Essay Sample on Shylock: Victim or Villain?

In a play, a victim refers to an emotionally or physically hurt. At the same time, a villain describes a character that seems to cause a lot of problems and is portrayed as an ungrateful character. Shylock is the victim in William Shakespeare’s book The Merchant of Venice. This is because he is a Jew; therefore, he is considered to be lesser as compared to other characters. Shylock ends up losing his money to his friend Lorenzo, daughter, his possessions, land, and even goes ahead to change his religion by becoming a Christian.

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Since he is a Jew, he is condemned throughout the play. “Here comes another of the tribe – a third cannot be matched unless the devil himself turned Jew” (Lambert). Just because he is a Jew, he is tormented by others; they put him inhumanely impossible conditions and even go-ahead to talk about Antonio spitting on him. It is confirmed to us by Gratiano that Shylock is treated like a dog by saying that he has wolf-like desires, and he is really like a dangerous dog who does not deserve a chance to be living together with the people from Venice (Lambert).

Besides, the victim in Shylock is portrayed by the occupants of Venice, who are against Semites that are found amongst them. When in court, he is demanding that penalty of his loan to Antonio be paid. He pleads to the court that the fact that he was a Jew, he had to endure a lot of mockeries when he gained something, his enemies are encouraged to continue attacking him, his friends are turned against him. He goes forward to remind the residents of Venice that although he is a Jew, he is also a human being and he deserves equality and to be treated with respect like other people (Lambert).

Shylock is referring to the injustices that the Jews who reside in Venice have had to endure. The Jews in Venice are required to wear distinctive dark clothing so that they can be recognized as Jews. Also, the Jew are only allowed to take specific careers such as money lending because the Christians believe it to be a sin to lend money and charge interest. We also see Antonio treating Shylock with contempt. He has lent money to other Christians interest-free so that they can easily pay back Shylock, therefore reducing Shylock’s earnings.

He frequently calls Shylock a “cur” and spits on his beard and clothing in public. This portrays Shylock as a victim in the play. His daughter even runs away to marry Antonio’s friend, Lorenzo, who has a lot of money that belongs to Shylock and valuable jewels she has stolen from him. He loses a ring that he used to immortalize his dead wife, and the only daughter goes to get married to a Christian, which means he is left to suffer alone. He even describes his agony and pain by says his flesh and blood have rebelled against him. The ring was the precious gift that he could give to Leah before he could marry her, and he was not willing to exchange it with anything else (Lambert).

Moreover, due to his religion that is associated with the devil, he is not easily accepted by Christians that live in Venice, yet they still borrow money from him. The Christians that surround him are hostile and treat him badly by borrowing money, and when the time comes for them to pay, they say the Shylock should behave like a Christian; therefore, the debt should be forgiven. Since the Christians are many and have the advantage of numbers as compared to Jews in the area has less to say other than to accept the harsh propositions made by them. Due to the torture that Shylock has had to endure, he portrays a characteristic of someone who has no compassion and as someone full of rage, but this is just his only means of surviving and defending himself against the cruel past (Lambert). Judaism is prohibited in Venice, and he has no choice other than transforming to Christianity.

For a long period, Shylock has been a resident of Venice, but the Venetians still see him as a stranger. He is expected to live by the conditions set by his hostile neighbors, and any signs or dealings that might portray his disloyalty to Venice are treated with harsh demeanor. He is, therefore, a victim in this society since he has no freedom that is expected of a human and a person of such character. He is kind, but due to the way the people around him have treated him, he has no option other than to defend himself (Lambert).

Due to the abuse that he has had to endure, he becomes ruthless to others, although this is as a result of the abuses. He has been tormented until he begins to express the inhumane Christian conditions that have become part of his livelihood. Shylock inhabits a space that is not peaceful; the people that evoke violence in him are doing it because of his religion and the fact that he is someone who is a stranger (Lambert).

This play has been written in a period where the Jews are not treated as humans from the Christian residents of Venice. They are of little value in the community and are not treated rightly by other Christians due to their religion. The fact that at the end of the play, Shylock has to convert his religion and eventually gives all the money has to Antonio, and the general state shows that he has been victimized and cannot be considered a villain anymore.

The play emphasized on Shylock’s villain character as well in a bid to propagate anti-Semitism. Shylock is portrayed as human even though he is instead not wholly sympathetic. Contemporary readers view Shylock sympathetically because if they were to read him in any other way post-holocaust, it would reflect poorly on them. The play is one that requires interpretation.

The play turns out not to be what the audience expected because Shylock, who is thought to be the Jewish villain, turns out to deserve the sympathy of the audience. Additionally, his Christian opponents end up receiving skepticism from the audience as well. Therefore, the play neither explores the indictment of Judaism but rather the effects of the corruption of all Jewish and Christian characters.

Conclusion

In conclusion, just like Shylock, most people are bound to revenge; therefore, this does not make him a villain. He is simply a victim of emotions, just as they bound many humans. Because of the suffering, he has to take Antonio to court to get his bond. He proves to be a victim, and because of being a Jew, he is discriminated against just like that. He has suffered repeated abuse from Antonio and his friends, he has lost his family, and he has lost all of his possessions. Justice can be forsaken by transgressing against the hosting that is expected to be given to humans.

Work Cited

Lambert, Thomas. "Bankers as Immoral? The Parallels between Aquinas’s Views on Usury and Marxian Views of Banking and Credit." (2019). https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/97741