The Merchant Of Venice Self Pity Analysis

In The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, Shylock creates a sense of self pity, gives in to his greed and blinds himself with revenge, which ultimately leads to his downfall at the end of the play. Shylock, the antagonists of the play, is a Jewish man living in Venice who makes a living by giving out loans, with interest, to people in need. He begins the story, though not happy, at his most content state and as his story continues and he continues to make decisions based on his defining traits. He sends himself into his least happy state and ultimately loses pieces of himself that made him who he was. A Christian man, the protagonist Antonio, also gives out loans but he thinks it is unjust to take interest. Throughout Shylock’s life …show more content…
A moment where he has lost two of the things he cares most about, his daughter, and his money. Shylock is expressing the oppression he feels the Christian society in Venice puts on him for being Jewish. This self pity leads to him feeling the need to put himself above his Christian rival, Antonio, and create the bond which led to his fall. This big expression of self pity is brought on by another trait of Shylock, his greed and love for money. Shylock’s wealth is incredibly important to him and a huge motivator in his life. When Jessica runs away with Lorenzo she also stole an abundance of jewels and ducats. This loss of his daughter and of his money causes him to run through the streets …show more content…
This excessive hatred also appears in court as everyone frantically tries to convince Shylock not to kill Antonio despite the contract. Bassanio, who now has the money needed to pay back Antonio and Shylock as the King of Belmont, offers to pay Shylock not only what he owes, but also almosts 6 times that. Shylock overlooks his greed and instead is so incredibly set on killing Antonio that he decides to kill him instead. He doesn’t want any amount of money on Earth he wants Antonio dead. This is yet another point in the play where Shylock’s decisions could have gotten him out of the situation he gets him in. Shylock could have demanded any amount of money and left happier than he was when the play began. Instead, Shylock went for the kill and this leads to Portia finding a loophole in the contract. This then gave Antonio the power which he used to control Shylock’s fate. Antonio and the Duke then made it so that Shylock loses half of his fortune, any money he makes goes to Lorenzo and his daughter once he dies, and he must convert to Christianity. At this moment Shylock has now lost his family, his money, and now most importantly his religion because of the decisions he