In The Merchant of Venice written by William Shakespeare, there is a Jewish character who is illustrated as a moneylender in Venice, named Shylock. The character is seen as the antagonist of the play. Shylock is portrayed as a greedy and heartless Jew. Also, due to the fact that the play is in Venice and it was an anti-Semitic city, many of the characters treat Shylock disrespectfully and do not call Shylock by his actual name. The characters call him, “old carrion” and “faithless Jew” several times in the play along with other offensive names. It is questioned if Shylock was actually a victim or a villain in The Merchant of Venice. The character committed many actions towards people in the play that made him look like the villain. Shylock
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His daughter is kept as a prisoner in her own house. Shylock does not let his daughter go out, nor lets her hear Christian music. This shows that Shylock has no trust towards Jessica. His daughter describes her house as being in hell. She describes her father as the devil. Jessica is in love with Lorenzo, who is a Christian, but her dad does not accept this relationship. This causes Jessica to have more hatred towards her own father. Shylock also mistreats Jessica by not loving her enough which is probably one of the reasons of why Jessica chose to leave her house. Characters in the play also realized how of a bad father Shylock is when he complains, “My daughter, O my ducats, O my daughter! / Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats (Shakespeare 81). Shylock 's words demonstrate to the reader that he is more interested in finding his daughter only because of the ducats and jewels she stole from him once again showing that he is a greedy person. Shylock should have approved his daughter 's relationship with Lorenzo instead of causing his daughter to leave because of the beliefs that he has. Many fathers don’t let their daughters be with a certain guy, but if their daughter is truly in love with the person they comprehend and want their daughter to be happy. Due to Shylock 's evilness, he ended up losing the only person he had left, his daughter …show more content…
Balthazar tells Shylock, “And you must cut this flesh from off his breast: / The law allows it, and the court awards it” (Shakespeare 163). These words that Balthazar has said excite Shylock since he his being allowed to take the pound of flesh. Balthazar interrupts Shylock when he states, “Tarry a little. There is something else. / This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood” meaning that Shylock can take his pound of flesh, but cannot shed any blood from Antonio. He also states, “One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods / Are by the laws of Venice confiscate” (Shakespeare 163). This means that if Shylock wants his bond his land and property will be confiscated by the Venetian law. Shylock must feel furious with Balthazar since he cannot kill Antonio by taking the pound of flesh, but Shylock deserves this due to his evilness. He, later on, asks for the ducats he had been given in exchange to change his mind, but he does not get them due to the fact that he had already denied them. All of the villainous actions from Shylock come to an end when Balthazar said in the court, “The party ’gainst the which he doth contrive / Shall seize one half his goods; the other half / Comes to the privy coffer of the state” (Shakespeare 167). This means that for being a foreign resident and trying to kill Antonio who is a citizen Shylock will have to give half of
His daughter is kept as a prisoner in her own house. Shylock does not let his daughter go out, nor lets her hear Christian music. This shows that Shylock has no trust towards Jessica. His daughter describes her house as being in hell. She describes her father as the devil. Jessica is in love with Lorenzo, who is a Christian, but her dad does not accept this relationship. This causes Jessica to have more hatred towards her own father. Shylock also mistreats Jessica by not loving her enough which is probably one of the reasons of why Jessica chose to leave her house. Characters in the play also realized how of a bad father Shylock is when he complains, “My daughter, O my ducats, O my daughter! / Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats (Shakespeare 81). Shylock 's words demonstrate to the reader that he is more interested in finding his daughter only because of the ducats and jewels she stole from him once again showing that he is a greedy person. Shylock should have approved his daughter 's relationship with Lorenzo instead of causing his daughter to leave because of the beliefs that he has. Many fathers don’t let their daughters be with a certain guy, but if their daughter is truly in love with the person they comprehend and want their daughter to be happy. Due to Shylock 's evilness, he ended up losing the only person he had left, his daughter …show more content…
Balthazar tells Shylock, “And you must cut this flesh from off his breast: / The law allows it, and the court awards it” (Shakespeare 163). These words that Balthazar has said excite Shylock since he his being allowed to take the pound of flesh. Balthazar interrupts Shylock when he states, “Tarry a little. There is something else. / This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood” meaning that Shylock can take his pound of flesh, but cannot shed any blood from Antonio. He also states, “One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods / Are by the laws of Venice confiscate” (Shakespeare 163). This means that if Shylock wants his bond his land and property will be confiscated by the Venetian law. Shylock must feel furious with Balthazar since he cannot kill Antonio by taking the pound of flesh, but Shylock deserves this due to his evilness. He, later on, asks for the ducats he had been given in exchange to change his mind, but he does not get them due to the fact that he had already denied them. All of the villainous actions from Shylock come to an end when Balthazar said in the court, “The party ’gainst the which he doth contrive / Shall seize one half his goods; the other half / Comes to the privy coffer of the state” (Shakespeare 167). This means that for being a foreign resident and trying to kill Antonio who is a citizen Shylock will have to give half of