Shylock is portrayed throughout the entire play as both a villain and a victim and nowhere more so than through the drama of the courtroom scene.Do you agree with this statement?

Then we go back to Venice, to a public place, where we join a conversation between Shylock, Bassanio and Antonio. Shylock is a usuary - a moneylender. Shylock is able to lend the money but is reluctant because Antonio and Bassanio have been horrible to him in the past because he is a jew. They argue about the morality of lending money. Shylock reminds Antonio and Bassanio of what they have done to him in the past but in the end he agrees to lend the money but he asks for an unusual collateral. His collateral was a pound of flesh to be given to Shylock.

We then move back to Belmont where Portia meets the Prince of Morocco who takes the test with the three caskets - however, he fails.

We go back again to Venice where Lancelot Gobbo is thinking about running away from his master, Shylock. Old Gobbo, his father, comes onto stage in search of his son. Because he is blind he does not recognise Lancelot, who plays a mean trick on him. Old Gobbo asks Bassanio to give employment to Lancelot. Bassanio says Yes. Gratiano asks a favour of Bassanio. He wants to go to Belmont with Bassanio - Bassanio agrees but he warns him that he must behave.

In the next scene we are still in Venice in a street outside Shylock's house. Lancelot is saying goodbye to Jessica, Shylock's daughter. Bassanio's friends have planned some kind of entertainment to amuse the guests at dinner. Lancelot gives Lorenzo a letter from Jessica. Lorenzo explains his intentions to the audience.

Still in the street outside Shylock's house, Shylock tells Jessica to lock the house up and then goes off to dinner with Bassanio. Lorenzo and his frends meet outside Shylock's house. Jessica appears on a balcony embarrassed because she is dressed as a boy.

At Belmont the Prince of Morocco has come to examine the three caskets. He reads aloud what each says on it and trys to work out what the inscriptions mean. He makes his choice - the wrong one.

Salerio and Solanio discuss where Lorenzo has gone. They have heard that Shylock has lost his daughter and been robbed of some money and there is some bad news for Antonio - one of his ships has sunk.

Back at Belmont, in Portia's house, another suitor, the Prince of Arragon, has come to make his choice of the caskets. He reads the inscriptions and decides what he deserves. Just as he has read the scroll a servant comes in and tells Portia that Bassanio is on his way.

In a street in Venice, Salerio has heard the bad news about one of Antonio's ships. Shylock threatens Antonio and when Shylock and Tubal are left, Shylock gloats over Antonio's danger because of the bond of the pound of flesh. Shylock's pleasure over this matter is equal to the pain he suffers in the loss of his daughter.

Portia has fallen in love with Bassanio and wants him to wait a few days before making his choice of the caskets but Bassanio does not want to wait. He thinks aloud about the difference between appearance and reality and then chooses the leaden casket and wins Portia for his wife. Nerissa and Gratiano congratulate him and Grataino declares his own marriage plans. Lorenzo and Jessica arrive in Belmont with Salerio who has brought a letter from Antonio. Antonio has written about his plight.

Back in Venice, Antonio has been arrested and taken to Venice. Shylock threatens him but Antonio patiently listens without panicking.

Back in Belmont Portia asks Lorenzo to look after her house until she and Nerissa get back from Venice where they plan to trick their husbands. Lancelot Gobbo teases Jessica about her jewish nationality. Her husband, Lorenzo, joins in the fun.

In the next Act we are in Venice in a Court of Justice. The Duke asks Shylock to show mercy on Antonio but Shylock refuses and insists on having his pound of flesh. A young lawyer comes in to the Court. It is Portia with Nerissa as her clerk. Portia makes a speech but Shylock is not bothered by it. Portia agrees that he is legally entitled to a pound of Antonio's flesh and Antonio prepares to die but then at the last moment Portia comes up with a plan to get Antonio out of it. Portia says that Shylock is not allowed to take any blood so it is impossible to take a pound of flesh without blood. Bassanio is very grateful because his friend's life has been saved and he offers a reward to the young lawyer. Portia asks for a ring.

