Antonio a good man and actually mean it. We know why Shylock would
not do this because of the way Antonio has treated him in the past, when
Shylock talks to Antonio about the loan he says ‘ You call me a misbeliever,
cut throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gaberdine’. From this quote we can
understand that Shylock has received racial hate from Antonio and the
Christians in the past, also we can tell that Shylock has no sympathy for any
of the Christians especially Antonio. Such other reasons why Shylock
despises Antonio is that Antonio is of the Christian faith, I can back up my
suggestion, when Shylock is talking to Bassanio about Antonio he says ‘I
hate him for he is a Christian’. To add to this Shylock also tells Bassanio ‘I
will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so
following. But I will not eat with you, nor drink with you, nor pray with
you’. From this quote we can understand how much hatred Shylock has
against the Christians, because he will do business with them, but he will
not participate with them in any social way such as eating and drinking also
he will not join them in praying and worshiping. So far from my analysis I
think Shylock is being a villain more than a victim because he only desire of
getting the 3,000 ducats, but he does not want to make a friendly bond with
the Christians. Antonio later says he will be entitled to do what he desires to
Shylock in the future, he tells Shylock ‘I am as like to call the again, to
spurn the too’. So from this quote we also understand that Antonio hates
Shylock too and he will continue spitting on him and calling him names.
In Act 2 Launcelot wishes to stop working for Shylock he says to himself at
the beginning of his though thought ‘Certainly my conscience will serve me
to run from this Jew my master’ so he is thinking of not working for Shylock
anymore and his conscience tells him to leave also. Later Launcelot describes
Shylock, as ‘Certainly the Jew is the very devil incarnation’ there is so much
hate that Launcelot shows towards Shylock that he even calls him the
incarnation of the devil. Launcelot wants to start working for Bassanio.
Jessica does not want to live in Shylock’s house anymore because she feels
lonely and trapped in it, she wants to leave as soon as possible. Shylock
wants Jessica to stay and look after the house, he is very controlling of
Jessica’s life and all of her movements he says ‘I am kid forth to supper
Jessica there are my keys. But therefore should I go?’ People who would
have been watching this play would have felt that Shylock is very
controlling of his daughters life, he tells her what to do and where to go,
people would think he is selfish and he is very self minded, he does things to
fill his riches.
In Act 2 Scene 6 Jessica appears dressed as a boy, and throws
down the money she has stolen from Shylock. She is alarmed at having to
appear in public. Later Jessica goes of with Lorenzo and Salerio to leave for
the party. Although Lorenzo is a Christian and Jessica is a Jew, they both
show love and affection towards each other. In Act 2 Scene 6 Lorenzo
describes his love for Jessica when he says ‘So are you sweet, even in the
lovely garnish of a boy’. This shows that even when Jessica is dressed up as a
boy she is still as sweet and beautiful even when she looks different.
Jessica’s and Lorenzo’s love is so strong that they even will not let their
religious differences split them apart. This would have made Shylock go
ballistic, if he would have found out she was dating and planning to marry a
Christian, to Shylock this would be the ultimate and worst sin a Jewish
person would make. Solanio and Salerio discuss the reaction of Shylock to
Jessica’s elopement to Lorenzo by Solanio saying ‘ I never heard a passion so
confused, so strange, outrageous and so variable, as the dog Jew did utter in
the streets: My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a
Christian!’. Both Solanio and Salerio think that Shylock is just going on
about his ducats and nothing else, they have never seen anyone, so strange
and weird, they both think he is selfish and he only cares for himself.
Considering all that has happened, I think that Shylock here is a victim
because his ducats and riches have been taken by his own daughter, also she
has fled with Lorenzo to elope with him, and worst of all the Christians are
behind all of Shylock’s losses. I think Elizabethan/Modern audience would
see Shylock as a villain still because he is a Jew and also what he said about
the Christians in the early part of the play. Audiences would think that he
deserves everything that is being thrown at him, so the Christians in the play
would still be portrayed as heroes rather than villains.
In Act 3 Scene 1
Shylock is trying to say in his motivation speech that Christians and Jews
are very much alike, he says they both have eyes and nose etc. Why should
Jews be treated differently because of their religion and race, Shylock says
Jews are entitled to do the same things as Christians. Shylock tells us ‘I am a
Jew? Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions,
senses, affections, passions? If you tickle use do we not laugh?’ from this
quote Shylock has a very good point to make. Shylock is saying that
Christians and Jews both humans, and also that Jews should be entitled to
equal rights as the Christians. After Shylock’s discussion with his friend
Tubal, I think that Shylock had been mistreated by his daughter despite all
the negative things she has said about him. From this point I think that
Shylock is a victim, because he is trying to make a good understandable point
about the Jews and Christians but he knows that no one will take his point
in consideration. When Shylock speaks to Antonio he says a very interesting
and thoughtful point ‘Thou call dst me a dog before thou hadst a cause. But
since I am a dog beware of my fangs’. Shylock is telling Antonio to beware
of his fangs since he is called a dog. Shylock is picking up on a good
metaphor used by William Shakespeare, by comparing himself to a wild
animal.
In Act 4 Scene 1 the Duke refers to Shylock before he enters the
courtroom as ‘Go one and call the Jew into the court’. This reminds me of the
way Dr Lopez was treated in court by his judges. Shylock tells the Duke
that Antonio owes him money that was the reason for the bond. Shylock
sharpens his knife on the sole of his shoe, and audience watching this would
think that he is a bloodthirsty, definitely a villain and a very non merciful
person. Unfortunately for Shylock his luck and hope is turned upside down
when Portia tell him ‘The words expressly are ‘a pound of flesh’ take then
thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh but in cutting it, if thou dost shed
one drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods are by laws of Venice
confiscate unto the state of Venice’. Shylock is not allowed to let Antonio
shed one drop of blood as it says in the Venice law book that one drop of
Christian blood is shed, Shylock will go in jail, and loose his money. Also to
add to this he is not allowed to cut no less or more than one pound of
Antonio’s flesh, which make it impossible to cut exactly on pound of flesh
and not shed one drop of blood. Shylock is dumbstruck, he feels that every
one has cheated him. I think it is not necessary for Antonio to force Shylock
to become a Christian, I think that is a great example by Shakespeare about
racial prejudice that was brought in to the courtroom.
After all of my analysis
I have come to one conclusion that I think Shylock is a victim he has been
victimised by his daughter, Antonio the Christians and the courtroom. He
was made to look like a villain but all he wanted was revenge. I think that
there are a lot of similarities between fact and fiction for example when the
Duke called in Shylock to the courtroom he used racial words and phrases to
Describe him. So I think that William Shakespeare done a good and detailed
job to show us how Jews were treated a long time ago.
By:Tadas Balnys 10A
