There are two Shylocks in 'The Merchant Of Venice' - the ogre and the human being: explore presentation of Shylock in the play.
There are two Shylocks in 'The Merchant Of Venice' - the ogre and the human being: explore presentation of Shylock in the play.
When Shakespeare wrote 'The Merchant Of Venice' there was a suggestion that he was competing with a very popular play 'The Jew Of Malta' written in 1589 by Christopher Marlowe. This play treats the Jew as an evil villain and a wicked ogre. Shakespeare is not entirely free from the idea that all usurers were Jews and therefore all Jews were evil, but he does also allow us to see Shylock as a human being who has himself been wronged.
Only Jews who had converted to Christianity were allowed to live in England in Shakespeare's day. Jews who practised their own religion were banned from England in 1290, so Shakespeare's audience would have thought that Shylock got off very lightly when he is made to change his religion at the end of the play, therefore it is a lot easier for a modern day audience to sympathise with Shylock.
In 'The Merchant Of Venice' Shakespeare does show us a human side to Shylock: This is shown in the first scene that we are introduced to shylock, act 1 scene 3. At the start of the scene shylock is considering Antonio's circumstances and credit rating and already seems confident that he will lend Antonio the money.
However this is before he meets Antonio, he then has a short aside in which he tells the audience about how much he hates Antonio, he says "I hate him for he is a Christian. But more, for that in low simplicity he lends out money gratis." Shylock clearly hates Antonio, but he still seems willing to do the deal. However he then says a speech about how Antonio has mistreated him in the past all because he is a Jew, and this is the first time that we really feel for Shylock and we see him as a human being, rather than an ogre, "you call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gaberdine."
In this scene, shylock even tries to be nice to Antonio and make for the past: "I would be friends with you, and have your love, forget the shames you have stained me with.". Shylock seems to be really trying here, however there is quite a lot of dramatic irony here as he has said to the audience that he wishes to catch Antonio 'once upon the hip' but however Antonio does not know this and he does not respond well, he still insults him and tells him of his dislike for him: "I am as like to ...
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In this scene, shylock even tries to be nice to Antonio and make for the past: "I would be friends with you, and have your love, forget the shames you have stained me with.". Shylock seems to be really trying here, however there is quite a lot of dramatic irony here as he has said to the audience that he wishes to catch Antonio 'once upon the hip' but however Antonio does not know this and he does not respond well, he still insults him and tells him of his dislike for him: "I am as like to call thee so again, to spit on thee again, to spurn thee too." In this scene we really see the human side of Shylock's split personality.
Another side in which we again see Shylock's human side is in Act 3 scene 1, where shylocks tells Solanio and Saliero of his upset over his daughter's departure with all his jewels however all they do is scorn Shylock and we can imagine them laughing at him and shouting: "here comes another of the tribe, a third cannot be matched unless the devil himself turn Jew". later on in the scene he talks of prejudice and how unfair Antonio is towards them, especially him "hath not a Jew eyes, hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?" and then of how he wants revenge on Antonio "He hath disgraced me, hindered me half a million, laughed at my loses, mocked at my gains." Although getting revenge on someone seems a very cruel thing to do, it is natural for humans to feel that need to get revenge if they have been wronged, therefore this shows Shylock as a human, especially all that Antonio has put him through.
Later on in this scene we again feel sympathy towards Shylock as he expresses his loneliness after his daughter, Jessica, runs away from home "no sighs but of my breathing, no tears but of my shedding.", and loneliness is also a natural human emotion, we also feel sympathy towards him as he has been struck down by the double blow of losing his daughter and his money (because in those days the Elizabethans would have seen daughters as the position of their fathers, so this would have been very disrespectful.) what is more, he has lost Jessica to a Christian.
However in the play we don't just see the human side to Shylock, he is also presented as an ogre. This is first seen in Act 2 scene 5, when he is first talking to his servant Launcelot and then to his daughter Jessica. When he says "there is some ill-a-brewing towards my rest, for I did dream of money bags tonight." Shakespeare presents a stereotypical picture of the money obsessed Jew and shows that everything important in shylock's life relates to money, and he then stars to order Jessica about, telling to lock up the house, as there is a masque on tonight. "To gaze on Christian fools with varnished faces. Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter my sober house". This shows us how determined he is that Jessica should not associate or be friends with Christians.
This is again shown when Shylock insults Launcelot , who is a Christian "what says that fool of Hager's offspring" This is an insult as Hager's offspring was Abraham's son by Hager, an Egyptian slave, he was a gentile and an outcast. After this insult Jessica is quick to defend the servant.
This scene shows clearly the ogre side to shylock, the way he treats his own daughter like a prisoner in her own house and his dislike of Christians.
Another scene which shows Shylock's determination and his dislike for Christians is in act 3 scene 3. In this scene Antonio pleads with Shylock not to carry out the deal and not to take a pound of his flesh. But Shylock seems not to even hear Antonio's pleas, but just seems obsessed with his bond, we see this by the repetition of the word bond.
It seems in this scene that Shylock takes great joy in seeing Antonio plead with him, and takes this time to tell Antonio what a fool he is and that he will have his bond "I'll have my bond, speak not against my bond, I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond". He turns Antonio's previous insult against him "Thou call'dst me a dog before thou hadst a cause, but since I am a dog beware of my fangs". In this scene Shylock is shown as someone who is incapable of feeling natural human emotions, this shows him as an ogre.
The last scene, in which Shylock appears, is the court scene, in this scene we see the ogre and the human side of him. When he makes a speech at the start of the scene, the duke expects Shylock to be generous and relent, however Shylock says he won't: "I have sworn to have the due and forfeit of my bond" he also expresses how he feels about Antonio: "So can I give no reason, nor I will not, more than a lodged hate and a certain loathing I bear Antonio". This is very harsh for a man that has experienced so much bad luck and now he about to be killed and Shylock is not showing any sympathy towards Antonio, he says that he will have his bond no matter what.
While Nerrisa presents the Duke a letter, Shylock proceeds to sharpen his knife on the sole of his shoe which shows that he is neither sorry nor guilty about killing Antonio. Portia then begins to question Shylock, however he still will not relent and will not be merciful, and when Portia finally says to Shylock that he may take his pound of flesh, Shylock seems happy: "O noble judge, o excellent young man" This is the cruellest side we have ever seen of Shylock, however when it is revealed to him that he may not get the pound of flesh if he gets a drop of blood with it. So Shylock accepts the offer of nine thousand ducats and Antonio is free.
However there is now a case against Shylock, this is when we start to feel sorry for him as he has got himself into a lot of trouble, and he says very little throughout his sentence, he is made to change his religion and we feel sympathy towards him, he claims that he is ill and leaves.
In conclusion, we see equal amounts of human and ogre in Shylock, and throughout the play we see this develop.
Natalie Crouchley 10A 4/28/2007
