Is it possible to find sympathy with Shylock

It is without doubt possible to find sympathy with Shylock. In Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice it is clearly portrayed that the Elizabethans treated all Jews with equal spite. Therefore we as the modern audience are clearly expected to do the same. We are expected to think like the Elizabethans and treat all Jews with moral disgust and hatred. Yet as the modern day audience we have the right to have our own opinions and surely Shylock’s character is open to interpretation; in parts of the play the audience feels almost sympathetic and pity towards Shylock and in other parts of the play, his actions are merciless, he turns back into this cunning, calculating monster which turns the audience against him once again.

Shylock was a Jewish merchant who lived in a world where the Jewish religion was regarded as evil. The people of Venice including Antonio, had ridiculed him, they called him a dog, and spat on him. All this simply because he was a Jew. He was considered an alien in Venice and yet had to abide by the Venetian law. The laws at the time when the play was written were in favour of Christians. Jews had few rights, they could not claim inalienable citiz

Even though we are able to feel sympathy for Shylock he is still capable of making us feel hatred and spite towards him. We feel this through examining his behaviour towards characters like Antonio and Jessica. Antonio and Shylock are two very different people who have one thing in common and that is vengeance. Antonio hates Shylock because he is a Jew and Shylock hates Antonio because he is a Christian and because of how he treats him. “I hate him for he is a Christian…I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.” Shylock was very literal about the bond. He refused the offer of six thousand ducats, which is double the amount that he lent to Bassanio. “If every ducat in six thousand ducats were in six parts, and every part a ducat I would not draw them; I would have my bond.” Strictly speaking it is not a sin to refuse the money but as we find out later it was not the money that mattered to Shylock, it was Antonio’s life that mattered. Shylock uses balance in his speech to show the absolute separation between Jew and the gentile. “…I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, and walk with you I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.”

We also notice that Shylock treats his daughter like a servant; his language is strict, abrupt without any expression of kindness or love. “Lock up my doors…But stop my houses ears…My sober house…” At first we could think that Shylock did feel sad when his daughter ran away and this proves that he does have feelings for her but then Shylock says he would rather she be dead with the jewels in her ear than her running around spending his money with a Christian. He also did not notice his daughter’s strange behaviour because he was too preoccupied with generating more wealth. He did not even suspect that his daughter was going to run away with a Christian. Shylock shows himself to be devious and cunning by hiding his hatred beneath a concealment of friendship in order to entice Antonio to borrow money from him. Therefore Shylock can easily be portrayed as a villain as well. The way he treats those he is close to, for example his daughter Jessica exposes his vindictive and evil character. He lets his lust for vengeance engulf all other aspects of hi

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