Next, in a street in Venice Gratiano gives Bassanio's ring to Portio who is still disguised as the young lawyer and is still accompanied by Nerissa, who also plans to get her ring from Gratiano.

In the final Act Lorenzo and Jessica talk lovingly in the moonlight. Messages are brought saying that Portia and Bassanio are making their way home separately. After a short time Portia and Nerissa arrive at Belmont. A little later, as dawn comes, Bassanio and Gratiano appear. The wives ask their husbands for the rings and pretend to be angry but in the end they reveal the truth.

Now I am going to talk about Shylock who is the other subject of this essay. Shylock through the whole play is made out to be a villain. He is a Jew with strong beliefs. He has a daughter called Jessica who does not like being a jew and would rather be a christian like the man who later becomes her husband. Shylock is a usury. A usuary is like a modern bank. It is a person who makes money from lending money, charging huge amounts of interest and it was very much disapproved of by the Elizabethans. The usurer need not be a jew as Shylock is but the person who is the usurer is always an outcast. His way of earning a living was thought to be wrong because he did not actually produce anything but lived off the work of others and took no risks because if the debtors did not repay their loan the userer would claim a penalty. Making money breed more money was thought to be unnatural contrasted with the natural increase of wealth by growing crops and breeding animals. This is discussed in the play by Antonio and Shylock in Act 3 Scene I where Shylock tells the story of Jacob and the laban's sheep. The userer was also feared because it was easy for him to get others into his power and reduce them to poverty.

Next I will go on to how people treat Shylock and how he reacts to this treatment. First Bassanio and Antonio's treatment of him. In Act I Scene 3 we learn of all the stuff that Antonio have done to Shylock. Shylock comments on what Antonio has called him in public places "... you call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog..." and the fact that Antonio spits upon Shylock just because he is a jew. He says that "... many a time and oft in the rialto you have rated me about my moneys and my usances...". This roughly means that Antonio has been horrible to him in public places about his work. Shylock tries to make out that he is a patient and nice person with lines like "... still I have born it with a patient shrug, For sufferance is a badge of all our tribe...". Shylock even tries to make out that he is hurt and upset by what they have said but to me it just suggests jokey treatment and nothing that really means too much.

In Act I Scene 3 Shylock asks for a pound of Antonio's flesh which I think is quite unreasonable but I can see why he has suggested this collateral as it is a way of getting his own back if he does not get his interest.

We then move on to Act IV Scene I, the Courtroom scene, where Shylock is adament that he will not give up his pound of flesh because Antonio's ship has sunk and therefore he cannot pay back the loan. Even after much pleading he seems extremely annoyed when Portia finds a way of stopping this slaughter of Antonio. I think this time he is genuinely upset that he has not been able to get his own back which I think is his just desserts for saying he wanted a pound of flesh. I think that request showed that he is truly a villain and shall never change. However, he does seem to be a bit of a victim in the unluckiness of his loss.

Next I will talk about Shylock's dealings with his daughter. Jessica, in Act II Scene III, says how she hates being a jew because her father is one. There is not really much evidence between him and his daughter to say what their relationship was like however from this statement I think that Jessica hated him as much as Antonio did by the end of the play.

I think that there is never enough evidence to make a right choice in an answer to a question on a play. However from the evidence that is there I think that Shylock is a villain and that how he used his position as usuary to gain advantage over others was only pure evil and how he asked for a pound of flesh, which meant the certain death of a man, proves this even more. As for the fact that he is a victim, I do not agree with this. He is unlucky but I think in the end he got what he deserved.

I think as historical context Shakespeare's plays are not reliable as they contain his own thoughts about subjects such as jews but if this play is correct, then jews were very unfairly treated during Shakespearean times if the treatment that Shylock received as stated in Act I Scene III is correct it would be extremely unfair to treat someone as Antonio did as spitting, name calling, etc are unfair just because someone is different. However if this play is right then the position of minorities or people that we think are different to ourselves is still not improving as we still have racism and sexism.

Chris Hill The Merchant of Venice

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