The Merchant of Venice has been interpreted over time as both a defense of and an attack on Jews. ("Shylock") Although it seems unlikely that Shakespeare was sufficiently forward-thinking to completely reject the anti-Semitic sentiment of his day, the play is too complex to be classified as a simple attack on the Jews. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice was not written to make a specific statement about anti-Semitism, but rather to push its audience to question their own preconceptions about Jews in Renaissance England. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay There is no doubt that Shylock is not a pleasant character. As the play progresses, he moves from simply planning to take revenge on the Christians to becoming fanatical about killing Antonio. The portrayal of Shylock as a devious, scheming Jew who is practically a "devil" would have greatly appealed to anti-Semitic audiences of Shakespeare's time. ("Shylock") However, if this was Shakespeare's sole intention, he could easily have made the character of Shylock both one-dimensional and an excessive caricature of a Jew. Instead, Shylock is a fascinating, multi-layered character. In Act III, he gives a powerful speech about acceptance that is hard to ignore: “Has not a Jew eyes? Doesn't the Jew have hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed by the same food, wounded by the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and refreshed by the same winter and the same summer as a Christian? (3.1.52-58). Shylock uses this argument to explain why he wants revenge on the people who wronged him. However, it's too eloquent to simply be a villain's twisted reasoning. When we learn what was done to Shylock, we suddenly see the world through Shylock's eyes and sympathize, if only briefly, with his desire for revenge against Antonio. This reversal likely made Christian audiences of the time feel uneasy ("Shylock"), which was exactly Shakespeare's intention: to cause the audience to question their assumptions about Shylock's "evil" character. and, by extension, its stereotypes of Jews as Jews. band. Shakespeare also forces the audience to question the norms of his society through his characterization of Christians. Although he doesn't portray any of them as poorly as Shylock, they are all far from perfect, particularly in their hypocrisy. Antonio condemns Shylock for both his religion and his practice of usury while he simultaneously asks him to borrow money from him. Additionally, although Shylock's superficiality is ridiculed in the form of his fixation with money, the characters of Portia and Bassanio are also depicted as superficial due to their emphasis on beauty. However, the most significant display of hypocrisy on the part of a Christian lies in Portia's actions during the trial in Act IV. At the beginning of the trial, Portia, as a doctor of law, greatly emphasizes the concept of mercy in trying to convince Shylock to be merciful to Antonio: "...so Jew, / Though justice be thy plea, consider this, / This during the trial. of justice, none of us / Should see salvation: we pray for mercy, / And this same prayer teaches us all to render / Acts of mercy. (4.1.93-98). Soon after, Portia circumvents the law and has an immediate chance to show Shylock the same, 1999.