The Merchant Of Venice: Hath Not A Jew Mercy? Essay, Research Paper

The Merchant of Venice: Hath not a Jew Mercy?

Kevin Jacoby

Many of William Shakespeare’s plays have sparked controversy. Probably

the one that has sparked the most controversy is The Merchant of Venice, which

many intellectuals have dubbed an anti-Semitic play. The character that this

discussion centers around is Shylock, the rich moneylender Jew. The problem

with most of these anti-Semitic arguments is that they lack the perspective of

the sixteenth century audience. Throughout Shakespeare’s The Merchant of

Venice (M of V), the audience’s perception of Shylock moves between utter hatred

and varying amounts of pity. In contrast to today’s audience, the original

sixteenth century audience saw Shylock’s religion as his biggest shortcoming.

Our first glimpse of Shylock’s character comes in Act I, scene 3, where

Shylock reveals to the audience why he hates Antonio. The first reason he gives

of why he hates Antonio is because he is a Christian. (I. iii. 43) This to the

sixteenth century audience would be unreasonable, and this would evoke a sort of

villainy towards Shylock. But a few moments later, the audience witnesses

Shylock’s speech about Antonio’s abuses towards Shylock. (I. iii. 107-130)

This speech does well in invoking the audience’s pity, however little it might

be in the sixteenth century. But again at the end, Shylock offers that Antonio

give up a pound of flesh as penalty of forfeiture of the bond, which Antonio

sees as a joke, but which Shylock fully intends to collect. (I. iii. 144-78)

This action negates any pity which Shylock would have one from the audience just

a few moments before. Shakespeare, in this scene, uses Shylock’s dialogue and

soliloquies to push loyalties of the audience back and forth in a result of a

negative view of Shylock.

In Act II, scene 8, Salarino and Salanio describe to the audience

Shylock’s reaction when he finds out that his daughter, Jessica, has run away to

marry a Christian. Says Salanio:

?I never heard a passion so confused,

So strange, outrageous, and so variable,

As the dog Jew did utter in the streets:

?My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!

Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats!

Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!

Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!

And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones,

Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl;

She hat the stones upon her, and the ducats.’? (II. viii. 12-22)

One can’t help wondering if the message is only as trustworthy as the messenger,

for as we know, Salarino and Salanio have expressed their hatred towards Shylock.

However, the sixteenth century audience wouldn’t have any reason not to believe

these two men, because they have given no reason not to be to their perspective.

In this re-count of events we notice that Shylock cries ?O my ducats! O my

daughter!? many times, which suggests that Shylock sees Jessica as just another

one of her material goods, as the ducats. The audience would not respect this

at all, after all, one’s daughter should be much more important than any

material wealth. This is yet another instance which the audience views Shylock

as a shallow miser who only thinks of himself.

Act III, scene 1 is probably the biggest turning point in the play,

especially for the audience. After being badgered by Salarino and Salanio,

Shylock manipulates the audience’s sympathies by offering a monologue on revenge.

The scene is as follows:

Salarino. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit,

thou wilt not take his flesh:

what’s that good for?

Shylock. To bait fish withal: 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 is 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 wring 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.

(III.i. 53-76)

This monologue succeeds in silencing Shylock’s critics both on and off stage.

Shylock has successfully made the audience stop and think, and even side with

him. He makes the audience say, ?You know what, he’s right.? Any prejudice the

audience might have had has been put aside by this speech. Shylock, of course,

won’t keep the audiences pity for long, though. When Tubal enters Shylock says

to him, ?I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear!

would she were hearsed at my foot and the ducats in her coffin!? (III.i. 91-4)

This is the same reason the audience lost pity for Shylock before, because he is

so shallow that he cares more about his ducats than he does his own daughter.

He would like to see his daughter dead with the ducats and jewels in her coffin.

What kind of caring father is that? The audience certainly would not take to

this very kindly; and of course, Shylock has lost our pity once again.

Shylock makes himself even more despised by the audience in Act III,

scene 3, where he makes it clear to Antonio and to the audience that the penalty

of a pound of Antonio’s flesh will be collected. He continually says that he

will have his bond and that he has no reason to show mercy. (III.iii. 5-17)

More and more the audience begins to hate what Shylock does. He acts purely out

of law and shows no mercy towards Antonio.

Act IV, scene 1 is where the true shallowness and villainy of Shylock

becomes apparent. The others continually beg Shylock to show mercy, and he

refuses, because it is not so outlined in the bond. He continually looks to the

bond to dictate his behavior that it is ironic that it is the bond that

eventually destroys him. He goes from threatening somebody’s life because of

the bond, to being posed with death because of the same bond. And when he is in

the same position that Antonio was in, he is shown mercy when he himself would

show none. It would seem to the original audience that the most merciful act

was to make Shylock convert to Christianity, therefore saving his soul from

eternal damnation. But to Shylock, it is probably the worst punishment

conceivable because, after all, he would become what he hated most, a Christian.

Perhaps this is the comedy of this tragedy: the villain becomes what he loathes

most.

The sixteenth century audience would have definitely hated the character

of Shylock. It probably wouldn’t have been uncommon to hear boos and hisses

every time he came on stage in an original production. Probably the only time

when there wouldn’t have been jeers from the audience would have been in Act III,

scene 1; the ?Hath not a Jew eyes? speech. The sympathies of the audience were

definitely in full swing in this play, going back and forth between a little bit

of pity to a lot of hatred. Probably the most underlying quality of Shylock

that the audience hated most was his religion. Shylock was the embodiment of

all that was bad about Jews, how they killed Christ and the like. But still,

there had to have been some pity at some level from the audience.