Write preface on topic main characters of merchant of venice
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HomeCoursesUndergraduate CoursesB.A.(H) PSPart-2Concurrent CoursesEng-CCBooksMerchant of Venice
English Literature
Merchant of Venice
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6 Main Characters
Main Characters
Shylock
Although Shylock appears in only five scenes, in many ways he seems to dominate the action of The Merchant of Venice. He is certainly a very powerful figure as well as a very complex one. When first seen, he is extremely resentful of Antonio and the way Antonio has treated him; hence, he senses an opportunity for revenge when Bassanio comes to borrow money from him in Antonio’s name. When Antonio enters the scene, however, Shylock also sees an opportunity to resolve their old enmity. As a moneylender he therefore makes an extraordinary gesture in offering Antonio the loan at no interest. As security for the loan, Shylock laughingly offers to take a “merry bond” of pound of flesh (1.3.173), which he says would be useless if Antonio should default (1.3.163–167).
Antonio agrees. But when Jessica elopes with Antonio’s friend Lorenzo, Shylock becomes enraged. At the same time, he hears of Antonio’s losses at sea and perceives his advantage (3.1.44–50). He makes an oath to take his forfeiture of the bond of flesh if Antonio should default. Accordingly, when Antonio cannot repay the loan on the due date, Shylock demands his pound of flesh. Portia, disguised as the lawyer Balthazar, tries to persuade Shylock to show mercy, but instead he demands “justice”. As he is about thrust his knife into Antonio’s body, Portia stops him. Since the bond stipulates only flesh and no blood, Shylock is foiled. He tries to leave with only his principal, but since he has insisted on the strict terms of the bond, Portia holds him to them.
When Portia then levels the charge against him for plotting against the life of a Venetian citizen, Shylock is in danger of losing his life as well as his worldly goods. Showing mercy on his part, the Duke spares Shylock’s life, and Antonio agrees to let him keep half his possessions provided that he convert to Christianity and at his death bequeath everything he has to Lorenzo and Jessica. Crushed, Shylock agrees. Here as earlier, when he refused to show mercy and determined to murder Antonio, Shylock reveals that, his protestations notwithstanding, he is not only a bad person, but a bad Jew; for he has violated some of the most serious tenets of his religion, and he is even willing to become an apostate.
Shylock’s famous speech that begins “Hath not a Jew eyes” (3.1.59ff) is often taken as demonstrating his humanity, although in context it is used to justify his revenge. Showing many of the faults other human beings are prone to have, Shylock is thoroughly human and not the Elizabethan stereotype of a Jew. His relationship with Jessica is, at the very least, problematic. She hates living with him, not because he mistreats her—there is no warrant in the text for that interpretation—but because, as she says, “Our house is hell” (2.3.2). That description probably refers to Shylock’s austere way of life. He dislikes music and any display of merriment, such as masques (see 2.5.28–36). When she leaves, taking with her his ducats and jewels, Shylock is nearly heartbroken. He is also furious with her. But when he learns that she has exchanged for a monkey the ring that his dead wife, Leah, had given him, he shows a tender side of his character, too (3.1.118–123), declaring, “I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys