Lord of the Flies Book Review

INTRO
“My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.”

Good evening Ladies and Gentleman. I expect some of you will have recognised the quote I just presented as Shylock in Act 4 Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice. This, I’m sure you’ll agree, is one of the most powerful plays ever written. I am Liam Marshall and in my twenty years of experience acting with the Royal Shakespearean Company I have become acutely aware of the worth of William’s work. I am very honoured to have been asked to be here at this gathering of the most eminent literary minds in the English speaking world and even more excited to be presenting to you in the home of English literature, Stratford-upon-Avon. My brief is to provide an analysis of Shakespeare’s infamous, Shylock, a character as misunderstood in the western world as Judas Iscariot. This victim of Elizabethan anti-Semitism has come to represent the vilification of Judaism in the Christian world.
BODY
I will be conducting an in-depth interpretation of the character, Shylock from The Merchant of Venice. Shylock is a Jew and a money lender, and traditionally he is presented as treacherous and greedy. He is linked to many of the play’s themes, such as justice, prejudice and revenge. He controls one of the important plot elements through the forfeiture of Antonio’s bond and his demand for a pound of flesh.
Shylock is motivated by revenge against the Christians who have wronged him. He has been shunned by society and forced to live in a ghetto because of his faith and his profession. The loss of his daughter in Act 2 takes a large toll on Shylock and motivates him further to demand the justice Christian men denied him. In Act 1 scene 3 Shylock discusses the bitterness that has against Venetian society, in the speech to Antonio he outlines the wrongs done to him, “you call me misbeliever, cut throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gabardine”. The court room scene in Act 4 scene 1 leaves the audience with conflicting feelings for Shylock. He is viewed very negatively at the start of the scene as he gloats and prepares to kill Antonio, but his demise is represented sympathetically by the playwright.
My interpretation of Shylock is that he is a victim in the play, in that he is simply following the example of his wrongdoers rather than thinking for himself. In The Merchant of Venice there is a happy ending for the major Christian characters, Bassanio, Gratiano and Lorenzo who all find wives and Antonio who is spared his life and his livelihood. The only character that is left out of the celebrations is Shylock. By the end of the play he has been stripped of his bond, lost his daughter, been robbed of his money, forced to give up his birthright, the Jewish religion, and become a Christian like the men he hates. Insult is added to injury for Shylock in the court when he is humiliated by a woman who is able to masquerade as a judge. Roma Gill, the editor of Oxford School Shakespeare’s version of The Merchant of Venice suggests in the preface of that publication that “The Merchant of Venice is a comedy for the rest of the characters but a tragedy for Shylock”.
This interpretation is contrary to Shakespeare’s invited reading; his audience would have seen him as a villain and laughed at his misfortune. In some places Shakespeare is careful not to put Shylock in situations where he can gain too much sympathy. When Jessica runs away Shakespeare does not show his distress at the loss of his daughter. Instead he turns it on Shylock when Solanio delivers a cruel imitation of his sorrow. Shakespeare’s reading conforms to the anti-Semitic views of the time. Shylock’s profession as a money lender was also seen as dishonourable by Christians because usury, the practice of lending money was sinful. The scene I will be presenting today is Shylock’s major monologue from act 3 scene 1. The speech outlines the wrongs done to him by the Christians, in particular by Antonio, “he hath disgraced me... laughed at my losses... [and] thwarted my bargains”. He also appeals to our common humanity through the use of rhetorical questions, such as “hath not a Jew eyes?” and “If you prick us do we not bleed?” The mood changes at the end of the scene, however, when he outlines out his plans for revenge and it must be accompanied by a dramatic change in intensity.
I will now perform the scenes I have described for you, to set the scene it is 1596 in the streets of Venice, Antonio’s ships have run aground so perhaps there is a storm around.
If it will feed nothing else,
It will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a
Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

CONCLUSION
In this seminar I have presented my reading of Shylock as the victim of The Merchant of Venice. Although this doesn’t correspond with Shakespeare's invited reading, this interpretation is more appropriate for a contempary audience because we can look beyond the fact Shylock is a Jew and a money lender and see the tragic demise of a man and his identity. This, sympathetic reading has also been validated by esteemed actors, such as Orson Wells, Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino in modern adaptations of The Merchant of Venice.
I am now open to questions from the audience, Is there anything I can clear up for anyone?

Plant questions
1. Why was usury seen as dishonourable
2. Why was it humiliating for Shylock to be tried by a woman.