¶ … Merchant of Venice is an anti-Semitic play. Rather, what I see in the play is Shakespeare cleverly mocking stereotyped views of both Jews and Christians. Shylock, the Jew, is cruel and inhumane in his demand of a pound of flesh from Antonio for his unpaid debt. On the other hand, the Jew, who is definitely not a nice guy, and who was the subject of laughter in early scenes, becomes a sympathetic victim of un-Christian Christians as the court scene progresses. In the end the Christians who trick the Jew out of not only his wealth, but his religion, and perhaps his very soul, appear to be as incredibly cruel as the villainous Jew. In my opinion The Merchant of Venice is Shakespeare's treatise against hate and inhumanity.
The blessings of mercy as described in the famous speech of Portia that begins "The quality of mercy is not strain'd, / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven" (Iv. ii. 1184-185), seem, in my opinion, to be the heart of what Shakespeare is asking his audience to consider here. In his portrait of Shylock Shakespeare includes all the extremely negative stereotyped characteristics that Elizabethans attributed to Jews.
He definitely fits the offensive pattern of a usurer and a potential bloody murderer. This exaggerated portrayal works, in my opinion, to demonstrate how silly and small minded it is to judge an entire ethnic group rather than considering people as individuals.
In the famous "hath not a Jew eyes... If you prick us do we not bleed" (III, I, 59-70) speech Shylock pleads that his humanity be recognized.
This character created by Shakespeare's genius appealed to Elizabethan audiences who were quite anti-Semitic, yet offered the opportunity also to see that Shylock, no matter how despicable, was at the core just as human as they were. Perhaps they would even realize that this particular Jew was the product of centuries of persecution. For those who could see it, Shakespeare was holding up a mirror to reveal the effects of irrational ethnic hatred.
Shylock is also perceived and portrayed as an enemy of the Christian faith and as the nemesis of the play's protagonist, Antonio. He therefore serves a distinct literary purpose by contrasting the depth of friendship exhibited by Antonio's group. Because he is not viewed as a friend, he cannot truly betray any of them. Thus, when Shylock does not back down from his bond with Antonio he is merely
Bassanio chooses lead, when asked to select from the three caskets that Portia offers to test her suitors. She is happy that he wins, and the lead is supposed to be the correct choice, for the person who chooses lead is supposed to be a man who has hazarded all he has, to win Portia. But in truth, Bassanio has hazarded nothing and desires Portia's gold. It is Antonio
The Jews were no longer a part of English history, and in fact were expunged from it. It was into this atmosphere that Shakespeare was born in 1580, 300 years after the Jews had been forced out of England. If there were Jews in London at the time of Shakespeare, they were certainly in the minority. In 1589, Marlow created a play entitled the Jew of Malta. It was a play
Like so many of us, he feels that heaven has cursed him. The element of disgrace would mean that he has fallen out of favor with God. He feels that all of his efforts are "bootless" (useless). However, the skylark has risen above this, implying that by remembering his love, he will also rise above it. This author used the example of heaven because it is universal. We all think
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now