Antonio, a Venetian merchant, complained of melancholy; his friend Bassanio asked for a loan to court Portia. Antonio agreed to help him and he approached Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, to ask for a loan. Shylock was reluctant to lend his money to the Venetian Merchant Antonio, and agreed only after the merchant staked a pound of his own flesh as guarantee. Antonio agreed and soon after the deal was done. Later, Shylock was delivered a painful blow when his daughter Jessica left him for the warm embrace of her Christian lover, stealing his money in the process. Disgraced by what he saw as an insult to his pride and integrity, Shylock was hungering for revenge. After Bassanio got the money, he met Portia and courted to her successfully. At the same time, Antonio¡s loan was due to pay but he couldn¡t repay the money, so Shylock charged him to the court in demanding his right of cutting a pound of flesh in Antonio. Portia disguised herself as a male lawyer to go to the court to help Antonio. She used her wit to persuade Shylock that according the contract, he had a right to cut Antonio¡s flesh, but if Shylock made Antonio breed he should be arrest for shedding a Christian¡s blood. At last, Shylock had no choice but to lose gave half of his wealth because he attempted to cut Antonio¡s flesh.
             In this play, many people always regarded Shylock as a miserly and malicious Jewish moneylender. People usually thought Shylock was so cruel to be a moneylender, in order to earn money he could do anything. He didn¡t give any mercy to Antonio and insisted to get Antonio¡s flesh; it could show how cold his heart. In my view, I thought people should understand that Shylock¡s bad behavior was caused by the society and people¡s bias towards Jews. I thought Shylock was a tragic character and he was totally created by the society. And the readers should understand him again.
             At that time in England, Christians in England was always looked down on t...