Judaism and Shylock
Speech 2:
As said earlier, Shakespeare portrays Shylock as a villain because he is greedy and selfish, and because he has a vengeful and violent personality.
Shylock stands in the way of love, and is very materialistic. When Tubal brings news of Jessica to Shylock, Shylock says "Two thousand ducats in that, and other precious, precious jewels! I would my daughter dead at my foot, with the jewels in her ear!" This clearly shows that Shylock would prefer to have his wealth over his daughter's return.
Furthermore, Shylock is extremely vengeful. When Salerino asks Shylock what good would Antonio's flesh do Shylock if Antonio forfeits the bond, he replies, "If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation," The quote clearly portrays Shylock remembering every single thing that Antonio has done to him. He sums up what Antonio has done to him and tries to revenge the wrongs done to him by murdering Antonio.
To add on to that, the revenge he is taking on Antonio is not to bring justice to the jewish people, but just for the sake of revenge itself, which is against the Jewish religion as number 31-32 of the 613 comandments state that Jews should not revenge and Jews should not bear a grudge. lastly, Shylock is crafty and shrewd. When discussing the forfeiture of the bond, Shylock says "let the forfeiture be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken in what part of the body pleaseth me." Shylock suggests the forfeiture of the bond playfully, whereas it is actually using the law on his side to execute a plan to murder Antonio.
His daughter hates him and calls him a "devil". We see him being impatient with her and ordering her around. When she runs away, he seems as upset about the loss of his money as her: "My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! ... My ducats and my daughter!"
He cleverly argues in Act III, scene 1 that he is as much a man as
As said earlier, Shakespeare portrays Shylock as a villain because he is greedy and selfish, and because he has a vengeful and violent personality.
Shylock stands in the way of love, and is very materialistic. When Tubal brings news of Jessica to Shylock, Shylock says "Two thousand ducats in that, and other precious, precious jewels! I would my daughter dead at my foot, with the jewels in her ear!" This clearly shows that Shylock would prefer to have his wealth over his daughter's return.
Furthermore, Shylock is extremely vengeful. When Salerino asks Shylock what good would Antonio's flesh do Shylock if Antonio forfeits the bond, he replies, "If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation," The quote clearly portrays Shylock remembering every single thing that Antonio has done to him. He sums up what Antonio has done to him and tries to revenge the wrongs done to him by murdering Antonio.
To add on to that, the revenge he is taking on Antonio is not to bring justice to the jewish people, but just for the sake of revenge itself, which is against the Jewish religion as number 31-32 of the 613 comandments state that Jews should not revenge and Jews should not bear a grudge. lastly, Shylock is crafty and shrewd. When discussing the forfeiture of the bond, Shylock says "let the forfeiture be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken in what part of the body pleaseth me." Shylock suggests the forfeiture of the bond playfully, whereas it is actually using the law on his side to execute a plan to murder Antonio.
His daughter hates him and calls him a "devil". We see him being impatient with her and ordering her around. When she runs away, he seems as upset about the loss of his money as her: "My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! ... My ducats and my daughter!"
He cleverly argues in Act III, scene 1 that he is as much a man as