Shakespeares Merchant of Venice free essay sample

In The Merchant of Venice how does Shakespeare present both Shylock as both victim and villain? Throughout the play, The Merchant of Venice, Shylock reveals many personalities; therefore making him such an emotionally complex and detailed character that shows elements of being both a victim and villain; and to come to my decision to whether Shylock is either of the two, other characters language towards him and his reactions will perceive different ideas from different eras in time to determine my answer. The first time Shylock is introduced into the play is in Act 1 Scene 3 where Antonio s to lend Bassanio 3,000 ducats to allow him to meet his love, Portia, in Belmont. However Antonios money is tied up at sea; which is why Shylock is asked to borrow money for him. The first sign of Shylock liking money is when talking to Bassanio about the bond. Also in this era Jews were to make profit when lending out money and Shylock saw this as a perfect opportunity to do so now. Shylock always seems a step ahead of everyone throughout the play as he knows correctly where Antonios money is tied up, while talking to Bassanio about Antonio he states: he hath an rgosy bound to Tripolis, another to the Indies; I understand moreover upon the Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico, a fourth at England and other ventures . This tells us that Shylock can be a greedy person as he seems to know pretty much everything about the bond. Furthermore as Shylock is a very intelligent man; his ideas that Antonios boats may not make it back within 3 months gives him an incentive to carry on with the deal. He knows that if he is to accept the bond, he has a very good chance of making a profit, and with different problems such as: land-thieves and ater-thieves as he knows about in this time, he will go about this bond with confidence and the bound that he has put on Antonio that he truly wants, and one he will get. During the play there is a lot of evidence showing how Shylock is a victim; due to how the characters refer to him. They rarely use his real name and Solanio showing an example here by regularly using: villain Jew; dog Jew as a reference to Shylock. Antonio is perhaps the guiltiest in Shylocks eyes for the abuse he causes: miou call me misbeliever, cut-throat, dog, [And spet upon my Jewish gabardine. As a abardine is a Jewish coat; this is an atrocious sin committed towards Shylock, giving him more reason to hate him. The fact he is described as an animal shows he thinks less of him than he does an animal. Afterwards in the play though in Act 4 scene 1 in the courtroom, Antonio presents powerful imagery showing himself as poor and helpless, as the lamb, and Shylock as the beg devil wolf. This is arguably the most important scene in the play as it shows contrasting ideas to whether hes a victim or villain. When Antonio says this hes at his most vulnerable, tied in the chair trapped nd says: mfou may as well use question with the wolf/ Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb. This quote really enforcing that Shylock is the villain here, and victim is in the courtroom as he isnt treated correctly or with any respect; as the judge says: call the Jew into court. This injustice is displayed throughout the play and this anger must be built inside of him which is why he is so desperate to carry out the bond. In some ways this shows why Shylock can be perceived as a villain; he treats people the same way he gets treated. Within Act 3 scene 1 Shylock arguably says the most important speech throughout. It also perhaps sums up whether Shylock is a victim or villain. It shows great emotion abd really speaks from the heart, and during this time, most Jews would feel the same way Shylock does. He takes great harm from what Antonio has done to him when he states: He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses . Following on from saying what Antonio has done to him throughout his life, he asks perhaps the most important question. He says: and whats his reason? I am a Jew. Here Shakespeare has shown great sympathy for Shylock, and rightly so as n most respects he is correct, yet the Elizabethan audience never gave the Jew a chance. Reading the play its as if Jews are completely different to Christians, as if they are aliens. Here Shylock mentions this as he says: If yo u prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? . Shylock is basically saying that Jews are humans, not hell-born alienated humans. However Shakespeare has been very clever here; reading the play the first time you could say he has possibly made Shylock look the villain by making the bad points stand out, yet if you look deeper the play shows reat sympathy towards the Jew. He has hidden the sympathy towards Shylock so it pleases the crowd. Bringing all this speech together it shows all of Shylocks anger again, and he expresses this in a very powerful and emotive speech. On the other hand I believe that Shylock can react wrongly, and is too adamant to get his revenge which I think is a harsh revenge. An example of Shylock acting a villain is when losing his daughter Jessica; who then runs off with Lancelet and eventually changing her religion to become a Christian. As parents should unconditionally love heir children regardless of what they chose to do with their life; Jessica has committed the ultimate crime against Shylock, to change religion from being Jewish, and religion is supposedly Shylocks life. This is why Shylock reacted in the way he did as shown in Act 3 scene 1. In this scene Shylocks says a horrific statement directed at his daughter Jessica; which most of the crowd would consider Shylock acting a villain, including me: l would my daughter dead at my foot, and the Jewels in her ear. Nonetheless to realise that your daughter has run away and for her to be ashamed to e your child: To be ashamed to be my fathers [Shylocks] child; must be a horrible feeling for Shylock. Also if your daughter has stolen half a million ducats; your late wifes ring, and other precious sentimental items, Im not overly surprised how he reacted.