Date: Annual From: The Upstart Crow Vol. Document Type: Essay. Length: 10, words. Translate Article. Set Interface Language. Decrease font size. Increase font size. Shylock's repetitions "Well. Throughout the whole scene, both Bassanio and Antonio often seem naive in contrast to Shylock. Shylock has something they want — money — and both Antonio and Bassanio think that they should get the loan of the money, but neither one of them really understands Shylock's nature.
In reply to Bassanio's demand for a direct answer, Shylock still avoids answering straightforwardly. Shylock knows what he is doing, and he uses the time to elaborate on his meaning of "good" when applied to Antonio. Only after sufficient "haggling" does he finally reveal his intentions: "I think I may take his bond.
Shakespeare often uses the devices of asides and soliloquies to allow his heroes and, in this case, his "villain," a chance to immediately make clear his intentions and motivations to the audience — as Shylock does here. Shylock's declaration of his hatred for Antonio immediately intensifies the drama of the scene; the audience now waits to see in what way he will be able to catch Antonio "upon the hip" and "feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.
Their greeting has ironic overtones for the audience, which has just heard Shylock's opinion of Antonio. There then follows a debate between Antonio and Shylock on the subject of usury, or the taking of interest on a loan — permissible for Shylock but not for Antonio, according to Antonio's moral code.
In making Shylock avoid committing himself immediately to lending Antonio the money, Shakespeare is building a dramatic crisis.
For example, Antonio's mounting impatience leads to increased arrogance; he compares the moneylender to the "apple rotten at the heart. In Shylock's earlier aside "I'll hate him [Antonio] for he is a Christian" , the audience was inclined to pigeonhole Shylock as the "villain" of this drama; anyone who hates a man simply because he is a Christian must logically be a villain.
Yet now, in this speech, there is much more depth and complexity; we are given a most revealing glimpse of a man who has been a victim, whose imposition of suffering on others is directly related to his own suffering. Shakespeare is manipulating us emotionally; we have to reconsider Shylock's character. After Shylock regains control of himself and skillfully leads Antonio toward the sealing of the bond, he says that he "would like to be friends" with Antonio. Clearly, to us, Shylock's interest is not only in money in this case, but Antonio does not realize this, nor does he realize or fully understand the depth of Shylock's hatred of him.
He is therefore unable to be persuaded that this bond is dangerous. To him, the bond is merely a "merry bond. Shakespeare has set up a situation in which a man has put his life in the hands of a moral enemy and the outcome depends on fortune — that is, whether or not Antonio's merchant ships survive pirates and the high seas.
In the first place, these other villains see themselves as evil, and while they may try to justify their own villainy, they also revel in it, making asides to the audience and self-consciously comparing themselves to the Vice character of medieval morality plays. Though the Christian characters of The Merchant of Venice may view Jews as evil, Shylock does not see himself in that way.
His views of himself and others are rational, articulate, and consistent. Shylock, on the other hand, is an outcast even before the play begins, vilified and spat upon by the Christian characters.
Indeed, Shylock understands the Christians and their culture much better than they understand him. The Christian characters only interact with Shylock within a framework of finance and law—he is not part of the friendship network portrayed in Act I, scene i.
Though Bassanio asks him to dine with them, Shylock says in an aside that he will not break bread with Christians, nor will he forgive Antonio, thereby signaling his rejection of one of the fundamental Christian values, forgiveness. Shylock is able to cite the New Testament as readily as Jewish scripture, as he shows in his remark about the pig being the animal into which Christ drove the devil. As we see more of Shylock, he does not become a hero or a fully sympathetic character, but he is an unsettling figure insofar as he exposes the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of the Christian characters.
Shylock never quite fits their descriptions or expectations of him. Most significantly, they think he is motivated solely by money, when in fact his resentment against Antonio and the other Christians outweighs his desire for monetary gain.
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