30/4/ · For instance, some people regard Shylock as a villain, as he demands a pound of flesh. However, other people regard Shylock as a victim, as he loses everything (such as his ring, his daughter who ran away, and being made to convert to Christianity) 24/4/ · As an Elizabethan audience would suddenly conclude that Shylock is a villain, an audience from Britain in the days of the Holocaust would have the greater part saying he’s a victim. The main reason for this is because of the enormous amount of Jews killed in Estimated Reading Time: 9 mins In the play the ‘Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare the antagonist Shylock is both the victim and the villain. Shylock is a Jewish moneylender and is initially portrayed as anger filled and bloodthirsty but as the play continues we begin to see him as more human and his emotions become more evident
Is Shylock a Villain or Victim? Essay Example - Words
Please join StudyMode to read the full document. V Shylock Victim or Villain? The main or at least one of the main characters is a Jewish money-lender called Shylock living in Venice, is shylock a victim or a villain essay. The Jews in that time were segregated and abused by Christians. Between them the Jews and the Christians there has been a long, ancient grudge. Shakespeare puts the play in at the time where the ancient grudge is still strong.
Shylock is a very controversial character as he in cases is a villain in some cases a victim and even in some cases both.
There are quite a few reasons for Shylock being a villain in my opinion supported by text from the play. Firstly, near the beginning of the play, Shylock has a chance to take against the Christians when Bassanio a Christian wants to borrow three thousand ducats off Shylock a money lender. Antonio, also a Christianhis is shylock a victim or a villain essay is prepared to do the deal as he is the only one who will be able to pay the money back. Shylock agrees with the deal, but then slyly comes up with a bond that said if Antonio could not pay his money back in time; one pound of his flesh could be cut off.
Some people may see him as the villain of the story — and in some ways he is — but, is shylock a victim or a villain essay, really, this is a result of the stereotypes associated with Jews. He is quite a peculiar character and his role in the story is indefinite because he has traits of both a villain and a victim.
Is Shylock a criminal? No, but is Shylock wicked? A bit. So what does this make Shylock? This essay will explore this question, giving reasons which support him being the villainand reasons which support him being the victim. First of all, Jews at the time were very badly mistreated, especially in Venice. This was called anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism means prejudice Task: Shylock : Victim or Villain? From the book 'The Merchant of Venice. During this time Venice was a powerful city involved in trade and was a strong believer in the religion of Christianity. In the Merchant of Venice, Shylock is the only Jewish character, he is complicated, yet wise, and the one who gets tormented, mocked and humiliated in front of everyone.
The first time that the audience see Shylock is in Act 1, scene 3 during a business like discussion over borrowing money; three thousand ducats to be precise. Shakespeare may have chosen this to be the first sighting of Shylock for many reasons.
One of the main ideas is that around the 16th century the Jews were money lenders, men who enjoyed making money and swindling the Christian men.
Although they ran the risk of messing with the Christian law, greed and ignorance was present amongst many, including Shylock who ended up getting into grave trouble. In some ways it becomes clear that Shylock is based on a stereotypical view of a Jew: that a Jew is obsessed with money. In addition the first scene is also one of the main scenes in which Shylock could be seen more as a victim.
reading the Merchant Of Venice. Is Shylock really a victim or a villain? However, after reading and analyzing the book and getting enough evidence to prove our point, we finally made up our minds and decided which was the most suitable adjective for Is shylock a victim or a villain essay. On the one hand, Shylock might be considered as a villain as he is a miserly moneylender who delights in the prospect of cutting a pound of flesh from the noble merchant who has exposed his corrupt ways.
To begin with, during the play while he speaks he hints the fact that he wants to seek revenge against one of his major enemies, Antonio, in the worst way possible.
Revenge seems to approach, while he was sealing is shylock a victim or a villain essay bond with Antonio. The only thing Shylock cares about is hurting the man that has hurt him along his whole life.
He wants to hurt Antonio so as he felt as if he were dead. a concentration of thoughts and emotions towards the character Shylocka Jewish usurer, this is the very character that we shall be concentrating the question is shylock a victim or a villain essay the title on. In most scenes the character Shylock has to is shylock a victim or a villain essay with a lot of racial discrimination, which has at modern times become unacceptable to most people.
Elizabethan society was largely anti-Semitic and as such the audience would have been unsympathetic towards his character. In addition to their anti-Semitic ways they also had a strong dislike of moneylenders, and the audience would have had a certain loathing for the character Shylockwhich would no longer occur at present times. There are two very different opinions of Shylock that we will be discussing, victim or a villain.
Both sides of Shylock's personality are portrayed throughout "˜The Merchant of Venice. This then leads to the key question: is Shylock a mean spiteful moneylender with no intention of mercy or is he a victim to severe racial abuse, which in turn is a severe victimization.
Although there is a great amount of evidence from other characters accusing that In 16th century Europe, there was a massive revolt called the Reformation led by Saxon Monk named Martin Luther. The Reformation divided the Christians of Western Europe into Protestant churches and the Catholic Church.
In many countries, Jewish people were mistreated, exiled, and made to either convert to the religion of that particular region or be killed. They were also progressively restricted to slums called ghettos. When Shylock is introduced, it is made clear that he is a Jewish man in a volatile situation.
Shylock has loaned money to Antonio, a Christian, is shylock a victim or a villain essay, and states, "He hath disgraced me and what's his reason?
He comes across as bold without shame, rudely self-assertive, and cruel. He appears to be the obvious antagonist and villain We must also recognize that Shylock has most likely become a villain as a result of being unfairly victimized for having Jewish heritage. During the sixteenth century, when the play was written, mistreatment towards Jews was common; especially in Venice as it was an anti-sematic city.
Jewish people were stereotyped as greedy, deceitful individuals who were seen as outcasts in society. The Christian community therefore mistreated Shylockfor being apart of the Jewish minority. Throughout the play occasions, where villains have themselves been exposed to villainy, that the distinction between villain and victim becomes blurred.
Victims are usually characterised in the way that they are persecuted for circumstances, which are beyond their control for example their appearance. In plays and novels, the victim is sometimes a character included to highlight the prejudices and pre-conceptions of the social climate in which the play or novel was written. In the ‘Merchant of Venice' it can be argued that Shylocks character undergoes a metamorphosis from villain to victim. However, in this essay I hope to discuss whether in fact Shylock can be defined as either villain or victim and to form an opinion of what Shakespeare intended.
We are first introduced to Shylock in Act I Scene iii where we learn of his usury. It is in this scene that Bassanio seeks Shylock out and asks to borrow money from him in Antonio's name.
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Lesson on The Merchant of Venice Week 8 Is Shylock a Victim or a Villain
, time: 45:15Merchant of Venice - Shylock: Villain or Victim Essay Essay on Victim, Villain
Even more evidence to why Shylock should be classified as a victim, not villain. In conclusion as we have discussed above, Shylock is indeed a victim on more than one blogger.comted Reading Time: 5 mins 30/4/ · For instance, some people regard Shylock as a villain, as he demands a pound of flesh. However, other people regard Shylock as a victim, as he loses everything (such as his ring, his daughter who ran away, and being made to convert to Christianity) 11/11/ · No consensus has been reached on whether Shylock is a tyrannical villain or a tragic victim. Shylock, in my opinion, is a bloodthirsty villain. In the following paragraphs, it will be shown that Shylock is a villain in every sense of the word. Namely, he is vengeful, very materialistic and blogger.comted Reading Time: 6 mins
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