Anti-Semitism in the Climax

In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare’s choices to have various characters constantly refer to Shylock’s cruelty and inhumanity while persuading him to spare Antonio reveals Shakespeare’s own view of Jews as hard-hearted and merciless. From the very start of the scene, Shakespeare makes Shylock out to be the villain who victimizes Antonio. The Duke refers to Shylock as “A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch/Uncapable of pity, void and empty/From any dram of mercy.” (4.1.3-5). Not only does the Duke imply that Shylock must be “an inhuman wretch” for not freeing Antonio, he also uses the word “uncapable” to insinuate that Shylock’s cruel behavior is an ingrained part of who he is, something that he cannot change about himself. The Duke implies that Shylock’s incapacity for pity is the way he was born, possibly even suggesting that his malice is because he is a Jew. Shakespeare’s implications become clearer later, when Antonio tells Bassanio that “you may as well do anything most hard/As seek to soften that–than which what’s harder?/His Jewish heart.” (4.1.77-79). Antonio reasons that the most difficult task to take on is to try to soften Shylock’s heart. But instead of simply referring to Shylock’s heart as “his heart,” Shakespeare has Antonio specifically say “his Jewish heart” to clarify that Shylock’s unforgiving nature is solely due to the fact that he is Jewish and that all Jews therefore are ruthless and unfeeling. Antonio also tells Bassanio not to try and reason with Shylock and to consider that “you question with the Jew.” (4.1.71). By calling Shylock “the Jew” and not “a Jew” Antonio also indicates that Shylock is a perfect representation of Jewish behavior, only furthering Shakespeare’s argument that Jews are all implacable villains. By calling Shylock cruel and directly associating his cruelty with his Judaism, Shakespeare reveals his disdainful attitude towards Jews despite the apparent sympathy he gave to Shylock earlier in the play.

Shylock yup pain and revenge

Sarah Adler

10/26/14

Portfolio B Option 3

            Shakespeare uses Shylock’s defensiveness in his monologue to convey his internal pain from his abundance of misfortunes, driving him to seek revenge on Antonio. When the Duke pressures Shylock to have mercy on Antonio, he retorts, “You’ll ask me why I rather choose to have/ A weight of carrion flesh than to receive/ Three thousand ducats. I’ll not answer that, / But say it is my humour”(4.1, 39-42).  Shylock is wary in his answer because he’s eager to enact his revenge on Antonio and obtain his pound of flesh. He says, “it is my humour”, attempting to blame his brutality on one of the four bodily humours believed to control people’s personalities. This uncharacteristic violence is due to Shylock’s despair towards recent events such as losing his daughter and money. Shylock alludes to his vulnerable state when he comments, “…but of force, / Must yield to such inevitable shame/ As to offend, himself being offended;” (4.1, 55-57). Shylock is explaining that when a person does an inexplicable act, such as his burning desire for revenge, they feel ashamed for being looked down upon. Shakespeare conveys the hurt Shylock is wrestling with, which is disguised as desire for harsh punishment for Antonio. Shylock states his contempt for Antonio with conviction, exclaiming, “So can I give no reason, nor I will not, / More than a lodged hate and certain loathing/ I bear Antonio” (4.1,58-60). Shylock refuses to elaborate on his insatiable craving for revenge, but describes his hatred for Antonio. This deep-rooted hatred stems from Antonio’s mistreatment of Shylock, although he did nothing to irk or disrespect Antonio. His disgust of Shylock was solely because Shylock is Jewish, which caused Shylock pain. Shylock exacts his revenge on Antonio because now he has the law on his side. Shylock uses the hurt he’s been feeling and transforms it to anger towards Antonio, which is why he refuses to alleviate the cruelty of Antonio’s punishment for not paying him back; shown through his guarded monologue.

