The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare
(Character of SHYLOCK)
Shylock
is one of the best-known characters in the entire series of Shakespearean
plays. He is also a controversial character. Some critics and readers consider
him a villain, while others believe that despite his villainy, he also deserves
some sympathy. Therefore, it is necessary for us to assess the character of
this person, objectively. He certainly has his disgusting traits of character;
And he certainly deserves to be called a villain. But we still feel some
sympathy for him, because in our opinion, he is not only a wrong-doer, but also a victim of
wrongs by others.
By profession, Shylock is a money-lender.
Money-lending by itself is not something shameful or discreditable, or
degrading, or even objectionable. However, if the money-lender charges a high rate
of interest, then money-lending becomes something disgusting. Shylock is a
money-lender, who tries to accumulate wealth by enriching himself and taking
advantage of the financial needs of others. One reason for his hating Antonio
is, that Antonio lends money to needy persons, without any interest, and thus
brings down the rate of interest in Venice. Shylock has already accumulated a
lot of wealth from his usury, but his craving for more money is not satisfied. This
makes him a contemptible person in the play. In this regard, he is a typical
Jew because Jews have traditionally been considered usurers.
Shylock repels us not only by his usury but also by
his religious intolerance. He hates Christians and he hates them fiercely. At
one point, in an aside in the play, he says, that he hates Antonio, because
Antonio is a Christian, and because Antonio brings down the rate of interest in
Venice by lending money gratis. As a Jew, Shylock does not eat pork and
therefore would not like to join Christians at a dinner where pork is to be
served as one of the dishes. Everybody has a right not to eat a certain kind of
meat, and also a right not to eat meat altogether. Everybody has even the right
not to attend a dinner, where meat is to be served. But nobody should hate
others because they eat meat or a particular kind of meat. In this respect, as
in all other respects, tolerance is the right attitude to adopt. But Shylock
makes pork-eating one of the grounds for his hatred of Christians, who are
pork-eaters. In one of his speeches, he mentions the biblical story in which
Christ ordered Satan to enter into the body of a pig. However, this is a very
minor issue in the play. Shylock finally agrees to join a Christian dinner; And
his reason for participating in it undermines him in our estimation. He wants
to eat at the expense of Christians who are useless and who spend money
uselessly. By eating food at the expense of Christians, he can save a little
money at home; and this is the height of miserliness and meanness. Launcelot
Gobo referred to Shylock's plight, when he states that he is "famous"
(i.e. starved) in the service of the Jew. And yet Shylock tells Launcelot that
the latter will not enjoy the facilities he is enjoying here in the house of
the Jew, in the service of Bassanio. We think it is indeed a surprise to learn
that although Shylock is a big miser, he considers himself very generous.
Shylock is a deceiver and a clever man. At first, he
expresses his unwillingness to loan Antonio on the grounds that Antonio was
ill-treating him. However, a different idea takes shape in his mind. He then
agrees to give the loan but he lays down the condition, that the bond to be
signed should contain a clause, according to which he would become entitled to
cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh from nearest his heart, if Antonio fails to
repay the loan within a period of three months. He tells Antonio, that the
clause is meant, as a joke because a pound of human flesh can serve no purpose
at all and because even the flesh of animals like goats and sheep has greater
value than human flesh. In other words, Shylock cleverly get the Bond signed. He
uses the bond as a weapon, which he might be able to use against Antonio. In the
case of Bond, and the discussion between him and Christians (Bassanio and
Antonio), several aspects of Shylock's personality become apparent to us. He
shows himself here as a clever, hypocritical, humble and arrogant person. He
even cites a Biblical incident to justify the charging of interest, though he
admits that this incident is not exactly a precedent but only a parallel to
prove the validity of charging some kind of fee for the services, which one
renders to others. In any case, the entire scene of the transaction reveals
Shylock's character in an unfavorable light. He appears here, as a detestable person
who deserves our dislike and hatred.
Shylock is a vengeful and bloodthirsty man. From the
very beginning, he was shown as planning a revenge on Antonio, in order to
avenge ill-treatment of him. The need for a loan for Antonio gives him a great
opportunity, to take vengeance on him. After this no appeals from the Duke and
the magnificence move him to pity. Even Portia's eloquence for the kindness of
mercy had no effect on him. He feels jubilant when it seems, that the verdict
of the court would go in his favor; and he begins to exult over Portia’s
pronouncement in the beginning, that he has a very strong case. He bluntly
tells the judge, that there is no power in the tongue of man to alter his
resolve to take a pound of flesh, “My deeds upon my head”, he says. He simply
invokes the law, which entitles him to the penalty and the forfeit of his bond,
and he clings to the position he has taken up.
Shylock has a suspicious nature and he does not trust
anyone. He cannot trust his servant or even his daughter. Although his suspicious
nature gives no merit to him, we must still accept, that he is completely
justified in his suspicions. His servant detests him, and so does his daughter.
While the servant merely leaves his service, his daughter goes to the extent of
running away from home with a Christian and stealing a considerable amount of
his money and his jewels.
Even though Shylock is a villain, he has some
qualities. He is the champion of the race. He speaks eloquently and firmly
about the injustice that Jews have always suffered at the hands of Christians.
At the beginning of his speech, he makes a strong argument on behalf of the
Jews: “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses,
affections, passions?” Then he has a feeling for his dead wife Leah. Upon
learning that his daughter had given a special gem in exchange for a monkey, he
says that this jewel was given to him by Leah while he was still a bachelor;
And he says: “I would not have given it (the jewel) for a wilderness of
moneys.” Furthermore, his character is distinguished by an intellectual
strength and power that is admirable. It is in view of his good qualities that
he wins our sympathy, when he behaves ruthlessly, at the end.
At the same time, we must not forget that he is
essentially an evil man full of spite and malice against the Christians and,
more particularly, against his enemy Antonio. And, of course, there is a comic
side to him also. He appears as a monster when he begins to sharpen his knife
in order to cut off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. And he appears as a
comic character when he cries simultaneously: “0 my ducats! O my daughter! O my
Christian ducats”! And he becomes a pathetic figure at the end when he staggers
out of the court, a ruined man and a fanatical Jew who must now turn a
Christian.
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