Shylock suffers from the hatred from Antonio. Antonio is the merchant of Venice and because he doesn’t charge interest, all the other merchants lose money so Shylock loses money and is angry about it.
Shylock is a devious character and he knows what he is doing. Shylocks character is quite like his appearance: horrible and sly, and you can tell by his appearance that he is up to no good. You can see the difference between Antonio and Shylock not just by appearance but also their actions. Shylocks actions are mainly done for revenge, especially towards Antonio because what good friend is Antonio if he has called him a 'misbeliever' and "spat upon his gabardine." But when Antonio asks for a favour he feels ha is in control and this is where his plan for revenge come action. Antonio at this point doesn’t care about revenge, but he does care about helping his friend, he cares so much that he would ask his enemy for help. Surely Antonio can't be the bad guy if he is willing to do that what he did. But then again he did attack Shylock and change so quickly when he wanted a favour.
Shylock decided to go along with his cunning plan and grant Antonio his favour. He would lend Antonio his 3000 dukets if he would sign a bond…The bond was, if Antonio pay him back he would have a pound of his flesh and if he had to he would cut it and weigh it himself. Antonio signed the bond and got his loan. What Shylock did was evil and selfish because his ships had not brought the cargo in, so he could not make money. His actions here shows us how Sick and revengeful he actually is.
I think Shylock is both a Victim and a Villain because Shylock is relied on byAntonio who counts on him for the money, even though he has been attacked verbally by Antonio in the past. But he is also a villain because he thinks he knows he can't lose. With this evidence I believe that Shylock is more a villain than victim because Shylock seems to be in control over Antonio's actions and he also knows he is in complete control. Another piece of evidence is that he feels no mercy for Antonio and he doesn’t even try to. I think Antonio seems to play the part of the victim for Shylock is in control ver him and starts to control what he does and how he does it because he signed the bond. The roles sort of swapped through out the play. At the beginning Antonio was the villain because he attacked Shylock the victim verbally and then when he asked for a favour Antonio became the victim and Shylock the villain.
This makes the storyline more interesting and it also shows you that people can change just to get revenge. But is it right to get revenge? Shylock thinks so.
I don’t have any sympathy for shylock because I don’t believe that revenge should be so sick and evil, maybe if revenge was similar to the cause than maybe, but I don’t believe it should be so bad.
Shylock does shock me because you wouldn’t think someone would have that much hatred inside them that they would have such deep plans for revenge in such an evil and mad way. To think that he would take a pound of his flesh just because he didn’t like him and he knew Antonio wouldn’t be able to pay back the money in time because his ships hadn't arrived. This behaviour does appal me in a way, but a man must be built up with hatred for some other reason other than just disliking the person, Antonio must have really offended Shylock in some horrific or terrible way.
Still, Shylock could have planned a more meaningful way of revenge that wasn’t so painful and unbearable.
At this point of the play Shylock must be going mad with the idea of revenge. Antonio also shocks me because even though he may have called shylock all the names under the sun that offended him he still went to him asking for help.
I can't say whether Shylock deserved it but Antonio must have done something bad to make Shylock think such a deed.
Towards the end of the play Shylock's taken to court and asked these questions:
If he had got the flesh what would he have done with it? He replied it would do nothing but feed his revenge. Shylock is asked is everyone not human? Jews are human they have hands, organs Etc…we are all human are we not? Then why should we be enemies when we are all the same in all ways and what is good for one religion can be good for the other? Shylock is told that he can retrieve his pound of flesh, but not one particle or drop of blood can be taken. But it's not possible to take flesh and not draw blood. At this point Shylock pleads for understanding and equality. He also explains how important his revenge was:
"The Villainy you teach me I will not execute,
It will better the instruction"
Shylock wins the case but loses in reality and is forced to change his religion to Christianity. He is a broken man.
Shylock is a character who is unforgettable for the evil deeds he tried to commit. He is proven to be evil and mad from the evidence in the play. Shylock is the most important yet most hated character in the play, but if you read it from Shylock's point of view you do get an idea of what anguish he is feeling and the tension he is feeling and acting the way he does. In my opinion Shylock is a brilliant villain and a villain is what his character is best at being. All in all "The Merchant of Venice" is an enjoyable play by William Shakespeare and shows you how differences between beliefs can make people act in evil ways with unforeseen consequences.
