Is shylock a victim or a villain essay

Is shylock a victim or a villain essay

As this goes against all Shylock believes in, we perceive him as the victim. I would conclude that Shylock is a complicated character for whom I have experienced conflicting emotions. Though he appears vicious and bloodthirsty at times, I sympathised with his character because of his heartache for the loss of his daughter and of course the forced action of changing his faith However the question still remains: Shylock victim or villain? Shylock does not appear at the start of the play for one key reason I believe, which is Shakespeare wanted the audience to Shylock enter by himself for dramatic effect. Shylock’s first appearance is in Act 1 Scene 3, which is set in Venice. Shylock is rather teasing as he makes Bassanio sweat for a simple Even more evidence to why Shylock should be classified as a victim, not villain. In conclusion as we have discussed above, Shylock is indeed a victim on more than one account. He has been discriminated against for being a Jew, he has suffered repeated abuse from Antonio and his friends, he has lost his family and he has lost all of his possessions and wealth leaving him Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins

Merchant of Venice - Shylock: Villain or Victim Essay Essay on Victim, Villain

Merchant of Venice. In The Merchant of Venice how does Shakespeare present both Shylock as both victim and villain? The first time Shylock is introduced into the play is in Act 1 Scene 3 where Antonio is to lend Bassanio 3, ducats to allow him to meet his love, Portia, in Belmont. The first sign of Shylock liking money is when talking to Bassanio about the bond. Also in this era Jews were to make profit when lending out money and Shylock saw this as a perfect opportunity to do so now. This tells us that Shylock can be a greedy person as he seems to know pretty much everything about the bond.

During the play there is a lot of evidence showing how Shylock is a victim; due to how the characters refer to him. As a gabardine is a Jewish coat; this is an is shylock a victim or a villain essay sin committed towards Shylock, giving him more reason to hate him. The fact he is described as an animal shows he thinks less of him than he does an animal. Afterwards in the play though in Act 4 scene 1 in the courtroom, Antonio presents powerful imagery showing himself as poor and helpless, as the lamb, and Shylock as the beg devil wolf. This injustice is displayed is shylock a victim or a villain essay the play and this anger must be built inside is shylock a victim or a villain essay him which is why he is so desperate to carry out the bond.

In some ways this shows why Shylock can be perceived as a villain; he treats people the same way he gets treated. Within Act 3 scene 1 Shylock arguably says the most important speech throughout. It also perhaps sums up whether Shylock is a victim or villain. It shows great emotion abd really speaks from the heart, and during this time, most Jews would feel the same way Shylock does. Following on from saying what Antonio has done to him throughout his life, he asks perhaps the most important question. Here Shakespeare has shown great sympathy for Shylock, and rightly so as in most respects he is correct, is shylock a victim or a villain essay, yet the Elizabethan audience never gave the Jew a chance. Reading the play its as if Jews are completely different to Christians, as if they are aliens.

If you tickle us, do we not laugh? Shylock is basically saying that Jews are humans, not hell-born alienated humans. However Shakespeare has been very clever here; reading the play the first time you could say he has possibly made Shylock look the villain by making the bad points stand out, yet if you look deeper the play shows great sympathy towards the Jew. He has hidden the sympathy towards Shylock so it pleases the crowd. On the other hand I believe that Shylock can react wrongly, and is too adamant to get his revenge which I think is a harsh revenge. An example of Shylock acting a villain is when losing his daughter Jessica; who then runs off with Lancelet and eventually changing her religion to become a Christian.

This is why Shylock reacted in the way he did as shown in Act 3 scene 1. In Elizabethan times when this play would have been shown; the bulk of the crowd were prejudice and would see Shylock as the villain as soon as they knew he was a Jew. In this period of time there were few Jews in Britain, they were considered rare. Shakespeare shows in the play Shylock being greedy, as when Jews lend out money for example, they expect interest back. Whereas this is against the Christian religion to do so: so is shylock a victim or a villain essay as a villain throughout by the crowd. If the play was to be shown in the time of the Holocaust; much more sympathy would have been given to Shylock. The main reason for this is because of the enormous amount of Jews killed in this period, for committing no offence whatsoever.

Shylock shows a great appetite for revenge in the latter parts of the play; and shows that few things will make him break the bond. In Act 4 scene 1, in the courtroom, is where he shows the true desire for his bond. Many people believe Shylock is the average money grabber, thinking money is his life. But throughout this play mainly Antonio has delivered much prejudice abuse aimed at Shylock, so his anger has fuelled up that he now wants nothing other than his bond. In the court scene however Shylock is so revengeful, that he starts to get the lawyer on his side. This shows Shylock being a victim as they are all ganging up on him. It seems everybody in this scene is iased towards Antonio, as throughout Gratiano is shouting abuse towards him too. Contrastingly this shows a very evil side to Shylock, firstly sucking up to the lawyer, and also sharpening his knife before he thinks he is to go through with the bond.

To conclude this play I believe throughout the play there are many contrasting points to come to a decision to whether Shylock is a victim or villain. The majority of the time I feel he is portrayed a villain, yet the bitterness he displays in parts of the play, is a direct effect from the abuse received from the other characters. Consequently in my opinion he is a victim. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice have multiple areas that are similar and different. Each character seeks for some sort […]. Shakespeare: Frality is Thy Woman In Hamlet and Othello, Shakespeare criticizes the feminine issues that were present in his time, bringing awareness to the standard roles and ideal expectations […]. Displaying Iago […], is shylock a victim or a villain essay.

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Was Shylock a Victim or a Villain | blogger.com

However the question still remains: Shylock victim or villain? Shylock does not appear at the start of the play for one key reason I believe, which is Shakespeare wanted the audience to Shylock enter by himself for dramatic effect. Shylock’s first appearance is in Act 1 Scene 3, which is set in Venice. Shylock is rather teasing as he makes Bassanio sweat for a simple Shylock is a victim or a villain Essay. In the play `The Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare, the character Shylock has two sides to his personality. These two sides, victim and villain of the play, present themselves frequently in the play. Although many Christians see him as a great evil, the audience is forced to feel some sort of sympathy towards him, due to Though Shylock is both a villain and a victim, the strongest evidence suggests that he is a villain. Bassanio, Antonio, Jessica, and Lancelot all see this. In some ways, Shylock is presented as a victim of the anti-Semitic residents of Venice. In Scene 1 of Act III, Shylock is in court demanding that the penalty of his loan to Antonio be paid.