Shakespeare intensifies the evilness of Shylock’s character, taking it from a two- faced deceiving man to a shameless bully. For example, in the Bible, Jacob is portrayed as a villain, however, Shylock sees him as a role model and uses his example to bully Antonio and put him under pressure. This will make the audience hate Shylock, seeing him torment their hero; Shakespeare does this to foreshadow the trouble at the courtroom scene.
In Act II scenes (iii) and (v), Shakespeare, carries on to build up Shylock’s tedious character now, portraying him as a devilish monster. This is sadly established by illustrating Shylock’s home life. Jessica, Shylock’s daughter uses word like “Devil” and “Tediousness” when talking about her father and her house, she says, “Our house is hell” which shows how Shylock treats Jessica like a slave, making her work all the time, giving her orders and restraining her. Jessica feels that her father is a villain and does not like his ways, she is so fed up of his treatment of her, that she is going to elope, ashamed of being his daughter. To have Jessica say this shows the audience how miserable Shylock must be making her feel which will show us too how he is an unloving father, quite like a cold hearted beast. Shylock calls for Jessica several times like a servant and then commands her to lock up the house. This gives the audience reason to accept that she is trying to run away from this imprisonment. Not only is she going to run away, but she is going to get married to a Christian and convert religions. This act will not be seen as a teenage girl’s rebellion, bun instead an attempt to break free. We feel closer to Jessica when in her [aside] she opens up to us and says, “If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife, become Christian and thy loving wife”. We feel her pain and sympathize with her, hating Shylock more for treating his own daughter this way.
Shylock feels that he is superior to everyone else. For instance, he complains about his Launcelot eating too much or wearing out his clothes, he addresses him with “Sirrah” and uses his mistakes against him (when Launcelot says reproach rather than approach). Not only to Launcelot, but also, Shylock also does not consider Jessica to be of much importance, he says “My house” not “our house” as if she had no part in his life and also, he degrades Christians when he mentions them and talks about them as if they were worthless, “Prodigal Christians”. Being self-centred adds to Shylock’s unattractive qualities. His selfishness and feeling of self importance is ironic as later on he will be seen all alone, having driven everyone out of his life. Considering this, we do not feel much sympathy for Shylock as he is clearly a villain, morally, in the way he mistreats others.
Another unappealing quality that Shylock possesses is greediness. When Jessica runs away Shylock seems to be more concerned about his money and fortune rather than losing his own daughter which is quite inhumane. Solanio reports to Salario how he saw Shylock madly running down the street crying for his ducats and daughter. An Elizabethan cast would have mocked Shylock here and ridiculed him, having Solanio mimic Shylock with a silly voice. The audience would have loved this and thought that Shylock had gotten what he deserves. However in the modern production of this play, this scene is very dramatic, where Shylock is pitied and shown to be aimless and confused. A modern audience would have enjoyed a mystery, doubting Shylock’s vice would have intrigued them. At points like this, it is understandable to see Shylock as a victim rather than a villain. To have lost valuables like his jewels and daughter and left whimpering in the street might make us think of how Shylock is just a victim of prejudice. This would remind us of how the good character, Antonio mistreated him (spat on him and called him dog) which would make us question where each character stands. Though we might find this to be a powerful message about racial discrimination, Shakespeare’s audience would simply find this scene entertaining.
For further effect, this scene is followed by Shylock’s famous speech about racial equality. Again, in this scene, we would doubt weather Shylock’s actions are results of his pain or anger. To an Elizabethan audience, this scene would be shocking. Shakespeare might have used this scene to awaken the audience and prepare them of what is coming. On the other hand, as a modern audience, we might be convinced of Shylock’s message and again view him as a mere victim as he gives us more reason to understand his scheming which might make us feel close to him despite his greediness and other immoralities.
This speech is very powerful and memorable. A list of many rhetorical questions are used to question simple human rights and the word “same” is used repetitively to emphasize the intended equality between all humans. These devices are very persuasive and would really make us think why one can be treated so differently despite being of the same species and behaving or reacting in similar ways.
Being Jewish automatically makes Shylock a villain in the play. This is unfair since it is a completely prejudice idea; Shakespeare has probably not even met a Jew in his life! However, he gives the villain of the play an important speech like this, not because he wants to empathize with him, but instead, Shakespeare throws this question at the audience and then surprises them by what is to come making Shylock seem like more of a villain.
