Audiences impression of Shylock from his soliloquy
- He comes across as sly, cunning and scheming and wants to catch Antonio out.
- Shylock’s malice seems to stem, at least in part, from the unkindness of his Christian colleagues.
- Shylock vividly illustrates the depth of this contempt, wondering aloud why he should lend Antonio money when Antonio has voided his “rheum,” or spit, on Shylock’s beard, and he kicked Shylock as he would a stray dog (I.iii.113–114).
- Shylock understands the Christians and their culture much better than they understand him. The Christian characters only interact with Shylock within a framework of finance and law—he is not part of the friendship network portrayed in Act I, scene i.
- Though Bassanio asks him to dine with them, Shylock says in an aside that he will not break bread with Christians, nor will he forgive Antonio, thereby signalling his rejection of one of the fundamental Christian values, forgiveness
- Shylock is not motivated solely by money, his resentment against Antonio and the other Christians outweighs his desire for monetary gain.
- Shylock, preys upon the hardship of others in order to further increase his own material wealth
- Shylock is able to cite the New Testament as readily as Jewish scripture, as he shows in his remark about the pig being the animal into which Christ drove the devil. He is therefore very religious
- Shylock, comes across as an unsettling figure insofar as he exposes the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of the Christian characters and seems a person of true evil
Shylocks comments to Antonio about lending the money
The seriousness of the Christian misunderstanding can be seen when Shylock makes the bond with Antonio:
"This kindness will I show.
Go with me to a notary, seal me there
Your single bond, and, in a merry sport,
If you repay me not on such a day,
In such place, such sum or sums as are
Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit
Be nominated for an equal pound
Antonio repeats the same mistake made by Bassanio, thinking that Shylock is being "kind" when he agrees to loan the money without interest. Antonio states "The Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind" (1.3.174). Antonio is so convinced that he will be able to repay his debts that Shylock's request for a pound of his flesh as collateral strikes him as a joke, and therefore is not taken at all seriously.
Shylock's willingness to waive the interest payment brings to light an entirely new set of conflicts within the play. Shakespeare draws on Francis Bacon's statement, "It is against nature, for money to beget money," when he portrays the Christians as unselfish givers of all they have. Shylock defends his taking of interest by quoting the passage where Jacob is given the striped lambs. Antonio immediately rejects this as nonsense, asking, "Was this inserted to make interest good, / Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams?" (1.3.90-91). Shylock replies that, "I cannot tell. I make it breed as fast" (1.3.92).
This scene further focuses our attention on the use of sheep imagery in connection to money and breeding. Here Shakespeare plays on the words "use", "usury", and "ewes", all of which will be punned throughout the play. All the sheep imagery is on Shylock's side throughout, for he is fleecing the Christians, breeding the ewes. He therefore mentions Jacob as his defence for taking interest, and we can note later that Shylock's wife is named Leah, the same name that Jacob's first wife had. Shylock is also able to make his money breed like sheep through the charging of interest. On the other hand, the Christians have Jason and the Golden Fleece. This image is used in connection with Bassanio, the risk-taker, who risks everything to gain everything. Antonio does not make his money breed because he refuses to charge interest.
Insults hurled at Shylock
It is important to note here that Antonio does not deny Shylock's version of events. Antonio freely owns the abuse he has heaped upon Shylock and responds to Shylock's complaints with threats of renewed violence. Antonio swears that:
"I am as like to call thee so again, / To spet on thee, to spurn thee too"
Antonio acknowledges the animosity between himself and Shylock, but reverses the tables and argues that Shylock resents Antonio because Antonio also lends money, but does so without charging any interest. Moreover, Antonio has saved many of Shylock debtors from defaulting on their loans and thus preventing Shylock from collecting his interest:
Shylock seeks my life; his reasons I well know:
I oft delivered from his forfeitures
Many that have at times made moan to me;
Therefore he hates me (III,ii,21-24)
Antonio consequently appears as a charitable Christian who lends money freely, in contrast to the miserly and extortionist Shylock, who preys upon the hardship of others in order to further increase his own material wealth. The Christian virtue of lending money without interest is positioned, by Antonio, at the basis of Shylock's hatred of Antonio. But what is significant about Antonio's argument is how it undermines the justice of Shylock's hatred; because Shylock hates Antonio for what is an essentially Christian virtue, Shylock attacks not only a good Christian man of good Christian virtue but also, by extension, Christianity in general. Shylock's hatred thus has no ground in the Christian social and religious context of the play, not to mention wider Elizabethan society.
The perception created by Antonio's argument is that Shylock hates someone for their following a Christian virtue, which implies that Shylock is against Christianity, and by extension, of the devil's party.
The Terms of the Bond that Shylock proposes
Antonio tells Shylock to make the terms of the loan those he would give to an enemy
Feigning friendship now towards Antonio, Shylock agrees to lend the money without interest to prove his sincerity However there is a catch; if Bassanio does not repay the debt within the specified two months, Shylock who hates Antonio can by agreement, cut from him a pound of flesh.
Bassanio does not like this but Antonio assures him that when his ships return he expects a "return [profit] / Of thrice three times the value of this bond [three thousand ducats]" Shylock notes that a pound of flesh is not nearly as valuable as "flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats" adding that he makes this offer in friendship Emphasizing that Shylock is not serious about the pound of flesh, Shylock urges Antonio and Bassanio to meet with him at the "notary's; [an official]" to inform this man of "this merry [silly humorous] bond," after which Shylock promises to deliver the ducats immediately.