Sunday, July 17, 2011

Does Shakespeare's portrayal of Shylock lead you to conclude that Shakespeare himself was anti-Semitic?

Yes, Shakespeare's portrayal of Shylock indeed leads me to conclude that Shakespeare himself was anti-Semitic and racist. Firstly, Shylock was a single character but actually was portrayed as a representative of a typical racist Jew who hates Christians. also, Shylock's character was portrayed to be extremely negative. Lastly, Shylock was a hypocrite.
In The Merchant Of Venice , there were mainly 3 Jews. Jessica, Tubal, and Shylock. Tubal is Shylock's friend,Jessica is Shylock's daughter and Shylock is a Jewish money-lender. Shylock was the main Jewish, and he was portrayed as a stingy, petty, calculative,racist, and greedy. He is sometimes blinded by money to think properly. In Act 1 Scene 3, in the 8th line Shylock said,"Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which your prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into. I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following;but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you." This line of Shylock's showed that Shylock clearly differentiated they Jews from Christians, and he is extremely offensive and does not mince his words to express his disgusted feelings toward Christians like Bassanio, because he said that line sneeringly. In Act 1 Scene 3, In the first 2 lines Shylock said, he kept repeating the conditions of their deal, "For three months.Well." "Antonio shall become bound. Well." These quotations show that Shylock mostly cares only about the conditions of the deal, which would benefit him, rather than be interested in his client. Tubal supports his friend more than he goes against his friend. Thus there isn't really a Jew in The Merchant of Venice that goes against the actions of Shylock. His daughter, Jessica, is ashamed to be his father's daughter, but that is not surprising as she was blinded by her love for Lorenzo, because Lorenzo was a Christian and she was more than willing to become a Christian for Lorenzo.
Shylock was portrayed by Shakespeare as a horrible character. Other than being calculative, and racist, Shylock was also filled with hatred and arrogance. This can be told from Act 1 Scene 3, during the 9th time Shylock spoke. When Antonio entered, Shylock said,"... I hate him for he is a Christian!But more, for that in low simplicity he lends out money gratis, and brings down the rate of usuance here with us in Venice.... I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him....Cursed be my tribe if I forgive him." Those are the important few lines he said. Shylock put himself above others and looked at others as inferior to him. Shylock hates Christians so badly that he even said he will continue to hate him even more than before, that is probably what he meant when Shylock said,"I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him" and even said,"Cursed be my tribe if I forgive him", which shows how unwilling Shylock is to forgive Antonio.
Shylock was a awful hypocrite. In Act 3 Scene 1, when he heard from Salerio that Antonio had a ship which recently sunk, he entered and said,"You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of my daughter's flight!" His daughter was perhaps on board. He was getting worried about his daughter, and expects other people to bother too. But in fact, he does not really care much about other people and their personal affairs and welfare, but rather, cares only about what he can benefit out of them. Sometimes, it is enough that he does not even show concern, he goes on to condemn and judge others. And now that he is in times of desperation, he expects others to cater to his needs, to care for his welfare.
Because of Shylock's portrayal as a much vicious character who is the main Jew in The Merchant Of Venice, and is portrayed to be so horrible, I conclude that Shakespeare himself was racist, due to the way he portrayed Shylock in the story.

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