Merchant of Venice Dehumanization of Shylock Essay Sample free essay sample

Shakspere on Religious Dehumanization: Bringing Awareness. Not Change Discrimination and hatred across faiths can be frequently become a normal portion of mundane life. and can be hard to eliminate and snuff out. In William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. the thought of the â€Å"normality† of mundane biass comes across in interactions and the portraiture of Shylock. a Judaic usurer in Venice. Through Shylock’s character. Shakespeare provides a commentary on how his society has viewed Judaism in a dehumanizing manner for many coevalss. but besides expresses how hard and non in a playwright’s topographic point to alter these social biass. Shakespeare utilizes Shylock’s character as an adversary to Antonio to show how dehumanisation happens to both the culprit and the victim. This commentary begins in the first scene of the drama. when Antonio asks Shylock to impart money for Bassanio’s journey to affect Portia. Even before he meets Antonio. Shylock comments â€Å"how like a bootlicking tavern keeper he looks! / [ Shylock ] hates him for he is a Christian† and that he â€Å"will feed fat the antediluvian score I bear him. / He hates our sacred nation† ( 1. 3. 36-43 ) . Because of the history of bitterness between Christians and Jews. Shylock’s remark shows that â€Å"feeding the fat† to the â€Å"ancient grudge† against Antonio is apparently â€Å"normal† . and that he is unwilling to halt fueling this â€Å"ancient grudge† between faiths. Antonio contributes this same of thought of lodging to position quo when Shylock mentions how â€Å" [ Antonio ] calls [ him ] a heretic. cut-throat dog† ( 1. 3. 106-107 ) . After Shylock lists these atrociousnesss and is bewildered on how Antonio still â€Å"needs [ his ] help† . Antonio makes it clear that he is â€Å"as like to name thee so again/To tongue on thee once more. to reject thee too† ( 1. 3. 107. 125-126 ) . Shakespeare makes an interesting pick to utilize the word â€Å"spurn† . One may believe that it is easy replaceable with â€Å"hate† . However. Shakespeare uses the word to demo that Antonio does non even see Shylock as a hum an worthy of hatred. but in fact as an animate being or object that must be rejected. trampled upon and kicked approximately. The word â€Å"spurn† is intentionally used to demo the elusive bias towards Shylock. By making a foil in Antonio and Shylock’s brush. Shakespeare makes it clear that Antonio and Shylock are non willing to alter. and see no injury in go oning mundane biass against others. Both Shylock and Antonio keep biass against each other. and are antipathetic to admiting each other as peers. Another illustration of Shakespeare exposing numbness to bias is how the characters address Shylock. Throughout the drama. Shylock is referred to by Antonio as â€Å"the devil† . â€Å"a villain† and â€Å"The Hebrew† ; he is seldom addressed by his first name during the full drama ( 1. 3. 93. 95. 174 ) . The term â€Å"devil† is used to depict the â€Å"fallen archangel who [ †¦ ] rebelled and sinned against God† and have been â€Å"cast out into the Earth [ †¦ ] and his angels cast out with him† ( Achtemeier. Rev 12 ) . Harmonizing to Antonio and his imposed beliefs. Shylock absolutely resembles the Satan – Shylock is a money -lender. which is a profession considered to be a wickedness to Christians ( Exodus 22:25 ) . and hence must be â€Å"cast out† from society and degraded in his position as a human being. By attaching sacredly negative and generic words to Shylock. Shakespeare reveals how simple and apparently normal actions can give the affect of complete dehumanisation to a character. To foster show how far the dehumanisation affects Shylock. Shakespeare uses household power kineticss and importance of faith over position. For illustration. Lancelot. Shylock’s Christian inferior household retainer. acts much like Antonio in that he entirely addresses Shylock as â€Å"fiend† . and â€Å"very Satan incarnation† – he seldom even references Shylock’s existent name. and in fact. refers to Shylock as â€Å"the Jew† about 13 times in his introductory scene ( 2. 2. 2. 36. 98 ) . Besides the opposition to name his maestro by his name. Lancelot is disgusted with his very association with Shylock. During his first visual aspect in the drama outside of Shylock’s place. Lancelot equates his connexion to Shylock as a household retainer with â€Å"a mark† and must â€Å"run from this Jew† ( 2. 2. 2. 22 ) . Lancelot does non even want to be associated with Shylock. for â€Å" [ he is ] a Jew if [ he ] function [ s ] the Jew any longer† ( 2. 2. 