We are first introduced to Shylock in Act 1 Scene 3 where we learn of the abuse he has suffered at the hands of the Christians, particularly Antonio. Antonio publicly humiliates Shylock and criticises him about the way he lends money, which suggests he is a victim. In Act 1 Scene 3, Shylock says to Antonio ‘In the Rialto you have rated me about my moneys and usances, still I have borne it with a patient shrug, for sufferance is the badge of our tribe.’ This evokes sympathy for Shylock because of the way he is tormented and humiliated, but he does nothing. He doesn’t stand up for himself, and this suggests he is a victim of racism.
‘You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, and spet upon my Jewish garberdine’ (Act I Scene 3) He points out that while they spit on him and call him a dog, they expect him to lend them money. Although Antonio is unmoved by Shylock’s speech and says that he would call him this again, this points out that Antonia has no compassion and respect for others of a different religion, which again make Shylock a victim.
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. Antonio does nothing to absolve himself in the eyes of a modern day audience. In fact he has no qualms about behaving in an openly abusive manner towards Shylock. He speaks in a condescending and scornful manner towards Shylock.
Shylock endures many anti-Semitic comments and the majority of Venetian Christians refer to him as ‘The Devil.’ ‘Let me say amen betimes, lest the devil cross my prayer, for here he comes in the likeness of a Jew.’ ‘The devil can cite scripture for his purpose.’ ‘Lest the devil…Here he comes in the illness of a Jew.’ ‘A third cannot be matched unless the devil himself turn Jew.’ ‘That’s certain, if the devil may be her judge.’ (Act 3 Scene 1) This suggests Shylock is hated solely because of his religion.
Salerio and Solanio seek to torment Shylock when he is most vulnerable, for example when Jessica has eloped, they taunt him about his losses and mock him at every opportunity they get. ‘I never heard a
passion so confus’d, so strange, outrageous, and so variable, as the dog Jew did utter in the streets My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!’ ‘Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, crying his stones, his daughter and his ducats’ (Act 2 Scene 8). Here, Salanio and Salerio are laughing at Shylock’s obsession with money, and the fact that he has lost his daughter Jessica because she has eloped with a Christian.
‘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 3 Scene 1) As Solerio and Solanio are only minor, unimportant characters in the play, Shylock is seen as a victim because even they can make fun of him and are superior to him.
Shylock is now left with no money, and alone. His daughter, Jessica has stolen all Shylock’s jewels and money, and also his turquoise ring, which was given to him by his wife. The ring was very precious to Shylock, and he is very angry with Jessica for selling it, for a monkey. This portrays him as a victim because even his own daughter cannot stand to be around him, and hates him. Jessica says she is ashamed to be her father’s daughter, and describes her house as hell. ‘Our house is hell and thou, a merry devil, didst rob it of some taste of tediousness’ ‘Alack, what heinous sin is it in me to be ashamed to be my father’s child! But though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not to his manners.’
During the play, Shylock becomes more and more isolated. Firstly, his servant Launcelot leaves his service to work with Bassanio, and then his daughter leaves him to elope with Lorenzo. Both Bassanio and Lorenzo are Christians, which again suggests that he is a victim of racism.
Although Shylock has an arguably unhealthy thirst for revenge, we can relate with what he is feeling because it is a natural human flaw to want to avenge when you have been done wrong. Shylock’s passionate speech is designed to evoke the audience’s sympathy. ‘If you prick us do we not bleed…If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?’ (Act 3 Scene 1) Shylock makes us feel sorry for him because he shows that the Christians’ racism is really affecting him. He is saying that Jews are human just like Christians and he is trying to justify his want for revenge on Antonio, by saying that Antonio has wronged him. This portrays Shylock as a victim of racism.
‘Shylock: Yes to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which your mophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into… I will buy with you, walk with you and so following: but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.’ ‘Shylock: I hate him for he is a Christian.’ (Act 1 Scene 3). It is clear throughout the play that Shylock has a strong disliking towards Antonio but he never insults him, about being a Christian. Even when Shylock is asked to join Antonia for a meal he puts it pleasantly that he cannot because of the different laws in the religions. When Shylock is by himself he will openly admit that he hates Antonio because he is in fact a Christian.
The laws at the time when the play was written were in favour of Christians. Jews had few rights, they could not claim inalienable citizenship in any country and they depended on the mercy of the society that they lived in. Likewise, after Shylock loses the trial, his life was in the hands of the Duke. ‘If it be prov’d against an alien…He seek the life of any citizen…The offender’s life lies in the mercy of the Duke only.’ (Act 4 Scene 1)
Shylock is naive in the way that he believes that he can take on the Christians and win, when the foundation of Venation law is designed to serve the best interests of the Christians. Although in the courtroom, we feel sympathetic towards Shylock because he loses everything. Shylock’s punishment is overly harsh with Antonio forcing him to convert to Christianity. That was the worst punishment for Shylock because his religion is very important to him and he already strongly dislikes Christians. Forcing Shylock to convert to Christianity is practically racism because it is like saying that Christianity is the right religion and you are not supposed to be Jewish.
Portia uses persuasive legal language in the courtroom to convince the Duke and also the audience that
Shylock is guilty. She persecutes Shylock because he is a Jew. She knew Shylock had no chance of winning because of his religion and he is seen as a victim because of the unfair way in which he was treated because he is a Jew.
Shylock’s 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 audience’s 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.
The law was cruel and society was not very accepting of people who were different to them, weather they were a different religion or had a different coloured skin. It was these minor differences that made Shylocks life an unhappy one, full of shame and filled with thoughts of hatred and thoughts of revenge. In everything that went on, in someway Shylock was always a victim, he was never the villain and would never have the chance to be because to do that he would have had to have had more self-confidence, which he would never have because he was never seen as an equal by anyone in Venice.
‘Shylock: He (Antonia) hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my largains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies - and what’s his reason? I am a Jew.’ (Act 3 Scene 1)
