Victim or villain? How is Shylock presented in 'The Merchant of Venice'?

The merchant in The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, t here appears Shylock. As the play unfolds Shylock is seen to be the villain. He is portrayed as being cold, unbending, and evil. But is he? Is Shylock really the gelid in this play or can he withal be viewed as a persecuted individual who resorts to revenge alone if after he has been pushed too far. To fully understand the nominate of Shylock we must first look at Elizabethan attitudes towards Jews. The earliest documented presences of Jews were recorded in Oxford, during the year 1075. At that time, Jews and Christians were living in harmonious without strong resentment or hatred towards each other. Despite this, there were certain rules that Jews had to unravel such as they were banned from certain trades and professions as they were non considered citizens. In the sixteenth century Jews were rarely if ever seen in England. In the Middle Ages Jews had fled to England to escape persecution in France under the Normans. They were given mesh in England by Henry I in recall for a percentage of their profits from trade and specie lending. It is here that the stereotype of Jews lending money was started which spurred on to the mental prototype of Jews as a greedy community.

A few old age in the first repose The Merchant of Venice was written, an accusation was make towards Queen Elizabeths physician of attempting to poison her. His public execution and the concomitant that he was of Jewish earth led to an outbreak of anti Semitism in the country. Similarly in todays world, after the incident that took place on September eleventh 2001, many have been keen-sighted ! towards the Middle Eastern races for fears for repercussions. many other plays were written during Shakespearian time concerning Jews to which... If you want to shoot a full essay, put together it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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