How Shylock is Presented in The Merchant of Venice Essay

How Shylock is Presented in The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, one of his romantic comedies, was written in 1596. It deals with a dispute between Shylock, a wealthy Jewish moneylender, and Antonio, a Venetian citizen. The play begins in Venice, where Antonia’s friend, Bassanio, needs a loan of 3,000 ducats so that he can court a wealthy heiress named Portia. Not being able to raise the funds himself, Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan. Unfortunately Antonio’s wealth is invested in merchant ships that are presently at sea. Despite his wealth being tied up at sea, Antonio agrees to ask for a short term loan of the money from Shylock, a Jewish usurer. Shylock has a†¦show more content†¦As this would be impossible, and as taking the flesh would have killed Antonio, Antonio wins his case and Shylock is found guilty of conspiring to murder a Venetian citizen. He thus forfeits his wealth as well as the loan. Half of the wealth goes to the city and half to Antonio. In the end, Antonio gives his half to Shylock, on condition that he bequeaths it to Jessica, whom he has disinherited, and he must in addition convert to Christianity. The play ends with all the characters happy except for Shylock who has been humiliated. In considering Shakespeare’s attitude to Shylock, it is necessary to take into account the prevailing attitude of Elizabethan’s towards the Jewish people. There was a long standing prejudice against Jews in England. Jews were often persecuted for their beliefs and their riches, and this was true throughout Europe. Jews had been in England for centuries, and had been discriminated against many a time. In 1190 the Jews in York were massacred and in 1290 all the Jews were to be exported. Although these events were happening in England they were common throughout Europe. Although Shakespeare has written about a Jew, there were in fact very few Jews in England at the time. 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