Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice features Shylock, a Jewish usurer portrayed as a villain. The play involves Antonio borrowing money from Shylock, who demands a pound of flesh if the loan is not repaid. The play ends with Shylock’s estate being divided, and him converting to Christianity. Interpretations of the character have changed over time, with some arguing that he is complex and humanized in the play. Life for Jews in Shakespeare’s England was difficult, and they were subject to myths and legends that influenced the play.
Shylock is a character in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice written around 1597. Many historians and critics are intrigued by this character due to his Jewish faith and the role he plays in the play, where he is depicted as a greedy and ruthless usurer. He is one of Shakespeare’s most problematic characters for modern readers, due to the way he is portrayed as the villain of the piece; some argue that he harbors anti-Semitic ideas.
The Merchant of Venice is a comedy, and the plot is quite simple. The title character, Antonio, is a wealthy merchant from Venice who agrees to lend money to a friend, Bassanio, to enable Bassanio to travel to woo the wealthy Porzia. Antonius has no free assets, as all of his money is tied up in ships at sea, so he turns to Shylock for a loan. Shylock, angry at Antonio’s teasing of him earlier, agrees to lend the money but suggests that if Antonio cannot repay the loan on time, he will be allowed to extract a pound of flesh.
Antonio finds himself unable to repay the loan because his ships are lost at sea, and when Bassanio and Porzia learn of this, they separately return to Venice to rescue Antonio. Shylock refuses to accept Bassanio’s offer to repay the loan, and the matter goes before a court. The case is brought to Portia while disguised as a lawyer, and she argues that the contract includes only a pound of flesh, so “not a drop of Christian blood” can be shed, or Shylock’s property and life are lost for threatening the life of a citizen.
Portia divides Shylock’s estate between the Duke of Venice and Antonio, both of whom pardon the usurer and return his property, on the condition that he converts to Christianity. Shylock agrees, and the game ends shortly after.
The character is difficult and complex, and interpretations of him have changed over the years. Shakespeare himself probably never met anyone of the Jewish faith, as Jews were forcibly expelled from England in 1290, and the play may have been inspired by a case in 1593, in which the queen’s Jewish physician was accused of poisoning her. To Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Shylock was a villain who would have been easy to hate, exemplifying the stereotype of the Jew, and the stereotype endures: “shylock” is slang for a ruthless moneylender today.
In Shylock’s defense, people have argued that he is actually a complex character and that Shakespeare captured his humanity in the play, especially in his famous speech which begins “Hath not a Jew eyes? … If you prick us, won’t we bleed?” The speech is widely regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most eloquent speeches, humanizing Shylock and emphasizing that he was tormented throughout his life by the Christian community.
Life for Jews in Shakespeare’s England would have been extremely difficult, as they had to live in hiding. Many converted to Christianity, or at least outwardly appeared to do so, to protect themselves, but they could not own property and most careers were barred from them. They were forced into ghettos and forced to pay off their Christian “protectors” and were the subject of lurid myths and legends that no doubt influenced Shakespeare’s play.
In the early part of the 1800s, depictions of Shylock began to change. While earlier actors had simply portrayed him as a villain, 19th century actors began to portray him as a tragic hero who fought for dignity, respect and equal rights. Many actors have argued that their take on the role came from the play itself, suggesting that Shakespeare intended the character to be seen as a complex person, rather than a simple villain. It is possible that Shakespeare’s play was intended to humanize the Jewish community, although given the plethora of Jewish villains in the Tudor theater by which Shakespeare was undoubtedly influenced, this appears to be a dubious claim.
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