In the play “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare, Shylock is the villain. However, there are reasons as to why he does and why he does not deserve this name: the fact that he is only considered the villain because he is a Jew, Antonio deserved mercy, and so Shylock should be shown mercy as well. Shylock really can’t be blamed for turning into a villain after all the terrible things that have happened to him. Also, if the other characters were the genuine Christians that they made themselves out to be, they would show mercy to Shylock, and they would not have been so mean to Shylock in the first place. The reasons why Shylock is shown to be a villain are: that he has a truly villainous nature, as Shylock refused to show mercy to Antonio, even after Shylock was offered many times the amount of money he actually lent to Antonio. Also, because Shylock’s bond was against the law, therefore the penalty of the law should be imposed.
The first reason why Shylock deserves mercy, is the fact that he is hated because he is a Jew. The other characters’ “hatred” for Shylock is obviously just a mask for their racism, as throughout the play they make their prejudice towards Jews extremely clear, “Certainly, the Jew is the very devil incarnation”, is one example, said by Portia, who in the play, showed the first racist view. Shylock also explains the reason why he is hated when he says, “He hath disgraced me, and hindered me of half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends and heated mine enemies-and what’s his reason? I am a Jew”.
Secondly, Antonio foolishly signed Shylock’s bond, entitling Shylock to a pound of Antonio’s flesh if he did not repay Shylock on time, even though Antonio had not read and considered it carefully “..lend it rather tho thine enemy; Who if he break, thou may’st with better face Exact the penalty”. This shows that Antonio did not fully believe that he would have to pay the forfeit. However, when he failed to repay the bond, he was shown mercy, as he was not made to give Shylock a pound of his flesh, as the bond demanded. Since Antonio was shown mercy for his foolish mistake, Shylock should be shown mercy as well.
Shylock may be seen as a villain, however this is understandable after all the unjust hardships that he has experienced. These hardships include; his daughter, Jessica, eloping with a Christian and taking most of Shylock’s money with her; Shylock is constantly teased by Christians because of his religion and because he becomes lonely. The audience can see how all these injustices have affected Shylock after his daughter runs away, “The curse never fell upon our nation till now; I never felt it till now.” Shylock should therefore be shown mercy as his villainous traits have been created by the difficulties he has faced, not by his own fault.
Finally, Shylock should be shown mercy, as the Christian characters have not been Christian-like towards Shylock, even though they take every opportunity to boast about their wonderful Christian qualities. The “Christians”, feel they can beg for Antonio to be shown mercy. However, when it comes to Shylock, most do not want to be merciful towards him. This behaviour shows that they do not practise what they preach. Perhaps if the “Christians” had acted like Christians, Antonio would not have found himself in the predicament in the first place. “If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge! The villainy you teach me I will execute and it shall go hard but I/ will better instruction”.
In some cases, Shylock deserves mercy, but there are also reasons why he does not deserve mercy. One of the reasons why he does not deserve mercy is because he has a truly villainous nature, and has not simply developed one. There are many instances where we can see this nature, such as: the fact that he wants a pound of Antonio’s flesh if Antonio does not repay the bond; the fact that Shylock values money above all else, including his daughter; and his hatred for Christians. We can clearly see Shylock’s hard-heartiness when he says, “I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear! would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin!” after his daughter has run away with his money. This shows how selfish he is and Shylocks unwillingness to accept the fact that his daughter is with, and has become a Christian.
The second reason why Shylock does not deserve mercy, is because Antonio’s friend Bassanio offers Shylock many times the amount which Antonio owes him, in an attempt to save Antonio’s life. However, Shylock refuses the money, and insists on gaining a pound of Antonio’s flesh. “ if every ducat in six thousand ducats were in six parts, and each part a ducat I would not draw them. I would have my bond.” Therefore, since Shylock refused to show mercy to Antonio, he should not be shown mercy himself.
