Shylock - Sinner or Sinned Against “Shylock the Jew “has he sinned or has he been sinned against? Shylock has been teased, mocked, spat on and kicked in public by the “Christians” of Venice. The line “Spet on my Jewish gabardine” tells us that they spat on Shylocks traditional Jewish clothes, which shows disrespect to the Jewish culture by putting their saliva on the religious clothes of Judaism. “You call me misbeliever”, The Christians think that they and the Christian god are above the Jews and their god in terms of religion because he believes in Judaism and not in Christianity the so they call them misbeliever because he doesn’t follow Christianity. “You call me cut throat dog” the Christians mock him in the business place, shylock is made a fool by fellow workers.
In The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, Shylock inhabits an anti-Semitic society in which he is treated as an inferior and without any esteem. In a response to these social dynamics, Shylock attempts to make an unmerciful statement to the Venetian community. During the trial, when pleaded multiple times by the Antonio and his men, he doesn’t take mercy on Antonio and demands for his bond to be followed and for Antonio to sacrifice a pound of his flesh. Declaring justice as a reason to the jury and to the judge, Shylock prepares to take revenge on Antonio by killing him. Shylock’s actions reveal a lot about his ethical beliefs: that he would go as far as to kill a man in order to get revenge.
The Merchant of Venice: The Dehumanizing Effects of Ignorance One cannot look at the dehumanizing effects when one does not play a role in the ignorant undertaking. In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the author writes about ignorance in a way that dehumanizes the people of Venice. Firstly, Shylock-a Jewish resident in Venice dehumanizes Antonio as an act of revenge and ignorance. Secondly, Antonio-a resident in Venice, shows ignorance towards the Jewish community which makes Antonio racist towards the Jews. Lastly, the Portia-the beautiful women looking for a Sutter, shows ignorance towards the men who so badly want her love.
Completely objectifying Max to make it seem as if he were just another item in the room. Also, by the narrator saying “Please—try not to look away”, it makes Max seem like a monstrosity, a view that would pain our eyes just to look at. Perhaps that is exactly what he is, but still, it further objectifies him into a spectacle. The question in the textbook at the end of chapter 6 asks, “Are there cases in which treating people as types rather than individuals makes good ethical sense?” In this case I would answer, no. Hitler types Jews into a single menacing group and it enables him to feel guiltless for the actions he was ordering—for why would he feel guilty for harming items?
Allusion | Literal Meaning | How it Develops Theme | Sources | I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant (3,2,14) | I would whip a man for making a tyrant sounding too much like a tyrant. | Demostrates Hamlet’s insanity because Hamlet once was described as a kind and gentle person, but now Hamlet says he will whip the players if they overact this scene at all. Hamlet is becoming out of control and abusive. The word, Termagant, refers to, “an imaginary god held in Christendom to be worshipped by Muslimsand described as very violent”. (Billy and Connor 81-82) | - Billy and Connor, Allusions, Tangient LLC, Web.
SHYLOCK IS A VILLIAN In the play “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare, Shylock is portrayed along the lines of being both a victim and a villain. Shylock is out for one pound of Antonio’s flesh which will end Shylock’s lust and hate towards him. But he also gets called cruel names and is pushed around and spit on in the public by Christians including Antonio and all of Antonio’s friends. And further on into the play Shylock is betrayed by his own daughter who stole from her father and became a Christian. But as victimised as Shylock is, he is also out for revenge on all Christians and is willing to kill to get what he thinks everyone deserves.
Before Dimmesdale kills himself, he admits his sin to the whole town. Also, Dimmesdale receives treatment from Hester’s husband, Chillingworth, who knows their secret, and is trying to get revenge on them both. Chillingworth ends up realizing that he is going insane with trying to get revenge and believes that he has sinned more than both of them. The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses satire to poke fun of the Puritan attitude toward sinning and the punishments of sinning. The reader learns from the text that the Puritan religion looked down on the idea of sin and punishes sinners harshly.
Therefore, the statement “Prejudice is the key theme of Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’ “is indeed true, but to an extent. We see prejudice presented in various ways throughout ‘Merchant of Venice’. The way the Christians treat the Jews is prejudice – the Christians don’t care for the Jews, curse at them, call them dogs and spit at them, purely because of their different beliefs. We hear Shylock’s spiel about how they are the same, they just have different beliefs, saying “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
Brabantio, the father of Desdemona, cannot stand Othello and is absolutely enraged when he finds out that his daughter has been seeing Othello behind his back. Unlike the other characters who refer to Othello in a racist way only behind his back, Brabantio makes these comments to Othello’s face. Brabantio constantly calls him a “moor” which is a racist way of saying that he is a black-skinned Arab from North Africa. He may use these comments, such as “sooty bosom” (1.2.89), to Othello’s face because he is the Senator of Venice and is higher in rank than Othello, feeling that he needs to make sure Othello knows who is in charge. I believe, however, that while Brabantio definitely dislikes Othello, many of the racist ideas are directly placed into his head by Iago, as many of the ideas in the play are.
The ‘Jew of Malta’, written by Christopher Marlowe, was probably written between 1589 and 1590. It is an original story of religious conflict, Intrigue and revenge. The play opens with a prologue narrated by Machiavelli, much hated by Elizabethan England, which introduces “the tragedy of a Jew”. The play is filled with blood and murder, which was a favourable topic of the Elizabethan audiences who embraced the bloody revenge tragedies of the period. The title character, Barabas the Jew, is a complex character likely to provoke mixed reactions from the audience.