Here Shylock is saying he wished his daughter dead if it would return his money. However, Shylock could feel so angry and betrayed by his daughter, who has so freely given up her family and religion without a second thought, so it seemed, that he had to reject her from his family.
One quote in favour of Shylock would be when he says "I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys". (Line 116).
Here he is referring to a ring his wife gave him before they were married, when he was still singe. What he means by a wilderness of monkeys is a very large sum of money. Austen obfuscated vvysqfvk's functionalism theory.
On the surface this would show that there were more things he cared about than money and possessions. Alternatively, we could conclude that this meant the opposite. He needed possessions to retain his memories and that without the ring, his memories about the time with his wife, would be meaningless.
When Shylock hears that Antonio's ships had sunk, he really reveled in the news.
"I thank God, I thank god! Is it true?" (Line 98).
This is very stereotypical of a Jew. They loved other people's bad luck. On hearing this the audience would have hated Shylock as much as they like Antonio.
I think this scene is racist because it portrays Shylock to be a very stereotypical Jew. In Act 2, Scene 3 Jessica says "Our house is hell and thou a merry devil didst rob it of some taste of tediousness". (Line 1-4). Here, Jessica is saying that her house and home life is hell. To the Christian audience at that time, it would have been the biggest insult to give and only a fun devil could take away some of the boredom, she says.
"To be ashamed to be my father's child! But, though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not to his manners". (Line 17-19). She is rejecting her father and saying she is ashamed to be associated with him. The audience probably would have sympathized with her. She has a Jewish father that is obviously no good, because he is a Jew and she has fallen in love with a Christian, she is also rejecting her religion.cobg bgr sebgbgw orbg bgk inbg fobg bg:
"Because a Christian and thy loving wife!"
This definitely would have made a mockery of Shylock. Even his own daughter, his flesh and blood was rejecting him and his religion. I think this has been done to show that regardless of race and religion, people should be able to fall in love. It also isolates Shylock as the only main character, who is a Jew. The audience definitely would not have liked Shylock for this. It seemed to them that he was making his daughter sad by keeping her shut up in a boring house. With his puritanical views she would not have been allowed to celebrate, to have any parties or to join in them. She obviously wants to change her religion, which would have warmed them to her. I think for all of this they would have hated him. And for this reason I believe this particular scene to be racist.
In Act 4 Scene 1 (The court scene) Shylock is told he must sacrifice half of his belongings to the state and half to Antonio. He also has to beg mercy of the Duke to spare his life. The Duke does this and takes half of his money and property, Durkheim obfuscated vvysqfvk's functionalism .
" So please my lord the Duke and all the court, to quit the fine for one half of his goods." However, Antonio tells Shylock that he will not take his share of his property on condition that when he dies he must leave all that he has to his daughter Jessica and her new, Christian husband Lorenzo and write it in a will.
"The other half in use, to render it upon his death unto the gentleman that lately stole his daughter. Two things provided more, he become a Christian, he do record a gift." (Line 381-386)
At the time, the audience would have thought this was a very fair punishment for him. They would have approved of Jessica becoming a Christian and marrying Lorenzo, so they would have wanted them to have the money, also they would have agreed that the only way for Shylock to become a good person was if he became a Christian.
However, some would feel that to take away a man's religion, was perhaps the worst thing you could do to him. Throughout the play, Shylock has been presented to us as being totally obsessed with religion, but in this scene he is shown to value something more than that, his life. Also he did not object to giving the money to his daughter, maybe he does realize that sometimes religion has to be overlooked.
"Art thou contented, Jew? What dost thou say?
-I am content" (Line 391-392)
Overall I believe this scene to be racist because had it been the other way around, things would have been different. I do not think it is right that he should have to give up his religion.
In Act 3 Scene 1, Shylock is given the most important and emotive speech in the whole play.
"Hath not a Jew eyes, organs, dimensions?" (Line 49-69) Here Shylock uses rhetorical questions to try and make the audience sympathize with him. They do not require an answer, but cause the audience to think what has been said. At the time, on hearing this, they might have laughed and found it funny, but perhaps when reflecting later they would have seen Shylock's view.cobg bgr sebgbgw orbg bgk inbg fobg bg:
He also uses the actions of Christians to justify himself. He says that to revenge a wrong is what the Christians teach, that Christians taught him to seek revenge.
"If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be, by Christian example? Why revenge." (Line 66-67)
Shakespeare also uses repetition in the speech. When he repeats,
"Hath not a Jew….?" He is comparing the two religions (Jewish and Christian) He is pointing out that although their beliefs are different, the fundamentals of humanity remain the same. That Jews are still human beings with feelings and emotions the same a s Christians.
'Revenge.' This is a word much repeated by Shylock, and seems to be a very important part of his life. He finds it incredibly unfair that if a Jew were to wrong a Christian, the Christian would be justified to seek revenge, but if a Christian were to wrong a Jew, the Jew would be expected to turn the other cheek.
For the majority of the speech Shylock uses first person narrative, I think this has been done to add a personal touch to what he is saying that he is experiencing this injustice himself.
"I am a Jew" (Line 54)
"The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. (Line 67-69)
I think this is definitely an anti-racist scene in the play as it stresses the fact that we are all the same no matter what your religion.code der sededew orde dek inde fode de;
In Act 2 Scene 1, Portia meets a foreign suitor, Morocco, who comes to see if he can choose the right casket. Previously she had been making fun of the ones before Morocco, from all different nations, so it would seem she is not singling Morocco out. More that she is scorning everyone, and drawing on their cultural stereotypes. This of course would have made the audience laugh, as they also would have been stereotypical towards people from other cultures. However, does the fact that Shakespeare has chosen only to introduce us to Morocco, being of a different colour suggest that he was trying to make a racist point? Morocco of course chooses the wrong casket.
The first line Morocco has, as he is introduced to Portia is,
inea foea ea!
"Mislike me not for my complexion." (Line 1) Here we could assume that Morocco was expecting some sort of reaction or pre-conceived judgement based on the colour of his skin, which he would have every right to expect, living in such a racist community. Throughout the rest of his speech he tries to convince Portia that the colour of his skin does not determine what kind of person he is, or diminish his feelings for her.
Portia's response to this is that she is not distracted by mere good looks,
"I am not solely led by nice direction of a maiden's eyes;" (Line 13-14) She says that even though she does not have the choice of who she marries, he would have just as much chance as the others.;
For this reason I believe this scene to be anti racist.
In conclusion I think that The Merchant of Venice is an anti racist play because I feel Shakespeare is trying to make us see the effects of racism and that it causes pain and hurt. Also that we should care for each other, for the simple reason that we are all human beings with the same feelings and emotions, no matter what race or religion. (Act 3 Scene 1)
With regard to the racist scenes in the play, I think Shakespeare added these scenes to contrast between them and anti racist scenes. Also, I think he meant to introduce these ideas of anti racist comically and subtly in the hope that some of the audience might go home and consider his views.
