Merchant Of Venice
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How does Shakespeare present the character of Shylock in the Merchant of Venice?
Shylock plays the role of the most prominent figure in the play; he is the centre of the troubles that make the play a tragic comedy. I feel that Shylocks function in the play is to be the obstacle, the man who stands in the way of the love stories; such a man is a traditional figure in romantic comedies. Something or someone must impede young, romantic love, in this play it is Shylock and the many and various ways that he is linked to the three sets of lovers; his daughter Jessica and the Christian Lorenzo, Portia and Bassanio, Narissa and Gratiano. Though Shylock is a tormented character, he is also a tormentor, so whether he is to be viewed with disdain or sympathy is left up to the audience. Shylock first appears in Act 1 Scene 3 when Antonio asks to lend money off him for his friend Bassanio. This is where Shakespeare first presents Shylocks bitter and twisted attributes to the audience; “Three thousand ducats – well for three months – well…” Shylock holds power over Antonio at this point and uses monosyllables to emphasise the abruptness of his character. I feel this is due to the poor treatment he receives from Antonio prior to the scene. Antonios role in the play is of a much higher standard in a Shakespearean audiences point of view; he is a pure Christian who taunts Shylock throughout the play for being of Jewish religion. I believe that Shakespeares creation of Shylock being Jewish was because the religion at the time was denigrated and strongly disapproved of in society, thus making it easier for the audience to dislike the character.
It can be argued that Shylock is a tragic figure whose sense of decency has been fractured by the persecution he endures during the play, although he does not lose his life, he loses everything of meaning to him. The idea of Shylock being a tragic figure is emphasised in his “hath not a Jew eyes” speech which indeed redeems him, however the speech ends revengefully with “if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” I believe that this speech is sympathetic and points out that the revenge that Shylock has learned, he learned from the Christian characters, “If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. Although Shylock fits various characteristics to make him a tragic figure, he is not a true tragic figure as he neither loses his life nor learns something from what he has endured. A tragic character is a strong, if not leading character that endures a great flaw, Shylocks flaw is his bitterness. Shylocks bitterness, however, is justifiable as it is because of his treatment at the hands of the Christians, therefore deeming it understandable. A true Shakespearean tragic figure would be MacBeth; his flaw is his ambition which proceeds to cost him his life, MacBeth learns in the process making him a tragic figure.
We begin to see a more positive and human side to Shylock when his daughter, Jessica, elopes with a Christian man to become a Christian herself and taking with her the turquoise that Shylocks wife Leah had left for him, “It was my turquoise, I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor. I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys”. Here the audience would sympathise with him. Shylock takes a great pride in his religion; this shows when he speaks to his Jewish friend Tubal. Shylock tells Tubal about his worries of Jessica and Tubal discusses with Shylock the Antonio bond plot, telling of the continuation of the journey of Antonios ships and their well-being, “There came divers of Antonios creditors in my company to Venice, that swear he cannot choose but break”. I feel that Shylock has a lot of trust in Tubal and it seems to me that Shakespeare has presented it in this way to emphasise the power of religion, Shylocks only friend in the play is Jewish. This could be due to Shylocks personal bitterness toward Christians or the Christian bitterness toward Judaism; Shakespeare shows this great civil divide in the Shylock-Antonio story line.
Shakespeare again presents Shylocks emotions in Act 4 Scene 1; Shylock is shown to have feelings however bitter he may be. Perhaps Shakespeare has created Shylock to maintain a vizard to strengthen his power as a Jew by proving his self to be the