"Shylock is an inherently unsympathetic character". Discuss
The Merchant of Venice was a tragic comedy, written by William Shakespeare. It can be described as a great interpretation of the nature of racial and religious interactions, as it involves a Jewish character, Shylock, and the stereotypical view that he was portrayed in. Shylocks character is very ambiguous, as members of the audience are left confused to how Shakespeare presented him in the play. Many audience members interpret Shylock as a villainous character - a miserable Jewish moneylender who is greedy and materialistic. He directly links money and flesh as being equal, which any Christian would regard as taboo (most if not all members of the Renaissance audience were Christians). Shylocks evil ways and iniquity is presented through his actions as well as his powerful language. However, a different perspective portrays Shylock, as the victim - a Jewish moneylender trying to make a living and survive in a country that despises him and alienates him. He also loses his only child, and is determined to take revenge for this and also for being treated unequally by the Christian society. His naive and foolish actions earn him pity from the audience and this is shown through his language and characteristics.
The renaissance audience would recognize this as typical Jewish behaviour. He seems aloof and pathetic, and the audience may perceive him as a victim. When he finds that his daughter traded his wife's ring for a monkey, he feels upset not for the materialistic value but for its sentimental value. In addition to Shylocks good characteristics, he can be seen as an emotional man. The renaissance audience in fact, would have wanted for Shylock to be persecuted the way he was. However, the renaissance audience may have ignored what the modern audience regard as an individual making a living. The renaissance audience would see this as proper and suitable in their society, especially as Venice was a Christian populated country at the time. As a Jew he feels that, Christians, in a country where he has been living all his life, have mistreated him. The fact that he mentioned money reveals his materialism, and reflects his villainous characteristics. The fact that Shylock has an attachment with his money may just reflect that he is a hard workingman who appreciates what he earns. Also, the constant verbal abuse that Shylock suffers makes the audience feel sorry for him; at his persecution is he called an "evil soul", "cruel devil", "bloody creditor", etc. Audience members understand his pain at losing such an item and therefore he gains pity from the audience. Venice was written shortly after Christopher Marlowe's, Jew of Malta, a play in which a Jew named Barabas plays an extremely exaggerated villain who must have been the model for Shylock. When he hears of Antonio's ship being lost at sea, he is delights in the fact that he will be able to take his pound of flesh and says, "I thank God, I thank God.
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