Finally, Shylock does not deserve mercy as the Venetian law of the time forbade non-citizens (including Jews) from attempting to take the life of a citizen. Therefore Shylock’s bond was against the law, as it required the death of Antonio. These laws were written to be followed, without exceptions. Shylock therefore deserves the punishment stated in the law; “If it be prov’d against an alien……the party ‘gainst the which he doth contrive Shall seize one half his goods; the other half Comes to the privy coffer of the state; And the offender’s life lies in the mercy Of the duke only”, and he does not deserve mercy.
Many people are villainous in the way they act, and their villainous acts may be rooted in the desire to destroy others, or in the hopes of elevating themselves. Many people may only act "villainous" in reaction to the way they have been treated in the past. Shylock the Jew is the villain or antagonist in the play "The Merchant of Venice". Shylock mistreats Antonio the Christian, his daughter, Jessica and Lancelot. The first person Shylock mistreats, is Lancelot. He mistreats this servant by complaining behind Lancelot’s back of his laziness. Shylock says, "The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder, Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day More than the wildcat. Drones hive not with me.. ..His borrowed purse." Shylock also acts villainous towards Lancelot by acting belligerent towards him. "Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call". Shylock mistreats this man because of his poverty, and because Lancelot is socially beneath him. You also start to wonder about how fair Shylock is.
Shylock also mistreats his own daughter, Jessica. He mistreats her by keeping her as a captive in her own house, not letting her out, and not letting her hear the Christian music around her. He orders her to: "Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum... ..But stop my house's ears-I mean casements. Let not the sound of shallow fopp'ry enter My sober house". Jessica considers her home to be hell, and she calls Lancelot, a "merry little devil". She even states that her father is Satan. Shylock also mistreats his own daughter, by not loving her enough, even to the point where he complains about all of the money he's spending in a search to find her. "Why, there, there, there, there! A diamond gone cost me two thousand ducats in Frankford! The curse.. ..ill luck stirring but what lights o' my shoulders; no sighs but o' my breathing; no tears but o' my shedding." Salerio makes the audience wonder about Shylock, when he raves about when Shylock was calling out, "Oh my ducats, my daughter, my ducats, my daughter.." This makes you wonder which he misses the most. This proves that he mistreats, even his own daughter. He values his money more than his own blood.
Shylock mistreats Antonio. He does so by talking behind Antonio's back, and he reveals his hatred of Antonio, when he says, "(Aside) How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him for he is a Christian”, and, ”...Cursed be my tribe If I forgive him!", Shylock feels justified in exacting revenge for all the ills Antonio causes him. He then draws up an unbelievable bond. He blames Antonio for all of his problems, even his race's problems are blamed on people like Antonio, and he feels Christians have persecuted his race when he says, "To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge...The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction." He shows that he will copy the example of Christians. Shylock becomes the true villain when he takes Antonio to court. These actions prove that Antonio is mistreated by Shylock, the villain. Shylock is the villain of "The Merchant of Venice". He mistreats too many people, and then asks for mercy in a court. Shylock is mad for revenge towards all Christians, especially Antonio. He is such a villain, that even his daughter and servant are eager to escape him. Villains normally have motives behind their evil doings, which is something Shylock has plenty of. He is a villain, many would disagree by talking about the society that he lives in, and their part to play in him becoming a twisted character. But in the times when the play was set Jews were seen as an underclass and their importance less than others, but over the years this has become racist, and that’s why the play is now considered a tragedy. He is a villain through his own ways of misery and cruel injustice.
The plot of the play is that Bassanio wants to borrow money so he goes with Antonio to Shylock, who is a wealthy Jewish businessman. Even though they call him a dog and mock his Jewish ways, Shylock offers him a bond. Shylock says that if he doesn’t pay he will take a pound of Antonio’s flesh, he says this and Antonio and Bassanio believe he is only joking. Even though Antonio is racist towards him he still lends him the money. The play is a mixture of love, greed and revenge.
I would define a “victim” as someone who is on the receiving end of abuse; this could be physical or verbal. The victim may or may not contribute to there victimisation for example someone could be victimised for their physical appearance which they have no control over and have not contributed to, or someone could be victimised because of their actions which they have control over and have contributed to.