Conditional vs. Unconditional

Shakespeare demonstrates Bassanio’s contrasting wishes of upholding his vow to Portia and pleasing Antonio in a dialogue between the three to convey that the trusting nature of unconditional love is much more influential than the mistrusting tune of conditional love. When Portia, disguised as the doctor, asks for the ring, Bassanio refuses to give it to her and says, “this ring was given me by my wife,/And when she put it on she made me vow/That I should neither sell nor lose it.” (4.1. 437-439). Bassanio wants to keep his promise to Portia, which shows his devotion to her. On a different note, he says that “she made [him] vow[;]” By using the word “made”, Shakespeare highlights that Portia’s love came with a prerequisite, something Bassanio had to do in order to secure her love. Also, by foisting this vow on Bassanio, Portia is exhibiting her mistrust of him. As the doctor, Portia tests Bassanio’s loyalty by claiming, “An if your wife be not a madwomen,/And know how well I deserved this ring,/She would not hold out enemy for ever/For giving it to me.” (4.1. 441-444). Through Portia, Shakespeare illustrates that the doctor “deserves” a prize for his efforts; he saved Antonio’s life. Bassanio knows his debt to this doctor and yet he lets him go without a second thought; his loyalty to Portia trumps any obligation he feels to repay the doctor. However, with only a few words Antonio persuades Bassanio into giving up the ring. Antonio says, “My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring./Let his deservings and my love withal/ be valued ‘gainst your wife’s commandment.” (4.1 445-447). Bassanio not only suggests that the doctors “deservings” are of higher value than Portia’s “commandments”, but also his love, his unconditional love; he has sacrificed so much and put his own life on the line for Bassanio with absolute faith and trust, and without asking for anything in return. In addition, Shakespeare uses the word “commandment” to describe Bassanio’s vow to Portia to exemplify that Portia conditions her love on Bassanio obeying her command. In contrast, Antonio has never ordered Bassanio to do anything for him. In the end, Bassanio chooses Antonio over Portia and thus, Shakespeare that shows unconditional love inspires much more loyalty than and is far superior to conditional love.

Antonio hating on Jews

Devon Pollock

Portfolio B

In the opening scene of act 4, Shakespeare uses examples from nature to display Antonio’s close-minded belief that it is only natural for all Jews to be ruthless, unforgivingpeople, which perpetuates the negative stereotypes placed on Jews in Shakespeare’s era. When Bassanio is trying to argue with Shylock to have him forget the bond, Antonio stops Bassanio to say, “I pray you think you question with the Jew/…  You may as well use question with the wolf/ Why he has made the ewe bleat for the lamb” (4.1.70-74). Antonio is saying that there is nothing Bassanio can do because arguing with Shylock is useless since he is a devilish personwho cannot be persuaded into doing the right things. Antonio’s specific choice of comparing arguing with Shylock to questioning the wolf “why he has made the ewe bleat for the lamb”, depicts Shylock as bloody thirsty animal, the wolf, while Christians like Antonio are just innocent, loveable lambs. This carries on the theme of Christianity being the respected religion while no respect is given to any Jewish faith. Antonio continues with his nature similes byadding,  “You may as well forbid the mountain pines/ To wag their high tops and to make no noise” (4.1.75-76). This statement continues with Antonio’s idea that it is simply natural for Jews to be evil. It is part of nature for the leaves to respond to the wind and move, and using this example conveys the message that it would be uncharacteristic for Shylock to forgive andspare the Christian. This simile maintains the unfavorable view of Jews that has shadowed the whole play. Antonio ends his dialogue with tell Bassanio, “You may as well do anything most/ As seek to soften that- than which is harder?-/ His Jewish heart.” (4.1.78-80). Antonio claims that there is nothing more impossible than to soften “his Jewish heart”.  Comparing those incredibly hard tasks to the hardness of Shylock’s heart shows the intense hatred Antonio feels for Shylock and his religion. In the end it shows the irony that this Christian exclaims that there is nothing harder than a Jewish heart yet he doesn’t see that the reason Shylocks heart washarden was from the mistreatment Shylock received his whole life from him and Christians.

Yeezus Jesus Shylock Gets Mad at Christians

TJ Ram

Portfolio B

English II

10/25/14

Shakespeare uses persuasion and metaphorical language during Shylock’s angry speech to convey Shylock’s deep frustration with the racism and prejudice against Jewish people. Shakespeare begins with Shylock exclaiming, “He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies. And what’s his reason? I am a Jew. (3.1.51-55)” Shakespeare implements these powerful analogies to help the reader relate to Shylock’s frustrations. He has lent a large sum of money to Antonio, a man who has insulted him and caused him an inordinate amount of grief just because of his religion. Shakespeare then writes, “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? (3.1.55-60)”After providing a background as to why Shylock is enraged, Shakespeare dazzles the reader with a set of brilliant analogies. He compares common human physical and emotional characteristics that both Christians as Jews share. His argument is that all humans are same on basic level so any discrimination is immoral and unfair. To conclude Shylock’s speech, Shakespeare states, “If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be byChristian example? Why, revenge. (3.1.64-67)Shakespeare’s ending argument is explained best by the Bible quote, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” If one man wrongs another man, justice should be done to avenge that wrongdoing. Shylock has endured a lifelong of suffering under Christian oppression, so he too will have his vengeance.

