Discrimination In Merchant Of Venice

In his comedic play, The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare introduces a negative treatment and attitude toward Jews in Venice. In the play, a young man named Bassanio asks his friend Antonio—a Venetian merchant—for a loan to court a wealthy heiress, Portia, in the city of Belmont. Antonio is unable to loan him money because he oversees ships that are overseas. Instead, they both seek a loan from a moneylender, Shylock, who is Jewish. Shylock is hesitant at first, but agrees to a bond. If the loan isn’t paid back, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio’s flesh for his loss. Bassanio proves that he’s worthy to Portia, but finds out that Antonio’s ships were lost, therefore, Antonio forfeit his bond to Shylock. During the trial, Portia and

It states that Jews need to wear a red hat after a certain hour to identify himself as a Jew (The Merchant of Venice). It’s quite strange that Jews needed to identify themselves apart from everyone else because the only difference between them are their religious beliefs. This tension can be seen through the interaction of Antonio and Shylock when negotiating an agreement to a loan. Shylock says to Antonio, “money is your suit…you spat on me on Wednesday last…and you called me a dog” (The Merchant of Venice). Antonio tries to make it seem like what he did to Shylock wasn’t as bad by pushing it off, but because of Shylock’s tone and hesitance to give Antonio and Bassanio a loan, the audience observes how badly a Jew can be treated in Venice. Shylock also points out that Antonio shamed him in public because he is Jewish and is only talking to him because he needs help (The Merchant of Venice). If I was treated as poorly as Shylock, I would also be more hesitant to help someone that disrespected me, but I would be more open to forgiving a