In Shakespeare’s time it would have been classed as the norm to be racist towards the Jews. The people watching the Merchant of Venice would have cheered when Shylock was treated badly. For example in Act 3 Scene 1 Solanio says, “lest the devil cross my prayer, for here he comes now in the likeness of a Jew” this is aimed at Shylock and they are calling him the devil. The crowd would most probably laughed at this in Shakespeare’s time and would have found it very amusing, they will not have seen Shylock as a victim but as a villain who hated all Christians.
Christians would use excuses like the Jews killed Jesus as a reason to hate them. But really most Christians hate Jews because they where envious of them because they where, stereotypically very religious and successful and Christians usually owed them money, also the Jewish are usually very well educated these are a few reasons why Christians sometimes hated them.
Nowadays we see this play as very racist towards the Jewish people because times have changed and people think differently, people are more aware of people as individuals and not just as a member of a group, even though racism still exists today.
There is a long history of the persecution of the Jews for example the holocaust where Hitler carried out ethnic cleansing against the Jews and many other religions and groups of people, he killed some 6 million Jews just because they where different. Another example is what happened in Britain 700 years ago where the Jews where killed and expelled from Britain.
We only know a bit about Shylocks past history, but we do know that there was a woman in his life. This could have been his wife as it seems he was very close to her but she died, we know this because his most prized possession was a ring that he gave to her in Frankfurt but this was stolen by his daughter and traded for a monkey.
He is Jewish, so all his life he would have suffered racial abuse so this could have made him very vengeful towards Antonio as he is a Christian. When Shylock finds out that Antonio is going bankrupt and he says “I thank God I thank God” and he decides to kick him when he is down and take revenge for all the times Antonio has wronged him. Shylock says “ He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million” meaning Antonio has gone out of his way so that Shylock lost half a million ducats. Shylock is showing a very nasty side to himself in this scene and he is on a roller coaster of emotions, first he is unhappy about his daughter then he finds out about Antonio and he cheers up.
Shylock must not have had a very good relationship with his daughter for her to run off with all his money. It is understandable for his daughter to run away from Shylock because she is in love with a Christian. But for her to run away with all his money, Shylock must not have had a very good relationship with her, she swapped his most cherished possession, a ring that Shylock gave to Jessica’s mother in Frankfurt, for a monkey. This is very nasty and deliberate and just shows she wanted to hurt Shylock. From reading the text we can see that Shylock was keeping Jessica as a prisoner in her own house, by not letting her out and not letting her hear the Christian music around her he says to her "Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum. But stop my house's ears-I mean casements. Let not the sound of shallow fopp'ry enter my sober house." Jessica hates the way Shylock treats her and calls Shylock Satan. Shylock does not love his daughter enough and he even complains when he has to pay someone to find her so he can get his money back.
Antonio does not seem to have much family but he treats Bassanio like he is part of his family as far as we see in the play he is the closest thing to a family for Antonio and Antonio seems like a very lonely businessman.
Shylock does not seem to have any friends as he treats everyone as if he was superior to them, he has pushed all his friends away by treating them bad and even his daughter has left him, he treated Lancelot bad by talking behind his back about his laziness “The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder, Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day More than the wildcat. Drones hive not with me. . His borrowed purse”.
Antonio seems bitter and finds it difficult expressing his emotions at first, but he seems to like Bassanio very much, and he even lets him use his name to get credit even when he owes Antonio money. Antonio seems to like Bassanio differently to his other friends and he seems to love him and want to see no harm done to him. Antonio has lots of friends as you can see at the beginning of the play when they are all concerned about him and this gives the impression that he must be likeable for him to have friends but his friends could just be pretending to like him for his money and this
could be why he feels he can’t confide in them and tell them what is upsetting him so much.
