The audience is given the impression that Shylock is a typical Jewish Businessman. To what extent do you agree with this?

Love is seen throughout the play in many forms, one mainly being between Antonio and his friend Bassanio. This type of love is in the form of a true friendship and is selfless. Bassanio owes Antonio a great deal of money, but Antonio refuses to take any money from Bassanio, such is the nature of their relationship. There are many other examples of love throughout the play, mainly coming from the form of marital relationships, as well as Shylock’s love for his daughter Jessica, although this could be argued about. Shylock is quite willing to give his daughter up to the person who opens the right casket. He also appears in one scene when Jessica runs away to be more interested in the fact that his money has gone “Ducats, oh my ducats!”. This is instead of the more important factor of his daughter disappearing. It is a way, which could make the Christians misunderstand him, as he seems more bothered about his missing ducats than his missing daughter.

        The Merchant OF Venice was written around 1596 in the immediate aftermath of the persecution of many Spanish Jews. The result of this persecution was many of them fleeing to England and becoming refugees. The play is about religious discrimination as well as revenge for past wrongs. Shakespeare himself would not have had much contact with Spanish Jews; in fact he might not have had any. “Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries…[is] Inquisition is considered one of Jewish history's darkest chapters -- and one of Christian history's most shameful.” Venice at the time would have been a good choice for the setting of the play as it was a very wealthy and cosmopolitan city. There was quite a diverse set of religions with Christianity being one of the main. Jews of the time were not really favoured upon, and were seen by many as greedy and selfish. Only over the past 100 years has their reputations changed for the better. Shylock was viewed in the plays as a true villain. And over the years has seen him become more of a great comical, yet tragic role. The play was first printed in 1600 and was written shortly after Christopher Marlow’s popular ‘Jew of Malta’ in 1589.

        Shylock’s role in the play is to portray all the characteristic of a typical Jewish businessman and also more. Shakespeare seems to try and help the audience to understand that Shylock is also a human being and isn’t just what everyone expects him to be. He has a stubborn personality, and isn’t completely obsessed with money. His is a complete contrast with the way in which Jews are stereotyped as being money grabbers and making money their main priority, which was the norm for Elizabethan times. Shylock’s character could also appear to be comical, as his character would have been over dramatised so that it was obvious to an audience who he is meant to be. Even today the Jewish religion isn’t the most favoured by people, and there is still some prejudice towards them. Since the Holocaust however, Jews have managed to gain a more sympathetic reputation, with the persecution they suffered at the time being recognised, and how much pain and suffering they actually go through just for something that they believe in. This could be why it is found today that many people have a completely different view towards the Jewish than they would have done 600 years ago, as with the portrayal of Shylock of Shakespeare’s readers throughout the centuries also.

        Shylock could be seen as stereotypical in the way in which he refuses to back down and take pity on Antonio. As far as he is concerned, a deal is a deal and he wants what he believes to be justice. “The pound of flesh which I demand of him is dearly bought, ‘tis mine, and I will have it.” Shylock is not called by his name during the trial, but instead by the name ‘Jew’. This is making a generalisation and does not account for the fact that he is in fact an individual person. He does not retaliate to the name calling however, because for him it is just a part of his way of life and something, which he must accept. It also does him no favours to not take in to account that Antonio himself is a person with feelings and is facing a death sentence. To not take anyone else’s feelings in to account and to appear selfish could be seen as a typical trait of a Jewish person.

        Shylock’s character was, when first performed, meant to portray all the stereotypical traits of a typical Jewish businessman. Throughout the years this viewpoint has changed quite a bit. Shylock was supposed to be seen as quite a comical character, and this remained through up until the late 1700s. From then up until 1814 Shylock was portrayed as a true villain, as were the interpretations from Shakespeare analysts of the time. From 1814 onwards he was a person to be pitied, as were Jews generally throughout Europe for the next sixty plus years. He was finally portrayed as a tragic character in 1879, and this has remained throughout, especially since the Second World War, during in the Holocaust. Shakespeare’s interpretation of the character has been discussed for many years, and many people do believe that there is much more to Shylock than what is seen at a glance. A big example of this comes from the trial scenes when Shylock is insistent on his revenge rather than the money offered to him.

        Shakespeare intends to bring Shylock across as more than just a villain and your typical Jewish businessman. He uses very emotive language when it comes to some of Shylock’s speeches, “He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew.” He is however, very stubborn, and this in turn does not help to bring his character across as more than just your typical Jew who is out for all he can get. Shylock has had to put up with much hatred during his life with all the prejudice towards Jews, so in some ways it could be seen that he is only trying to get the justice he deserves from all the years of suffering he has been through. It is just unfortunate for Antonio that he is a victim of Shylock’s stubborn nature.

        “What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?” Here you can see that Shylock has a point. He is saying that none of the Christians would put up with everything he has had to in his life, and that he feels he is just getting what is owed to him. He is sticking by the bond and the law and does not believe that Antonio should be allowed to get off with his punishment. By waiting to go through with the punishment, and not taking the money that is offered to him, Shylock is showing that he is not obsessed with money in the way in which you would expect a typical Jewish businessman to be, he is in fact more a man of principal.

        Shylock is not just about money. He believes firmly that people should stick by the law and not break bonds. He proves this by refusing to accept money triple the amount that Antonio owed him in order to buy him off. Only when he realises that he isn’t going to win the case does he start to consider the money, but in fairness he does believe he should get something out of the situation. In the end though he is robbed of everything he owns, and must convert to Christianity. This also shows that Christians weren’t as warm and forgiving as first portrayed. They could even be considered as bad as the Jews because they have taken everything away from Shylock instead of just forgiving and forgetting. Shakespeare manages to successfully bring across all the good and bad points of the characters, and this is why I believe that he is successful in making Shylock appear to be more than just a typical Jew from back in Elizabethan times.

        To say that Shylock is portrayed as a typical Jewish businessman would be to underestimate Shakespeare’s ability to create fully developed characters. It may be true that the skeleton of the character is based on a stereotype that an Elizabethan audience would have readily recognised. However, the clashes of humanity, which Shakespeare brings to the character, enable the stereotypical to be transcended. Ultimately, I believe Shylock is no more a typical Jewish businessman than Lear is a typical English King. Perhaps it is the transcendence of the stereotype which makes the characters humanity all the more poignant.