Coursework Essays on The Merchant of Venice

Year 9 Coursework Essays on The Merchant of Venice

Shakespeare has a great ability to portrait a character in many different ways. He can make people have two characters. In the merchant of Venice, Shylock can be seen as an inhuman monster, a Jewish stereotype or a tragic figure whose senses decency has been fractured by the persecution he endures. It can be argued that Shylocks character undergoes a metamorphosis from villain to victim. However, in this essay I hope to discuss whether in fact Shylock can be defined as either villain or victim and to form an opinion of what Shakespeare intended.

First we shall look at the aspects of the text that portray Shylock as a villain. We are first introduced to Shylock in Act I Scene iii where we learn of his usury. It is in this scene that Bassanio seeks Shylock out and asks to borrow money from him in Antonio’s name. Also in this scene do we learn of Shylock’s hatred for Antonio and the Christians: ‘ how like a fawning publican he looks! / I hate him for he is a Christian; ’ (Act I Scene iii). Antonio and Bassanio have a feeling of hatred towards Shylock because it was fabricated that the Jews killed Christ and are therefore in league with the Devil. Shylock goes ahead with the bond because he wants Antonio to become indebted to him, not just with money but also with his life. Antonio is very naïve regarding the terms of the bond taking the ‘pound of flesh’ clause to be a show of friendship not hatred: ‘ The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.’(Act I Scene III)

Shylock feels justified in exacting revenge upon Antonio because he blames him for all his problems and is bitter about the manner in which Antonio has treated him in the past. He is also resentful of the ridicule and torment of his race by the Christians.

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Another way, in which Shylock is established as a villain, is through his treatment of Jessica. It is in Act II Scene v that we first witness an interaction between Shylock and Jessica. During this he orders her about as if she were a servant and mentions nothing about her well being, only instructs her to look after the well being of his house: ‘Hear you me, Jessica: / Lock up my doors: and when you hear the drum… Nor thrust your head into the public street… But stop my house’s ears…Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter / My sober house.’ (Act II Scene V)

Shylock does not notice her strange behaviour (this scene takes place on the night she is due to elope with Lorenzo and Jessica appears to be rather nervous) indicating that he is not a very attentive father. Perhaps Shylock is too preoccupied with generating yet more wealth to concern himself greatly with his daughter.

Having discussed the aspects of the text that portray Shylock as a villain, I will now proceed to discuss areas of the dialogue, which serve to vindicate him.

We are first introduced to Shylock in Act I Scene iii where we learn of the abuse he has suffered at the hands of the Christians. ‘ …Many a time and oft/ In the Rialto you have rated me…still have I borne it with a patient shrug… You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, / and spat upon my Jewish garberdine… ’ (Act I Scene III)

He points out that while they spit on him and call him ‘a dog’; they expect him to lend them money. Antonio is unmoved by Shylock’s speech and says that he would call him this again. Antonio seems to be the one that Shylock focuses his anger on though a lot of other people behave in the same way towards him, for example Salerio and Solanio. They seek to torment him when he is most vulnerable; for example when Jessica has eloped they taunt him about his losses and mock him: ‘ Shylock: You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of/ my daughter’s flight. Salerio: That’s certain: I, for my part, knew the tailor / that made the wings she flew withal. ’ (Act III Scene I).

During the court seen you feel sorry for Shylock and you feel no sympathy for him. The laws at the time when the play was written were in favour of the Christians. Jews had few rights, and depended on the mercy of the society that they lived in. From Act four, scene I, shylock is determined to win over the Christians.

You’ll ask me why I rather choose to have

A weight of carrion flesh than to receive

Three thousand ducats. I’ll not answer that,

But say it is my humour; are you answered yet?

When Portia enters dressed like a doctor of law, it gives much favour to Antonio as she is trying to save her husband’s best friend. She tries and tells Shylock to be merciful towards Antonio but he wont listen. Her speech has become a very famous one.

Shylocks punishment is overly harsh with Antonio forcing him to convert to Christianity. Shylock life is spared but he may be better off dead because he has nothing to live on, all his wealth has been distributed among his sworn enemies. Although Shylock pursues his revenge fervently he still has the audiences sympathy because of the unfair and harsh punishment he receives. It strikes a modern day audience as grossly unfair that the severity of his punishment reflects not his crime, but his race. He is a victim of the Christians intolerance of other races and ideas.

I feel that shylock is a villain. The way that he treats those he is close to, for his example his daughter Jessica whom he is overprotected of and how he has a lack of mercy towards Antonio, which makes him, look like a villain in the eyes of the audience.

We can only guess at the way in which Shakespeare intended Shylock to be portrayed. I feel that Shakespeare intended Shylock to be a victim, but I also feel that it is not productive of us to simply categorise Shylock as either victim or villain. Shylock has diffently one of Shakespeare’s most memorable characters!