Shylock is a very powerful businessman and he feels himself superior to anyone else especially Christians, he is a very greedy man using the bible as a source of interest to collect more money, Antonio says “Mark you this, Bassanio, The devil can cite scripture for his purpose. An evil sole, producing holy witness, is like a villain with a smiling cheek, a goodly apple rotten at the heart”. Shylock likes to think he is a very powerful man and he is obsessed with power and money.
Antonio seems to be a very powerful merchant but is not as greedy as Shylock, Antonio is generous and is willing to pay back Thrice the loan to Shylock. Antonio is a kind and generous man but he agrees to the pound of flesh deal being very naive that his ships will return safely. Antonio is very powerful in the community, as he can easily get credit when he wants it even though he does not like to use it. He says “Shylock, albeit I neither lend nor borrow”, and then he says, “Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend, I’ll break a custom.” here Antonio is showing that he is a very generous and kind man and although at first he may have seemed hard I think that he is a very good man and cares very much about other people especially Bassanio. Antonio also suggest that men may look perfect, but deep inside, they acquire negative characteristics.
I think that Shylocks religion does not affect his behaviour very much at all I think he just uses it to make money and he hides behind it, although he thinks his religion is the superior one and that anyone who thinks different is inferior to him. Although he is subject to racial abuse because of his beliefs this could affect him and therefore showing that his religion has affected his behaviour because he will think differently about other religions and stereotype them saying that they all hate him because he is Jewish.
I think that religion has affected Antonio and he also feels that his religion is superior to others he says “The Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind." I think he says this sarcastically, because he thinks that no Jews are kind and that he thinks that because Shylock Is being kind then he must be turning into a Christian, this is evidence that Antonio thinks that Christianity is superior to any other religion, because Shylock is a Jew he is treated very bad he is kicked and called a dog and many times he is referred to as the devil, although Shylock seems to just let this go over his head he would not like this because he is a very religious person and he would not like to be referred to as the Devil. Because of the way Shylock is treated all through his life he has become very vengeful and he is very stereotypical towards Antonio and other Christians he blames all of them for his race’s problems even though it may not be all Christians that are racist towards the Jews and he says Christians have persecuted his race when he says “To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge...The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction".
Shylock gets worse and he takes Antonio to court over his bond, this is showing that Shylock is the true villain of the play even though he is subjected to racism all his life these actions show that Shylock really is the villain in the play.
Shylock mistreats Antonio because he is Christian, Shylock does not even know Antonio but as soon as he sees him he assumes that he is bad just because he is a Christian, Shylock says, “How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him because he is Christian” Shylock is stereotyping Antonio just because he is Christian and even though Shylock thinks he is the one who is on the receiving end of racism he is also giving it out.
I think religion has affected the way people treat Antonio because he is hated by Shylock simply because he is a Christian, Shylock does not even give Antonio a chance and judges him on the little bit about him that he knows, I think he has a lot of Christian friends and that they certainly would not be friends with him if he was not a Christian. I think both Shylock and Antonio are treated like they are inferior simple because they are a member of one religion, this still goes on today and people are fighting just because there beliefs are different.
Shylock is the victim because is always racially abused, he doesn't ask to be picked on and he does nothing to warrant this behaviour towards him. It is because he is Jewish. In the Elizabethan society when the play was written, everyone was against Jews. So the play to them would be a comedy,
but because we live in an almost non-racist society we feel sorry for Shylock and would hate to be in his position.
But then Shylock could be a villain because he bullied Antonio in to the deal, which almost resulted in him being killed. Even when Shylock was offered the money he was still prepared to "kill" Antonio. I think that Shylock was victimised and pushed to limits and when his daughter converted to a Christian he felt he had nothing left. So I think this is where, Shylock becomes the villain of “The Merchant of Venice” he goes to far when he takes Antonio to court he mistreats to many people and the asks for mercy in court, although sometimes he may have been ganged up on by Christians in court and throughout the play he should not have gone so far, he could have just walked away with a lot more money but instead he tries to use Antonio as a scapegoat for his revenge, he should not have done this and even though he has been subjected to racism all his life it is no excuse for attempting to take another mans life.
