Merchant of venice shylock analysis

The villain Shylock, a character who embodies emotion unfettered by moral or intellectual contstraints. Shylocks' speech at the beginning of act four, scene one emphasizes this point as the Duke and Antonio call upon both Shylocks' empathetic and rational abilities.

On stage, it is Shylock Merchant of venice shylock analysis makes the play, and almost all of the great actors of the English and Continental stage have attempted the role. But the character of Shylock has also been the subject of much critical debate: How are we meant to evaluate the attitude of the Venetians in the play toward him?

Or his attitude toward them? Is he a bloodthirsty villain? Or is he a man "more sinned against than sinning"? One of the reasons that such questions arise is that there are really two stage Shylocks in the play: Shylock's function in this play is to be the obstacle, the man who stands in the way of the love stories; such a man is a traditional figure in romantic comedies.

From the SparkNotes Blog

Something or someone must impede young, romantic love; here, it is Shylock and the many and various ways that he is linked to the three sets of lovers. The fact that he is a Jew is, in a sense, accidental. Shakespeare wanted to contrast liberality against selfishness — in terms of money and in terms of love.

There was such a figure available from the literature of the time, one man who could fulfill both functions: Usury was forbidden to Christians by the church of the Middle Ages, and as a consequence, money lending was controlled by the Jews; as a rule, it was usually the only occupation which the law allowed to them.

As a result, a great deal of medieval literature produced the conventional figure of the Jewish moneylender, usually as a minor character, but also too, as a major character. It is from this medieval literary tradition that Shakespeare borrows the figure of Shylock, just as Marlowe did for his Jew of Malta.

Some commentators have said that the character of Shylock is an example of Elizabethan and Shakespeare's own anti-Semitism. In contrast, many have seen the creation of Shylock as an attack on this kind of intolerance.

But Shakespeare, they forget, was a dramatist. He was not concerned with either anti- nor pro-Semitism, except in the way it shaped individual characters in his plays to produce the necessary drama that he was attempting to create.

The play is thus emphatically not anti-Semitic; rather, because of the nature of Shylock's involvement in the love plots, it is about anti-Semitism. Shakespeare never seriously defined or condemned a group through the presentation of an individual; he only did this for the purposes of comedy by creating caricatures in miniature for our amusement.

Shylock is drawn in bold strokes; he is meant to be a "villain" in terms of the romantic comedy, but because of the multi-dimensionality which Shakespeare gives him, we are meant to sympathize with him at times, loathe him at others. Shakespeare's manipulation of our emotions regarding Shylock is a testament to his genius as a creator of character.

He is a defeated man. Yet we cannot feel deep sympathy for him — some, perhaps, but not much. Shakespeare's intention was not to make Shylock a tragic figure; instead, Shylock was meant to function as a man who could be vividly realized as the epitome of selfishness; he must be defeated in this romantic comedy.

In a sense, it is Shakespeare's own brilliance which led him to create Shylock as almost too human. Shylock is powerfully drawn, perhaps too powerfully for this comedy, but his superb dignity is admirable, despite the fact that we must finally condemn him.

Perhaps the poet W.In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice the antagonist of the play is Shylock. Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender. Shylock is probably the most memorable character in the play because of Shakespeare’s excellent characterization of him.

Shylock is a Jewish moneylender, father to Jessica, enemy to Antonio, and one of the most complex characters of The Merchant of Venice—and arguably of all of Shakespeare's works. Over the years, theater and film productions of the play have portrayed Shylock in various ways.

The Merchant of Venice

In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice the antagonist of the play is Shylock. Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender. Shylock is probably the most memorable character in the play because of Shakespeare’s excellent characterization of him.

Shakespeare's Presentation of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice This essay is an analysis of how the character of Shylock, in the play 'The Merchant of Venice', is presented to the audience, by Shakespeare, in different ways. Shakespeare's Presentation of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice This essay is an analysis of how the character of Shylock, in the play 'The Merchant of Venice', is presented to the audience, by Shakespeare, in different ways.

Shylock is a Jewish moneylender, father to Jessica, enemy to Antonio, and one of the most complex characters of The Merchant of Venice—and arguably of all of Shakespeare's works. Over the years, theater and film productions of the play have portrayed Shylock in various ways.