Essay On Shylock In The Merchant Of Venice

If a supposed villain were to lose all he worked hard for, be abandoned by loved ones, and be forced to give up his identity after being oppressed by other civilians with strong religious beliefs, would this individual remain as villainous as intended to be? In The Merchant of Venice, a play written by William Shakespeare, a dramatic plot was set in an era where the judgement and persecution of Jewish people was acceptable. Respectively, Shakespeare chose to characterize the villain of the play to be a Jewish moneylender named Shylock. Although Shylock’s service was commonly detested by Venetian citizens, two Christian Renaissance men named Antonio and Bassanio proceeded to request a loan from Shylock. In making this deal, the plot began to reveal a multitude of dimensions to Shylock’s character. Admittedly, Shylock may possess intentionally villainous motives or values such as the desire for a pound of Antonio’s flesh as a consequence of a late reimbursement. However, he remained a sympathetic character throughout the play because he had been robbed of his valuable possessions and his identity while also being …show more content…
Examining his true intentions revealed that his initial greediness for flesh and money was diminished by the true sentimental value he held in his wife’s turquoise ring. Also, Shylock’s most significant characteristic within the play, his religion, was seized from him; he could no longer be Jewish after losing the court case with Antonio. In numerous scenes, Shylock experienced victimization through abusive words and behaviors directed to him by other characters. By the end of the play, he proved himself to be a character of deeper dimensions. With these constant struggles that Shylock had to go through, from his jewels to his faith, he was not made out to be the villain that Shakespeare wished to depict, but a character who was just shy of that