In Act III scene (iii), Shylock has once again returned to being a stubborn evil selfish man seeking revenge. This would have really made the audience angry seeing how Shylock has even managed to deceive them. This is a great method to captivate the audience and have them become involved in the action of the following act. Shylock’s stubbornness is conveyed by the way he refuses to reason with Antonio or have mercy. The way in which he speaks and the language he uses suggest an arrogant attitude which adds to his villainous characteristics. Here, Shylock speaks in short clauses and a fast pace, making sure Antonio has no freedom to speak. He constantly repeats the word “Bond” making it clear that he is going to be difficult.
Finally in the court room scene, all of Shakespeare’s build up and questions are answered. Is Shylock a victim? In this scene, the whole court is seen to be bias against him, evidently, in the Duke’s speech, he says, “And pick commiseration of his state from brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flint, from stubborn Turks, and tartars never trained” where as the representative of justice, the duke is shown to ask Shylock to be merciful upon Antonio. Shylock is left to stand all by himself, fighting for his rights, however, in this play Shylock is not a victim, he is a villain. His loneliness is but a cause of his unpleasant attitude and he is not to be pitied. At this point, Shylock is shown to be a hated vicious monster, he compares Antonio to a rat, pig, cat and an annoying bagpipe and swears by “Sabbath” which shows him finally confronting the other characters with his hatred for Christians. When he is asked why he wants a pound of flesh, he says, “It is my humour” which is a rather disturbing idea, however the audience knows that it is the same reason as to why they hate Jews, pure prejudice. Bassanio speaks to Shylock as if he were a criminal; he questions him and tries to prove him guilty. From a favoured character, this is a signal for the audience that Shylock is indeed a villain.
Furthermore, the battle between justice and mercy is represented by Shylock standing for justice and Portia for mercy. It is ironic, how Shylock praises Portia/ Balthazar when she is actually under an illegal disguise, this shows that Shylock, just wants his revenge. Portia’s famous speech is poetic and persuasive; it highlights the equality between justice and mercy and illustrates the harmony that can be achieved if both are present. She warns Shylock too, that salvation cannot be achieved if he should not have mercy, “In the course of justice, none of us should see salvation.” The alliteration of the “S” here is used as a warning and Shylock was given complete freedom to make a decision. The audience would have seen Portia’s offer to be morally irresistible, to be just and merciful, would be like following Jesus’ example. When Shylock refuses and answers, “My deeds upon my head” the audience is reminded of the Jewish mob , in the Gospel’s narrative that ordered Christ’s crucifixion and so their hatred for Shylock will emerge along will his immorality, having refused to do the right thing.
The suspense and anger of the audience grows as the atmosphere becomes more tense when Shylock holds the knife and scales, and as shown in the modern production of the play, savagely sharpening his weapon, ready to send a man to his death without hesitation. This would have been a memorable image, as it is the last in which Shylock is seen to be somewhat in control of his life. Following this, Portia interrupts the suspense and declares that if, as Shylock requested, justice were to take place then Shylock must not cause Antonio to bleed or he should die as it was not declared in the bond. This is very shocking. Shylock’s stubbornness has led him to fall in his own trap; his plan has backfired on him. He is seen to be dumbfounded, knowing that now he has truly lost everything; is daughter, fortune, respect and rights to believe, “Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that.”
To some literates Shylock is portrayed as a victim of a prejudice society, being stripped of his rights and belongings and basically reduced to nothing, however to many, Shylock, after many warnings, received what he deserved, like all happy endings, the villain is punished and put under the mercy of his own victim, in this case Antonio. Despite Antonio’s mistreatment towards Shylock at the start of the play, he is seen to be the victim because of the agony Shylock puts him through. An Elizabethan audience might relate this play to the story of the crucifixion where, Jesus, the victim allows himself to be crucified by the Jews as a sacrifice to humanity, after all, “ In the course of justice, none of us should see salvation.” But because of God’s grace and mercy, Shylock has been awarded salvation by renouncing his faith and embracing Christianity. Having justice and mercy being represented by Shylock and Portia (respectively) shows that you cannot be just without being merciful, nor merciful without being just as “Mercy seasons justice”, and to try to do so otherwise, to ignore God’s example, there would be a price to pay.