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The Merchant Of Venice Is Shylock A Villain Analysis

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In the story, “The Merchant of Venice,” there is a character named Shylock. Shylock is a Jewish citizen who lives in Venice, a place where Jewish people are one of the lowest class of citizens. This piece by Shakespeare creates this controversial character that can be viewed as a villain or victim. In this play, through the archetypal lense, we can see that Shylock is a villain because of his hatred and his desire for revenge. Some people may see Shylock as a victim because during the time period in which the story is wrote, jewish people were treated like animals and given nearly no rights or role in society. Those who managed to gain wealth were looked down upon just as much as those who had no money at all. However in Act two scene 5, Shylock says, “I’ll go in hate, to eat the wasteful christians food.” In this quote Shakespeare is alluding to the biblical belief that …show more content…

The bond between Shylock and Antonio is a concern because Shylock is asking for a pound of human flesh off of Antonio’s body which most likely would kill Antonio. Shylock undoubtedly knows that taking a pound of human flesh off of a person will kill them so essentially Shylock wants Antonio’s life at the cost of three thousand ducats, which is about half a million in US dollars today. If someone today was to pay half a million dollars in other to kill another person, you could assume that the target was wealth or politically powerful. Antonio does not fit those description because he is a typical christian who is in love. In conclusion, Shylock is a villian who wants to take out his angry for christians out on Antonio. The archetypal lense shows that Shylock is a villain because archetype describe a villain as someone who stands out from others and represents sin. Shylock represents the two sins, wrath and

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