shylock- victim or villain

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Shakespeare’s The merchant of Venice
Shylock- Victim or villain?

Throughout the play, Shylock is presented as both a victim and a villain in different situations. The merchant of Venice is a play set in the 1500 when Venice was a major city of trading. Where Jews were mocked for their believes, and Christians were considered superior. Bassanio needs a loan from Antonio to travel to Belmont and meet the rich, beautiful Portia. But his money is out with his merchant ships at sea, so he turns to the Jewish money-lender shylock, to take out a loan in Antonio’s name. A forfeit is placed on the loan, if it is not paid back at a certain date, then shylock can take a pound of flesh of Antonio, obviously murdering him.
First we look at the aspects of the text that portray Shylock as a villain. We are first introduced to shylock in act 1. It is this scene where Bassano seeks Shylock out so that he can borrow money in Antonio’s name. Also in this scene we learn of shylocks hatred of Antonio and the Christians. ‘How like a fawning republican he looks! / I hate him, for he is Christian.’ When we first meet shylock, both his victim and villain characters. He describes the way that he is treated by the Christians, that he is victimised, mocked and ridiculed. But he also speaks of the way he wants revenge on the Christians, showing he has a vengeful nature. Shylock also displays elements of belligerence in his refusal to ever forgive the Christians. We also learn of his intent regarding Antonio’s life ‘If I can catch him once upon the hip/ I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear
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