Term 3 Week 4 (Blogging Assignment)

You are required to respond to one of the questions in the Anti-Semitism handout. The question is as follows:

What do you think is Shakespeare's intention of creating Shylock in The Merchant of Venice? Support your opinion with examples.

I think Shakespeare’s intention of creating Shylock in The Merchant of Venice was to reveal the racism towards Jews and hopefully give the people in his time reason to stop being racist against the latter, with Shylock representing the Jew in his time.

Shylock is supposedly the antagonist in M.OV, yet his hatred and ruthlessness towards Antonio is understandable if viewed from a neutral’s perspective.

Shakespeare makes Shylock seem like a cruel, evil, greedy and money-minded Jew who is out for Antonio’s blood and his pound of flesh, yet also shows Shylock’s weaker side, the reason for his hatred towards Antonio.

Shylock explains in some parts of the book, that he hates Antonio as Antonio has personally insulted him several times just because Shylock is a Jew, such as calling Shylock a “devil” and a “cut-throat dog”, criticizing Shylock for lending money at interest and lending out money without charging interest himself so as to reduce Shylock’s profits. Antonio also hates Jews.

This is why Shylock hates Antonio so much, and when Antonio is out of money buts wants to help Bassanio woo Portia, Shylock seizes this opportunity to get revenge against Antonio, and lends Antonio a loan on the condition that if he is unable to return the money on time, Shylock has the right to cut off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest, near his heart, knowing that Antonio definitely would not be able to return the money on time as his ships are facing the dangers at sea.

Although Shylock may seem cruel and bloodthirsty in this scene, wanting to torture and kill Antonio by cutting off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest, he has understandable to do so as he has suffered the racism of being a Jew, especially after Antonio repeatedly insulted him personally.

Later on in the book, in the trial, Shylock again, faces unfairness as Portia persuades him to forgive Antonio and persuades the judge to decide based on mercy and not justice, which is not actually fair towards Shylock but is allowed in this trial as the judge too, wants Shylock to forgive Antonio, and even pleads for this indirectly.

In the end, Shylock faces unfairness once again as he did not managed to get that one-pound of flesh off Antonio’s chest.