One of the main themes of the play is hatred and revenge. Because of their religious beliefs, Shylock and the Christians hate each other and during the play both groups seek revenge on one another. But, only the Christians succeed, as they were at an advantage because Shylock was the only Jew and they were able to find a loophole in the law, which was in favour of the Christians.
When Shylock seeks revenge on Antonio, it is based on hatred;
“… a lodged hate and certain loathing
I bear Antonio,”. He has many reasons to dislike Antonio. One is that Antonio lends out money to his friends at no interest, which could put Shylock out of business. Also, in the past he has treated Shylock badly;
“…wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?”.
Shylock does not only want revenge from Antonio, but from all the Christians who have ever treated him badly for being a Jew or a moneylender. He is regarded as being less important than the Christians are, and wants to be equal, or better than them;
“… The villany
you teach me I will execute, and t shall go hard but
I will better the instruction.”
He may feel that taking the life of a Christian could compensate for the way he has been treated by Christians.
But, the Christians also have valid reasons to hate Shylock. One is that he will not give a good reason for wanting to kill Antonio,
“… can I give no reason… more than… hate and … loathing”.
Also, he treated Jessica badly, who described living with her father as “Hell”, so she ran away from home and secretly married a Christian.
When Portia asks Shylock to have mercy on Antonio, she speaks of mercy as being a holy thing;
“It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,” . When Shylock refuses to have mercy, the audience portray Portia as being very wise, but Shylock as being even more evil.
In the speech, Portia speaks about mercy being a wonderful thing;
“It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes;
‘T is mightiest in the mightiest;”
But, once she has denied Shylock his bond, she then takes away half of everything he owns and gives the other half to Lorenzo, the man Jessica married, when Shylock dies, and Portia also makes him become a Christian. Before Shylock loses everything, she builds up his excitement, which increases his disappointment and at first may make the audience feel relieved because Antonio is alive, but later, sorry for Shylock. Because Shylock hates Antonio so much, and is so eager to have his bond, it would be unlikely for him to have mercy on him, so when Shylock refuses Portia’s plea for mercy Shakespeare is making him look even more cold hearted, just before he loses everything.
In Shakespeare’s time, Jews and other minority groups were unable to voice their opinions. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare made the audience feel sorry for Shylock and maybe even guilty because of the way they had treated Jews. The public could watch the play and would have been able to see and under stand both sides of the argument and the situation at the end of the play; the Christians, rejoicing in Belmont and Shylock left a broken man, in Venice. The audience would be able to understand that Shylock maybe got what he deserved according to the law, but that it was not morally correct. Maybe, Shakespeare wanted the public to realise that they were discriminating against Jews without valid reasons. He did this by writing a play with very unrealistic plots, but which was based on a present issue. He enabled the public to see this issue from a Jew’s point of view, which they would never have understood in real life.
Shakespeare cleverly manipulates the audience’s opinion of Shylock and our emotions towards him, throughout the play, because the audience can not only see what the Christians think of him (what they would usually think of a Jew), but also they see how Shylock feels about his situation. Shakespeare can flick back and forth between the two opposing sides ( the Christians and Shylock), to make the audience think one thing and then another. A Producer or Director could also manipulate our opinions by the use of costumes and music. For example, the actor playing Shylock would wear the traditional Jewish skullcap, and because at the start of the play Shakespeare wanted the audience to be prejudiced against him, he would also wear black, to show he was the villain of the play. In the more stereotypical production we watched, in the court scene, the Duke was sitting on a throne, and Shylock was on the floor. This shows their position in society and also that the Duke was in control. If the play is filmed, the Director is able to zoom in on the actor’s faces at certain points in the play and also add gestures, like when Shylock has a cross on a chain hung round his neck, and is made to kiss it. The Director is also able to change the way the actors speak, or the emotions they feel. In the most recent production we saw, set in the 1920’s, even the Duke became very emotional, as Shylock insisted on his bond. In both of the productions we watched, when Shylock entered he was wearing different clothes to the rest of the characters, he also had an accent. This singles him out and shows he is an outsider. At the beginning of the court scene, when the Duke is talking to Shylock, he says:
“We all expect a tender answer Jew.”
In the production set in the 1920’s, the Duke puts huge emphasis on the word ‘Jew’, showing he dislikes Shylock, although he was asking him to be generous and let Antonio go. At the end of the court scene, after Shylock has been forced to become a Christian, he throws down his skullcap onto the scales. Even though the scales were originally there to weigh Antonio’s flesh, they now represent the scales of justice, and Shylock is making a very powerful point that what has been done to him is completely unfair. This happens just after Shakespeare has changed the audience’s opinion of Shylock, and adds to the pity that they feel for him.