when he finds out that another of Antonio's ships has gone down. We can tell that he is very excited when he exclaims, "I thank God, I thank God..." Shylock is happy at the misfortune of others. He seems to show no pity for Antonio who has lost a lot of money. Now that Shylock realizes that Antonio will not be able to repay the bond he admits that he was not joking about the bond and that he wants to torture Antonio. Perhaps Shylock has admitted to the bond now that Antonio will definitely not be able to repay it because if he had admitted that he was joking earlier then Antonio would be less likely to fall into one of his traps again.

We see the worst of Shylock however in the courtroom Scene. Shylock is only able to offer two feeble reasons for wanting to take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Shylock then refuses huge amounts of money in order to effect his revenge on Antonio. Shylock claims “If every ducat in six thousand ducats were in six parts and every part a ducat I would not draw them." This shows Shylock as a ruthless man who will do anything to get what he wants. He is shown like this again, later in the court case when he sharpens his knife, suggesting that he is determined to get what he wants. He still does not change his mind after Portia's moving speech about the quality of mercy. This proves to be a big mistake later when he finds he is not able to take his pound of flesh or any of the money. Shylock again shows how ruthless and uncaring he is when he will not allow a doctor to be present to stop Antonio's bleeding. Shylock says "I cannot find it, 'tis not mentioned in the bond."

Shylock is shown as being very cunning when he develops his very powerful case. He compares his right to a pound of flesh with that of a Christian's right to own slaves. He tells the Duke that "if you deny me, fie upon your law:..." meaning that if he is denied the right to have his pound of flesh then the laws of Venice are worthless. Shylock is portrayed as a cunning dangerous man in this part of the court case.

When Portia reveals to the court that Shylock cannot legally take a pound of Antonio's flesh Shylock expects Antonio to "...pay the bond thrice...' then he will let "...the Christian go." When Shylock realizes that he will not get this he asks Antonio to “give me my principle..." Shylock is portrayed in this scene as a desperate man determined to harm Antonio anyway he can. Shylock seems distraught that his plan has failed and he wants to come away with whatever he can.

After writing this essay and studying the play " The Merchant of Venice” I have come to the conclusion that Shylock is a victim of his religion. I believe that he would not have been so sinister if he had been a Christian. However, I think that Shylock is a villain because he creates the reasons for other characters to dislike him; it was not just his religion that provoked the hatred of others, although this is an important factor. The proof of this argument is that there were lots of other Jews at this time; they were also discriminated against because of their religion but not all of them did what Shylock did or anything similar. This means that Shylock's negative attitude and anti-social behaviour were big reasons for Antonio and other characters to dislike him. As a consequence Shylock tried to harm them. I think Shylock is a villain because almost all the reasons for his trying to harm Antonio were due to his personality.