Shakespeare's Shylock: A sympathetic portrait of a Jew in an anti-semitic culture

Sophie H.

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Shakespeare's Shylock: A sympathetic portrait of a Jew in an anti-semitic culture

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Abstract

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice plays host to one of the most complex and intriguing characters of the accomplished playwright's literary canon. In the character of Shylock, Shakespeare presents a view of the Jews that is, while still negative by the standards of modern culture, remarkably sympathetic and progressive within the context of the strongly anti-Semitic Elizabethan world in which he wrote. Though Shylock is the villain of the play, Shakespeare styles him less as the stock character of the "villainous Jew" popular in other Elizabethan literature and more as a feeling, human individual whose villainy is a product of the lifelong cruelty and persecution he has suffered at the hands of his Christian counterparts and not merely an intrinsic and unavoidable symptom of his identity as a Jew. This unconventional aspect of Shylock's character becomes evident when comparing Shakespeare's characterization of Shylock to the standard portrayal and understanding of the Jews in the Elizabethan world and to the way that standard Elizabethan understanding is expressed by the other characters in the play.

Introduction
Christian prejudice and persecution directed toward the Jews
A virulent strain of anti-Semitism in the mainstream Christian population
Shylock's first appearance in the play
The events in the scene: Setting the stage for the way that Shylock will be understood and treated
The manner in which Shylock is perceived and treated by the Venetian Christians
The play's climax: Shylock's desire for revenge
Conclusion
Works cited

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[...] It is at this point that Shylock delivers the speech that is “perhaps the chief piece of evidence for the sympathetic interpretation of Shylock” (Cooper 118) through which Shylock reveals his internal anguish and very human, relatable desire for revenge in a “powerful appeal to the audience's sympathy and sense of justice” (Cooper 118). In this monologue, Shylock asserts his humanity on no uncertain terms: am a Jew. Hath not a Jew . senses, affections, passions . as a Christian [does]? [...]

[...] Shakespeare has, in this scene, made Shylock pitiable and ultimately human in his pain, and even the anti-Semitic Elizabethan audience would have been hard-pressed to remain comfortably repulsed by his character and elated by his destruction. Shylock stands today as a character unique in Elizabethan literature by virtue of the essential humanity Shakespeare unconventionally endowed him with. Shakespeare made Shylock an individual who has suffered from the persecution and prejudice of the mainstream culture he had to live in and has understandably developed a desire for revenge and justice on his persecutors, and whose downfall and entire character are cause for reflection [...]

[...] This prejudice and “hostility of [Shakespeare's] society to the unassimilated” (Cooper 123) firmly installed a virulent strain of anti- Semitism in the mainstream Christian population, and this attitude was reflected in the drama and literature produced by Shakespeare's contemporaries and predecessors. In Chaucer and other early English drama, Jews are equated with the Devil himself (Cohen and Jews in the vast majority of Gentile literature were characterized as little more than one- dimensional stock comic villains who embody every negative Jewish stereotype and nothing else. [...]

[...] The deep distaste felt by the Venetian Christians for Shylock is expressed explicitly and often by a number of characters in this scene. The duke of Venice, who presides over the trial, slurs Shylock as an “inhuman wretch,/ Incapable of pity, void and empty/ From any dram of mercy” (IV.i.4-6), Antonio rails against Shylock's “Jewish heart” (IV.i.81), which is harder than anything else, and Graziano likens him to a ravening wolf (IV.i.140), among many other verbal abuses. Antonio's Christian allies attempt to dissuade Shylock from his firm intention to collect his bond, but at the same time insult him and deny him the respectful treatment they grant to each other. [...]

[...] The derisive picture the Venetian paints of Shylock's character in this scene as an enraged (II.viii.14) running madly through the streets, loudly bemoaning the loss of his daughter and ducats with a “passion so confused, / so strange, [and] outrageous” (II.viii.12- 13) is a description that puts Shylock in the same category as the comically penny-pinching Jewish villain that was the literary standard embodied by characters such as Marlowe's Barabas. The two Venetians are unable to see anything in Shylock's plight and urgent pleas for justice than a target of mockery, and they take a vicious joy in making the situation an occasion for amusement. [...]

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