Shylock Victim or Villain?

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Shylock Victim or Villain?

        In the productions of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ the character Shylock seems to be the most important throughout the play. However, he can be played in different ways.  He can be portrayed as a victim or a villain. Even during a single production the audience’s sympathies change towards him.

Shylock can be seen as villain in many ways. One of these is his desire for revenge on Antonio. Shylock doesn’t like him because he is racist towards him and has disrespected him for a long time. Therefore when Bassanio asks him whether he will lend Antonio money Shylock keeps him waiting before he gives him an answer so he can think about the risks involved. You can see that Shylock avoids answering Bassanio straight away. When Bassanio would suggest how the loan would be dealt with shylock would repeat what he said and then say ‘well…’ for example when Bassanio said, “Ay, sir for three months,” referring to the payment of the loan. Shylock then said, “For three months; well.” Shylock did this to delay his final answer. This suggests that he is trying to show them who is making the decision and who has the control.

Shylock dislikes Antonio very much for calling him a misbeliever, a dog and spitting on him. Even after Antonio doing all of this Shylock was seemingly friendly to Antonio and even offered to be his friend, “I would be friend with you and have your love.” However might not have been sincere and was very suspicious especially under the circumstances, and therefore gives us an idea of how inconspicuous he was with his revenge which makes a good villain. “If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.” He pretends to be his friend but really wants revenge on his enemy for all the years of impertinence. He also says, “If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge,” he is referring to the bond and how he is using that as a way of revenge.

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However Antonio was rather cruel for all those years to him but the revenge Shylock had planned was very extreme.  Asking for a pound of his flesh may have started off as a joke but still wanting to cut off his flesh even after being offered three times the original agreement, this proved how much Shylock really wanted Antonio hurt. Choosing a pound of his flesh over money says a lot, as Shylock is very fond of money but is obviously fonder of the possibility of seeing Antonio dead.

        Furthermore Shylock’s attitude towards money shows him as more of a ...

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