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Quintanar, Johanna

Mr. Morris

Adv. World Literature

12 May, 2021

5. Shylock: Victim or Villain?

Throughout Merchant of Venice, it can be argued that Shakespeare unintentionally

portrays Shylock as a victim. Although this may not have been his original intent, our opinions

about Shylock have changed as we have developed a new standard for what we consider moral

behavior in today’s world. Through a combination of the distinct plot elements, Christian motifs,

and poetic syntax Shylock is made out to be a victim of unjust acts despite being coined as the

antagonist of the play.

Several of the plot elements in Merchant of Venice can support my argument that Shylock

is the victim of this story. The most significant involves the bond between him and Antonio.

Before agreeing to the bond, Shylock expresses how horribly he has been treated by Antonio.

Shylock says to Antonio, “ Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; You spurn'd me such a

day; another time, You call'd me dog”. Despite the mistreatment he suffers on a regular basis, he

still agrees to loan Antonio money. This is a prime example of Shylock being the victim. The

audience sympathizes with him since he shares how he is mistreated because of his religion.

Being treated with disrespect because of religion is something that is not morally acceptable in

today’s society.

Shakespeare also utilizes several Christian motifs to paint Shylock as a villain. Amongst

these include the Christian belief that human relationships take precedence over materialistic
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desires. They feed into the stereotype that Shylock only cares about his valuables since he is

Jewish. After his daughter stole from him and ran away, tried to claim that Shylock was only

concerned about the worth of what she stole. They mimicked him by saying, “A sealed bag, two

sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter! And jewels, two stones,

two rich and precious stones, Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl”. However, this

contradicts how we see Shylock react. Shylock is clearly upset that his daughter ran away and

feels betrayed by her. This betrayal, however, does not solely revolve around her taking his

valuables. Arguably anyone would be hurt by their own daughter choosing to leave them without

any hesitation.

Another indication that Shylock may not be the villain that the rest of the characters make

him out to be is the poetic syntax, specifically Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter.

Shakespeare usually wrote the lines of characters in iambic pentameter who we wanted to

convey as educated and of noble status. This is why it is interesting that Shylock speaks to

Antonio and Bassanio in iambic pentameter in Act One. We can see an example of this when he

says, “I am debating of my present store, And, by the near guess of my memory, I cannot

instantly raise up the gross Of full three thousand ducats. What of that?”. This may seem

insignificant, but it may be a subtle hint that Shakespeare didn’t intend for him to solely be

viewed as the villain.

Finally, it may be concluded that Shylock is a multidimensional character. While it is true

that he is the antagonist, it is also true that he is the victim of endless mistreatment. As this piece

of literature has aged, so has the way we view and connect to its characters. Our modernized

views allow us to look past the obvious interpretation of Shylock as the villain and instead
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sympathize with him. We are able to connect to his inherent desire for revenge and his grief after

his own daughter betrayed him, even if it is far from the same extent. The traits that

characterized Shylock as a villain are traits that many of us possess, and therefore he should not

be seen as a villain, but rather a mere human.

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. The Merchant of Venice. Harlow, Essex, England :Longman,

1994.
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Thesis Development (Answer as Comments):

1. Describe what you think the essay is going to be about from the author’s thesis.
2. Is the author developing a thesis that is relevant to prompt? Why or why not?
3. Does the thesis have an argued position, or is it just a restatement of the prompt?

Concrete Evidence (Answer as Comments):

4. What is the concrete evidence for the position in the draft? If none are present, suggest
areas of further development regarding your own research with the prompt.

Style (Answer as Comments):

5. Who is the author’s target audience (is the essay academic, or informal)? Does the target
audience match the content and tone of the essay?
6. Is the author using the correct essay format? If they have not, is it for good reasons?
7. Is the writing interesting and engaging? Is it something you can see being published in an
online journal? Suggest two specific areas of improvement.
Knower’s Subjectivity (Answer as Comments):

8. Does the author show an awareness of his or her own perspective as a knower in relation
to other perspectives, such as those that may arise, for example, from academic and
philosophical traditions, culture or position in society (gender, age, and so on)? How so?

Grammar (Answer as Comments):

9. Is the language clear and central terms explained or developed?

10. Is factual information correct and properly cited?
11. 3 Questions for the author to consider:
12. Other comments (1 paragraph summary):