slavery is bad

Tara Guleri

Portfolio B

         When the Duke questions Shylock about his lack of mercy, Shakespeare shows Shylock using both logical and descriptive language in order to make his argument that demanding a pound of flesh is just as lawful as keeping a slave in Venetian society. During his speech, Shylock compares his bond to slavery in order to justify his actions. He argues that if he were to tell a Christian to free his slave, they would “answer/ ‘The slaves are ours,” therefore, “the pound of flesh which [he demands] of him is dearly bought” and he too will answer “tis’ mine, and I shall have it.” (4.1.97-99) By saying the flesh was “dearly bought,” Shylock equates ownership of a slave with his ownership of a pound of flesh, because it too was purchased lawfully. Shylock builds logically to a compelling argument to point out the hypocrisy in Venetian law and society, in that, when Christians act immorally, their morality is not disputed. However, because Jews are seen as “dogs” or “the devil,” their intentions are always held in question. Shylock also uses descriptive language to further his argument. He questions whether Venetians would “let [their slaves’] beds/ be made as soft as [theirs]” or “let [their slaves’] palates/ be seasoned with such viands.” (4.1.94-96) The images of feeling the “soft” beds and tasting the “season[ed]” viands help to make Shylock’s argument that much more persuasive to the people of the courtroom. Shylock’s use of both sensory language as well as logical and measured language allow him to make his argument that the law has no meaning here. Towards the end of the speech, Shylock concludes that “if [they] deny [him], fie upon [their] law!/ There is no force in the decrees of Venice.” (4.1.100-101) In these last few lines, Shylock’s mention of “no force in decrees” suggests that legal documents have no value in Venice and, in his case, that morality counts more for Christians than for Jews and other minorities. Shakespeare shows that the law is unjust towards  Through the use of Shylock’s reasoned and illustrative language, Shakespeare points out the arbitrary nature of Venetian law, and shows that it doesn't uphold moral standards as much as it upholds the interests of Christians.

Flesh>ducats

Whitner Grange
English

          In Act 4, Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare utilizes a monologue of Shylock's to portray his unadulterated hatred of Antonio showing the pent up anger for Christians that Jews held at the time the play was written due to countless acts of anti-Semitism on behalf of the Christian community.  Whether it be forcing them into a Ghetto, Throwing them into canals, spitting on them, or calling them names such as "devil" and "dog",  the viewer witnesses numerous occurrences of hateful acts that Christians do unto Jews throughout the entirety of the play.  When asked why Shylock would "rather choose to have a weight of carrion flesh than to receive three thousand ducats" Shylock responds by saying, "I'll not answer that, but say it is my humour" (4.1.39-42).  Shylock is offered many times the agreed upon three thousand ducats, but he turns the money down, and instead wants Antonio's flesh as payment.  At the time of this scene, Shylock is only a shell of the man he once was.  His daughter has left him, and has taken his money to run off with a Christian.  He has nothing left but his faith, and is alone in a world that despises him because of it.  His emasculated and lonely state only adds fuel to his seething fire of hatred for those who have wronged him.  Shylock does not provide any reason for his bestial desire for Antonio's flesh because he thinks he need not explain himself.  Shylock is tired of trying to show that Jews are not animals, that anti-Semitism is unwarranted.  He knows that Christians see him as the incarnation of the devil, so why not give them what they want?  He has been holding back his anger for a lifetime and when faced with the perfect opportunity to exact his revenge for the evils Christians do unto Jews, he takes it.  However, despite the gruesome, barbaric, malicious nature of Shylock's bond, Shakespeare does not use this monologue to support the preconceived notion of the era that Jews are evil.  It may seem as though Shakespeare is using Shylock's brutality as justification for anti-Semitism, but his reasoning is quite the opposite.  Shakespeare uses Shylock's display of vengeance in order to show the byproducts of a society riddled with prejudice and false preconceived notions.  Shakespeare shows the viewer a broken, vengeful man in an attempt to shed light on the dark and unjust society that has molded him into the man he has become.