However, in the same scene Shylock states how Antonio mistreats him and speaks racial abuse. He says, “You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gabardine” though in Shakespeare time the audience may have cheered on Antonio for these anti-Semitic acts, in more modern times this is more the acts of a villain. This victimises Shylock for the first time showing him as a sufferer of racism, although the 16th century audience would not have troubled over it.
Many other characters in the play vilify shylock even more; He is referred to as “devil” many times. One example of this is when his own daughter states, “Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil, Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness” this metaphoric statement comparing the house to hell and her father to the devil demonises Shylock by not only referring to him as the devil, also depriving him on any close human relationships by showing his own daughters dislike for the Jew.
Shylock tries to defend himself with his own humanisation. This is interesting, as much of Shakespeare’s audience would not have taken Shylocks views into account before. They would have seen him as an evil Jew and nothing more. Shylock gives his famous speech starting “Hath a Jew not eyes?” this goes on equalling Jews to humans. He also states “and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” This is a strong argument attempting to justify his want for revenge. And also shows how Jews have the same weaknesses as Christians, which is a way of victimising Shylock by making him seem more human.
However, in the same scene he once again vilifies himself by showing his love for money is greater than his love for his own daughter. When informed about his daughters’ absence, he says “a diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort” showing how he cares not for the loss of his daughter but for the loss of the money she stole. This is to highlight the fact that Shylock is still a greedy moneylender and display him as a villain.
Shylock demonstrates his own villainess by openly displaying his eagerness to extract a pound of flesh from Antonios bosom. This shows a new type of villainy in Shylock, rather than just greedy and Jewish, he is now bloodthirsty. Furthermore, his violence is directed at the hero Antonio, this would further enrage the audience against the Jew.
To conclude Shakespeare created the character Shylock as a villain, his Jewish money-lending stereotype and hatred for any character loved by the audience made him an object to be jeered at by audience. However, Shakespeare tried to give Shylock a deeper side by illustrating him as a victim of what others see in him, a victim of racism. Yet in the time the play was written the British Christian audience would not have cared much for him, and his pleas for equality were possible sneered at. But this shows how Shakespeare was in a way a few centuries ahead of his time.
