Shylock

Throughout the course of history, Jews have been relentlessly persecuted. The English are not an exception, since their history shows that the general English attitude towards Jews during the Elizabethan Era is anti-Semitic. This negative bias towards Jews is apparently clear in Elizabethan literature, including William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Shylock, the Jewish antagonist in Shakespeare’s play, is stereotypically portrayed as a villain in accordance to popular prejudice. Thus, Shylock is labeled …

…not have been an anti-Semitic but the evidence clearly shows that The Merchant of Venice has anti-Semitic undertones. Shylock’s fate falls concurrent with the disturbing history of Jewish persecution. He is robbed not only of his dignity, but also his daughter, his turquoise ring and human justice. Betrayal drives his vengeance, yet his vengeance is not driven by malignity. Shylock deserves the sympathy of the modern reader because he suffers, because Jews suffered, unjustly.