William Shakespeare’s plays cover a variety of genres, each offering timeless perspectives that cause them to be performed generation after generation. Only one of these plays is often refused to be performed, on account of its potential antisemitism. Few of Shakespeare’s characters have the infamy of Shylock from the play The Merchant of Venice. Shylock is a Jewish character written as a stereotype: a secretive Jewish merchant running illegal money lending schemes in the city of Venice. Shylock has been the subject of hundreds of years of discussion surrounding racism and the nature of performance. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare uses stereotypes to show how the institution of racism not only turns members of one’s community into strangers,
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When considering his motivations for taking Antonio’s flesh, they are not immoral; Shylock simply wants his legal agreement seen through, in court if need be. While the contract is grisly, it was fully agreed upon by Antonio and Bassanio at the end of Act One. Shylock’s actions are the most human out of any character in this production, and Shakespeare knew this. Shylock’s most famous speech is a plaint at the beginning of Act 3- he draws upon the commonalities of human emotion, stating the social isolation and hatred he faces for his faith, and how his only option is retribution. “Are we not, fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? . . . And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” (92) This is where his pain and suffering are exposed to everyone- to the audience in Shakespeare’s era, a stranger has been turned into someone that garners sympathy. Now that Shylock has been dignified and shown to have a proper moral compass, there is a vacuum in the absence of an obvious villain. It was never the discriminated Jew who chose to undermine the Venetian legal system, marry solely for money, and practice bigotry- it was the Christian …show more content…
The antagonist initially appears to be a stereotype, but this is quickly demonstrated to be the result of starting with the protagonists’ viewpoint. Antonio and his classically chivalric friends are twisted by bigotry to commit acts such as fraud and greed. There is a construction and subsequent wreckage of stereotypes that brings into question how much face value means in comparison to their character. Shylock’s slow burn as an antagonist using stereotypes and the reveal of his honest motivations leave the audience with the thought that the biggest evils can be found in the most comfortable of
When considering his motivations for taking Antonio’s flesh, they are not immoral; Shylock simply wants his legal agreement seen through, in court if need be. While the contract is grisly, it was fully agreed upon by Antonio and Bassanio at the end of Act One. Shylock’s actions are the most human out of any character in this production, and Shakespeare knew this. Shylock’s most famous speech is a plaint at the beginning of Act 3- he draws upon the commonalities of human emotion, stating the social isolation and hatred he faces for his faith, and how his only option is retribution. “Are we not, fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? . . . And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” (92) This is where his pain and suffering are exposed to everyone- to the audience in Shakespeare’s era, a stranger has been turned into someone that garners sympathy. Now that Shylock has been dignified and shown to have a proper moral compass, there is a vacuum in the absence of an obvious villain. It was never the discriminated Jew who chose to undermine the Venetian legal system, marry solely for money, and practice bigotry- it was the Christian …show more content…
The antagonist initially appears to be a stereotype, but this is quickly demonstrated to be the result of starting with the protagonists’ viewpoint. Antonio and his classically chivalric friends are twisted by bigotry to commit acts such as fraud and greed. There is a construction and subsequent wreckage of stereotypes that brings into question how much face value means in comparison to their character. Shylock’s slow burn as an antagonist using stereotypes and the reveal of his honest motivations leave the audience with the thought that the biggest evils can be found in the most comfortable of