The play 'The Merchant of Venice' by William Shakespeare is set in Venice. In Venetian society at the time that the play was written, there were many anti-semitic views. Many of these views came from Christians, followers of the main religion in Venice, upon Venice's religious minority, the Jews. In the play by William Shakespeare, Shylock is a moneylender and follows Judaism. Antonio, a Christian Merchant, borrows money from Shylock and enters into a bond with him. Many Christians in Venice hated Shylock, as he was very rich compared to the average Christian. As a result of this, many members of the general Christian public became jealous of Shylock's obvious wealth.
             Due to the obvious wealth of many Jews, they started to be stereotyped and persecuted by the majority of the population of Venice. Shylock was generally treated badly and abused by the Christians of Venice. They "spat on" (pg. 33) him and "spurned" (pg. 33) him in the streets. In some points in the play Shylock is definitely presented as an out and out villain such as when he refused ten times the original sum "ten times o'er"(pg. 159), but in some parts of the play the audience is meant to feel for Shylock as he has obviously been so badly treated by his Christian neighbors.
             Anti-Semitic feelings are shown in the courtroom scene. Throughout this scene, Shylock is referred to as 'the Jew.' The Duke who is supposed to be presiding the matter also uses this stereotypical phrase to address the prosecutor instead of using his real name. Before Shylock enters the courtroom, he is referred to as "an inhuman wretch" (pg. 147). The Duke is biased towards Antonio seeing as he starts this 'formal' hearing with the words "we all expect a gentle answer Jew" (pg. 149). The Duke also refers to Antonio as the "poor Merchant" (pg. 149). Due to this bias, a fair trial cannot take place. Is this a civilized society? It is apparent that William Shakespeare wanted to present Shylo...