Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice - Shylock

• Shylock is a main character from The Merchant of Venice, a play by William Shakespeare.

• Shylock is discriminated against by most of the characters in the play because he is Jewish.

• Shylock lends Bassanio and Antonio money but states that if the loan is not repaid then he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s flesh.

The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe was a play written around ten years before The Merchant of Venice, which may have inspired Shakespeare. In the play the main character, Barabas, is discriminated against because he is Jewish, in a similar way to Shylock.

Antisemitism, the hatred of Jewish people, was very common in Europe in the 1500s. Many people held false beliefs about Jews which at this time largely centred on the idea that Jews were outsiders due to their different religion.

Click through the slideshow to see Shylock’s key moments

Hard-hearted
When Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, runs away with Lorenzo, Shylock seems more upset about the fact that she took some of his money rather than the fact that his daughter has left.

Stubborn
Shylock becomes obsessed with getting the pound of flesh from Antonio, despite knowing that it will kill him. Even when Bassanio offers Shylock double the amount Shylock loaned, he refuses, which shows how determined and stubborn he is.

Discriminated against
In many ways Shylock is presented as the villain of the play. However, he is also discriminated against by characters such as Antonio because he is Jewish.

Shylock has a friendship with Tubal who is also Jewish and a moneylender. However, most of Shylock’s other relationships are very negative or unsuccessful. For example, his own daughter, Jessica, runs away with some of Shylock’s jewels and converts to Christianity.

Antonio is Shylock’s enemy. Antonio says that he does not like Shylock because he charges high rates of interest on loans. Shylock claims that Antonio makes his life miserable because he is Jewish.

The rest of the characters do not treat Shylock any better. For example, Portia does everything she can to punish Shylock at the end of the play by taking all of his money away from him. Antonio then pressures Shylock into converting to Christianity.

Listen to the audio clip below, which is taken from Act 3, scene 1, and then answer the questions below. In this scene, Shylock makes a speech about how Antonio has discriminated against him for being Jewish.

At the beginning of the play, Shylock is presented as hard-hearted and focused on wealth. However, the audience sees an emotional side to him as the play goes on. For example, in Act 3 he delivers a powerful speech on the discrimination that he has been subjected to for being Jewish.

When Jessica runs away, Shylock seems more upset about the money she took than the loss of his daughter. However, when Jessica sells the ring she stole from him, he states that he would not have given it away for any amount of money. This is because it was given to him by his late wife.

Shylock is again presented as cruel and merciless when he is determined to get the pound of flesh from Antonio, even if this means Antonio dying. By the end of the play, however, the audience may feel sympathy for Shylock because he has had his money taken away from him and is forced to convert to Christianity.