The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare Essay -- Merchant of Ven

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare The character Shylock was a stereotypical Jew of his time, and as Jews were gener eachy unpopular, the interview would have been automatically prejudiced against him. In Shakespeares time, Jews were not treated strong at all. This was because they were a minority group, as they had been previously banned from the agricultural by Edward I unless they were willing to become a Christian. But, in openhanded European cities, like Venice there was a large Jewish population. As these cities relied on trade, the authorities encouraged Jews to become moneyl turn backers. This was because the Christian law, which forbade money bestow for profit, did not apply to them. Moneylenders were not popular, because up until 1571 it had been il healthy to receive sake on lent money, and even after that, although legal (it became vital for trade), it was considered a sin. Many moneylenders charged high rates of interest, even though the legal rate was 10 percent, as people were willing to pay more, and virtually became very rich. Before Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice, his friend, the mutantwright Marlowe wrote a play some a Jew, which became very successful. This may have influenced Shakespeare to write a play on a similar theme. Also, in 1594 the Jewish doctor, Roderico Lopez, supposedly time-tested to kill Queen Elizabeth. Even though he was probably innocent, he was charged guilty and was executed. Because this case was much talked ab let out, the dislike of Jews was a insert issue and the audience would have been able to relate to the play and determine how the Christian characters in the play would treat Shylock. One of t... ...an accent. This singles him out and shows he is an outsider. At the beginning of the court scene, when the Duke is talking to Shylock, he says We all expect a tender answer Jew. In the production nail down in the 1920s, the Duke puts huge emphasis on the word Jew, showing he dislikes Shylock, although he was asking him to be generous and let Antonio go. At the end of the court scene, after Shylock has been forced to become a Christian, he throws down his skullcap onto the scales. Even though the scales were originally there to crusade Antonios flesh, they now represent the scales of justice, and Shylock is making a very omnipotent point that what has been done to him is completely unfair. This happens just after Shakespeare has changed the audiences opinion of Shylock, and adds to the feel for that they feel for him.