The Merchant of Venice Discuss Shakespeare's Presentation of Shylock

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Ravi Aggarwal                                                     GCSE English Coursework

The Merchant of Venice

Discuss Shakespeare’s Presentation of Shylock

Shylock is one of the main characters in the play. He is a Jew who is treated very badly by all Christians. He is presented with an ideal opportunity to kill Antonio, who is a Christian moneylender, when Antonio goes to Shylock on behalf of Bassanio to ask for 3000 ducats so that he can go to Belmont and try for the hand of Lady Portia – a wealthy and beautiful heiress. The three men meet and agree to the bond to a bond, which states that Bassanio will have the loan of 3000 ducats for three months, but if Antonio fails to repay Shylock, Shylock will claim a pound of his flesh.

Shylock is in many scenes of the play and his first one is Act 1 Scene 3 where Antonio and Bassanio first approach him for the loan. He speaks differently to everyone else so it makes out that he is an outsider. He says “-well” after some of his lines. The first thing he talks about in the scene is his business and then he only talks about his religion later, which shows that money is his main priority.  He makes it obvious in this scene that he hates Antonio mainly because he is a Christian “I hate him for he is a Christian” (line 34) and also because he lends money with no interest which discredits Shylock’s business. We also learn that he is spat on in the streets and publicly humiliated, “And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine,” which makes us feels sorry for him and portrays him as a victim of anti-Semitism from Christians. He also shows himself to be devious and cunning by hiding his hatred beneath a façade of friendship in order to entice Antonio to become indebted to him, not just with money, but also with his life. The audience would feel ambiguous towards Shylock because we find out that everyone is horrible to him and insults him. He also gives good reasons for hating Christians and shows us that he is a strong character and is spirited in defence. Antonio and Bassanio are uncertain as to whether the bond is genuine or if he is plotting to kill Antonio, but I think that it was a genuine bond at this point in the play and Shylock only wants to kill Antonio later when he is angry. I think that Shylock is trying to be kind to Antonio so that Antonio would be kind to him afterwards.

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The next scene he appears in is Act 2 Scene 5 where he is saying goodbye to Launcelot who is going to Bassanio. Shylock is made to look like a miser and is obsessed of getting rid of Launcelot because he is costing him money. He is happy to eat the Christians food and cost them money. He is going against what he has said earlier in the play in that he said he would never eat with Christians, “I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you,” Act 1 Scene 3. He also seems to ...

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