105 ) . The repeat of â€Å"Jew† alternatively of Shylock’s ain name demonstrates how faith can bear a heavier weight on position. Similar to Lancelot’s state of affairs. Jessica is ashamed of connected to Shylock by blood. When Lancelot negotiations to her about running off and go a Christian man’s retainer. Jessica wishes to â€Å"end this discord [ and ] /Become a Christian† ( 2. 3. 19-20 ) . The word picks of â€Å"strife† and â€Å"run from† in Jessica and Lancelot’s lines show that Shylock is hated by his ain household. even if he technically and financially superior to his girl and retainer in rank. This power reversal shows that in Shakespeare’s society. position of faith is regarded more extremely than fiscal stature and pre-set social gender functions. and can be the most easy targeted for dehumanisation. While The Merchant of Venice points out unmarked minutes of dehumanisation and jobs of spiritual favoritism. the drama besides provides a procedure of re-humanization for Shylock to the audience. After Jessica has run off from Shylock with her Christian suer Lorenzo. Salarino and Solanio. two of Antonio’s friends. get down to mock and diss Shylock as usual. Unlike Shylock’s old sarcastic reactions to the abuses of others. Shylock efforts to appeal to the ethos and poignancy of his tormenters. and finally of the audience ev ery bit good. For the first clip. Shylock compares himself to a Christian as an equal. He merely pleads Salarino and Solanio if he is â€Å"fed with the same nutrient. injury with the same arms. [ †¦ ] healed with the same means. warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? † ( 3. 1. 54-57 ) . The parallel construction and repeat of â€Å"same† in Shylock’s address conveying the audience’s attending to a minute of uniqueness – Shylock is the same as a Christian. and is a human-being. merely like Antonio and the remainder of the characters. and merely like the remainder of the audience. The lone ground Antonio and the audience sees Shylock otherwise is because. as Shylock says it. â€Å"I am a Jew† ( 3. 1. 32 ) . This expressed call for re-humanization is highly clear in the first half of Shylock’s address. and would floor and greatly impact the audience at the clip. Although Shakspere shows his society’s numbness to biass towards Judaism and sheds visible radiation on the thought of re-humanization through Shylock’s address. he besides makes a point that he is non the 1 that should originate the alteration of mentality. Right after Shylock emotionally breaks down with his traveling address about re-humanization and th e sameness between two civilizations. he apparently becomes more nefarious and vindictive. He asks Salarino and Solanio. â€Å"If you wrong us. shall we non avenge? If we are like you in the remainder. we resemble you in that. If a Christian wrong a Jew. what should his sufferance be by Christian illustration? Why. retaliation! † ( 3. 1. 60-83 ) . Shylock uses his similarities statement to turn out that he has a right to seek retaliation from Antonio. He argues that if he is like a Christian. and experiences life merely like a Christian. he is allowed to avenge another as a Christian would. While acknowledging the pleasant and sort facets Christians and Jews portion. Shylock makes the point that they besides portion the more unfortunate traits of world. By altering the tone of the transition and doing the audience and the other characters uncomfortable with the fact that they may portion many more traits than expected with the play’s scoundrel. Shakespeare re-iterates his point from the first brush with Antonio and Shylock – although these biass exist among world. it is hard to take them because of the nature of world. Shakespeare can make a character like Shylock to assist demo the audience their ain defects and social jobs. but is up to the audience to believe about the characters put away in forepart of them in order to alter and take the jobs in their society. The Merchant of Venice acts a mirror. as do many of Shakespeare’s dramas. Shakespeare creates a commentary about the society he lives in. non a motion to alter the society he lives in. Much like many creative persons during a clip of blazing bias. Shakespeare acts a courier of dehumanisation. non an militant. He leaves the activism and contemplation to his audience. and efficaciously makes them re-think what seems â€Å"normal† to their mundane lives. Shakespeare’s Shylock is the start of alteration. but non the alteration itself. Plants Cited Achtemeier. Paul J. â€Å"Fallen Angels. † Harper’s Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper. 1985. N. pag. Print. Good News Bible. Trans. Susan Lightly. N. p. : n. p. . n. d. Print. Good News Bible. Moore. Gary. â€Å"Is Charging Interest Sinful? † The Christian Science Monitor. N. p. . n. d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. csmonitor. com/Commentary/Opinion/2008/0812/p09s01-coop. hypertext markup language gt ; .