The Merchant Of Venice Report Analysis Essay Example

but he is also referred to as a demonic creature. In act two, scene two, lines twenty-four through twenty-eight, LauncelotGobbo describes Shylock as "a kind of devil," "the devil himself," and "the very devil incarnation." Even Shylock's own daughter, Jessica, speaks of his house as "hell." Solanio calls Shylock "the devil . .

. in the likeness of a Jew" (III,i,19-21) and Bassanio reverberates this belief by describing Shylock as a "cruel devil" (IV,i,217). Additionally, Antonio correlates Shylock and the devil by pointing out how Shylock's arguments emphasize how "The devil can cite scripture for his purpose" (I,iii,97-100).Shakespeare has given Shylock so much character and authenticity that it establishes Shylock as one the great dynamic villains of the theatre; a villain who much more than some kind of monster like in earlier dramas. However, it seems comprehensible why Shakespeare contrives Shylock against a social and historical environment that was fiercely malicious towards Jews. Given this tradition of hatred for Jews, it should not be a shock that some of this subject matter would make its way into Shakespeare's work.

Shakespeare created Shylock within an anti-Semitic culture and therefore bequeathed Shylock with biased anti-Semitic qualities, but that does not discredit the brilliance of the play. Furthermore, it neither implicates that Shakespeare was a barbaric anti-Semite. Shakespeare, like the majority of people in the Elizabethan era, was belligerent toward Jews for cultural and religious reasons, and that animosity comes out most distinctly in Shylock.