Shylock is a tragic figure, trapped by prejudice and driven to revenge by the treatment he receives Essay Example For Students

Shylock is a tragic figure, trapped by prejudice and driven to revenge by the treatment he receives Essay Shylock is one of the interesting and intriguing characters in The Merchant of Venice. Those who agree with the title statement believe that throughout the play he is looked down upon, betrayed, isolated, punished and humiliated by Christian society and even by his own daughter and that it is this which leads him to madness and evilness and that he was always a good person underneath. The other argument is that Shylock is a greedy character and that he always was. A character that does anything he can to cause unhappiness for others and benefit financially from his evilness. The audience may believe that his greed and evilness may have started out with petty crimes, but have resulted in Shakespeare exposing the true extent of his evilness at the end of the play. Those who defend Shylocks actions or label his actions as understandable or comprehensible, are adamant that his wickedness which he shows towards Antonio at the end of the play coupled together with his attitude and heartlessness, are a result of alienation from his fellow Venetians, although they cannot argue against the merciless actions of Shylock throughout the play. Their belief that Shylock started off as a nice man looking purely for business is shown in Shylocks first appearance in the play in Act 1 Scene 3 when Bassanio is talking about Antonio taking out a loan on his behalf. Shylock seems jovial at this point, when he is in conversation with Bassanio until Antonio enters the picture. The audience can instantly see a change in Shylocks language and speech as this is happening, He begins to become annoyed and his speech lengthens every time, as he attempts to answer his company fully. The audience may claim that up to this point Shylock was being what he really was underneath, i. e. an agreeable businessman. His true character then begins to come through when Antonio enters; He immediately begins to insult Antonio, this maybe due to the years of constant suffering brought to him by Antonio simply because of Shylocks cast and religion. I hate him for he is a Christian and If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him These are two examples of his wickedness in Antonios presence. We must also remember that he has not yet been provoked by Antonio so far in this particular encounter between the two, although we must again refer to the possibility of Shylocks actions being justified due to the constant provocation over the years and we could assume that Shylock is simply retaliating. This part, however, shows him in his true colours as an evil man and gives the anti-Shylock faction an insight into the meanness of Shylock and it makes the reader think that he has been born nasty. In the defence of Shylock he comments about why he bears such an enormous grudge against Antonio. Shylocks attitude towards Antonio then begins to change as he negotiates with him over the repayment of the loan. This is purely a trick and certainly does not portray Shylock as a victim nor a tragic figure to the audience. Antonio is being very nice at this point in time also. The moment in which Shylock reminds Antonio of the grief he has caused him on the Rialto through his insults, is a significant one. As he is reminding Antonio he keeps saying that he has Borne it with a patient shrug He then asks Antonio why he should lend him the money when he has been so rude towards him. He accuses Antonio of spitting on him and directing harsh names towards him and his Jewish community. Antonio replies and comments that he is just as likely to do these things again. This suggests to the audience that Antonio does not care about Shylocks feelings and that indeed Shylock has been the subject of constant abuse from Antonio this constant abuse may have caused Shylock to become detached and segregated from the Venetian society around him. This abuse might have been burning him from the inside over the years and has helped the anger within Shylock to accumulate. Shylocks years of abuse might have been the source of his spite towards others. All his anger towards others might indeed be retaliation to the abuse he has suffered, but we must not assume that this is the whole reason why Shylock has become such an evil character. Shylocks apparent change of heart is shown when he replies to Antonios proposal, and calls Antonio his friend, this is deception, so he can fool Antonio with regards to the bond that exists between them, this could be a good form of revenge for him, provoked by Antonios nastiness. The Joy of American Sign Language EssayI would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear: would she were hearsed at the foot, and the ducats in her coffin This speech proves how greedy and ruthless Shylock is. It is also real evidence of how he values ducats over his daughter again, and is enough to make the audience hate him again. He is definitely not a victim here as he is verbally abusing his own daughter. In the last two paragraphs, a very delicate balance is exposed. The audiences sympathy for Shylock is crumbling with every line and any mistake by Shylock could prove decisive. The maltreatment of Shylock continues into the end of the play with the final courtroom scene where Shylock demands the payment of his bond. The court examines the document and finds it legal, but they stall and offer bribes. Maybe, a reason why the punishment was not carried out immediately is because Antonio is a pillar of the community and a respected figure, while Shylock is a hated moneylender. In this scene, however, Shylock is acting very out of character as he repeatedly turns down the offer of more money. The audience now has to decide whether Shylock is a greedy, evil, blood-thirsty man, or just a man who has come to the end of his tether, to the extent, that he now wants Antonios flesh as revenge. Shylock is then undone by his greed, as Portia finds a legal loophole in the document as she says Take your pound of flesh, but let not a drop of blood be spilt Shylock sinks. Seeing that he has been beaten, the greed still remains, and he tries to regain his money. Portia now begins to take Shylock apart, making him give up all his money and change religion. In conclusion to this play we have to look at all the facts. We are aware Shylock was verbally abused throughout the play, and called name such as: evil soul, misbeliever, cut-throat dog, cur, fiend, devil, dog Jew, faithless Jew, old carrion, bloody creditor, unfeeling man, harsh Jew, damned, currish spirit and cruel devil We also know that he was greedy, selfish, evil and ruthless. In many ways he can be compared with other great fictional evils introduced by Shakespeare, he can be compared with Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Capulet refers to his daughter being dead at his feet and himself not caring in the slightest. A comparison can be made between him and Shylock as there are many similarities in their characters. Yet, Shylock is portrayed as a villain, while Capulet is portrayed as an ignorant father not seeing the true love between Romeo and Juliet. This may have something to do with the religion of both characters; Capulet is a religious Christian, while Shylock is a Jew, and is apparently guilty of the same sins, yet is looked down upon by audiences worldwide. In response to the question posed, I think that Shylock is not a tragic figure at all, and was not driven to evilness by others. I believe that he became more evil as his wealth increased, his character seems to be a very hard character in the play, a character which has no feelings about anyone elses life other than his own life. He is portrayed, by Shakespeare as a character who values money over life, and this is quite apparent throughout the play. Any man who thinks in this way does not make a very popular character in a play. I feel that the audience of the play would not sympathise with Shylock, although they will have to acknowledge that Shylock has suffered abuse and that Shakespeare might have been anti-Semitic and might have purposefully portrayed Shylock as a miser. Shylock is drawn as being a person of darkness, his suffering is overwhelming, this rage for revenge must for the satisfaction of the audience, be punished. Shylock is essentially a complex character. At the beginning Shylock is simply a miser, during the five scenes Shakespeare turns him into an intensely complex character. He is : comic, savage, crafty, deeply suffering. Things do not go well for Shylock, too much is weighted against him and the contempt for him reaches its climax in the trial. He is taken to pieces under an avalanche of penalties He is reduced as a person. Shylock may die with money but his reputation has been torn to shreds. Even though he has been abused by Venetians, I think that this is not the reasoning behind his evilness. The reason behind it is greed. In response to the final courtroom scene, if he had to be called a victim, he was a victim of his own greed.