Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Gayain Thomas

How does Shakespeare present Shylock’s feelings about the way he is
treated?
Write about:



How Shakespeare presents Shylock in this speech
How Shakespeare presents Shylock in the play as a whole

SHYLOCK
Signior Antonio, many a time and oft
In the Rialto you have rated me
About my moneys and my usances:
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe
...

Well then, it now appears you need my help:
Go to, then; you come to me, and you say
'Shylock, we would have moneys:' you say so;
You, that did void your rheum upon my beard
And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur
Over your threshold: moneys is your suit
What should I say to you? Should I not say
'Hath a dog money? is it possible
A cur can lend three thousand ducats?' Or
Shall I bend low and in a bondman's key,
With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this;
'Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn'd me such a day; another time
You call'd me dog; and for these courtesies
I'll lend you thus much moneys'?

Elizabethan audiences were very familiar with Jews being presented on the stage in a stereotypical
way, for example; they were viewed as misally, greedy, and were seen as inferior to Christians
...
Shakespeare, however,
portrayed Jews in a more equal light to the Christians, showing that Shylock was a human being,
rather than simply being defined by his religion
...
Shylock’s speech
starts with him reminding Antonio that “many a time and oft” he has “rated me about my monies
and my usances
...
Jews only charged extra because it was the only way that they
could make a living: as they were unable to get jobs, own property, live outside of Jewish ghettos, or
have the same freedoms as Christians
...


Gayain Thomas
Shylock then goes on to say “for suff’rance is the badge of all our tribe” in reference to the way that
all Jews had been mocked and condemned as a whole race, rather than individual people
...
At the time the play was
written, Jews had already been exiled in England, and Shakespeare refers to that here
...

On the next line, Shylock says “you call me misbeliever, cut throat-dog” which brings light to how all
Christians thought that Jews believed in the ‘wrong’ religion
...
The use of the expression “cut-throat dog” also shows how Christians tended to dehumanise
Shylock, and disregard him
...
It
also shows how they thought of him as merciless and violent, much similar to a wild dog – chaotic
and unable to control himself
...
It is a “Jewish gabardine” which suggests that they were metaphorically
spitting on his ‘Jewishness’
...
His money, his job, his clothes – why did they have e the
authority to criticise the way he lives? He also says “well then, it now appears you need my help” in
reference to how they spat on him and called him names, but asked for his help when they were in
need of it
...
They were only ‘pleasant’ to him when they wanted something
...
It is his way of mocking their double
standards against him, and being able to call them out on it and make fun of them
...
It is him reminding Antonio
and Bassanio that they changed their minds and went to him, but only once it suited them
...
This scene shows that Shylock is
skilled at manipulating other people’s feelings; he is attempting to make Antonio feel shame and
embarrassment, and even guilt towards how he treated Shylock
...
As before, they are calling Shylock a dog, as if he
was a wild and chaotic animal
...
He then says “over your threshold” which shows
how Shylock does not believe that he belongs, and how segregated he feels from the Christians
...
He is throwing
all of their arguments back against them
...
It could also show how the
Christians treat Shylock as if he were a slave, and less than he was; almost like they were trying to
oppress him
...


Gayain Thomas
Shylock then says “fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last” that implies that, despite them having
degraded and ‘ruined’ him, he would still be willing to lend them the money
...
They called him “dog” and
“cur”, yet he was still polite and lent them money
...
Gratiano says to Lorenzo “now, by my hood, a gentle and no Jew” whilst
she was gathering more of Shylock’s money
...
Gratiano says that she is too kind to be a
Jew, as if either of those things had any correlation
...

There is also the point in the trial scene, when Portia begs Shylock to be merciful, but he retorts back
“by my soul I swear there is no power in the tongue of man to alter me”, which says a lot about his
character
...
He refuses to show any mercy,
and will not change his mind no matter what anyone tells him
...

Another example is during “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?” Shakespeare here is trying to point out to everyone, that despite different beliefs or
lifestyles, everyone is human and fundamentally the same
...
Christians are so hateful towards the Jews, yet are of the same species and life, simply
having separate beliefs
...
” They are
saying that it would be impossible to soften his Jewish heart, emphasis on the Jewish
...

A final example is during the end of the trial scene, where Shylock’s sentence is decided, and
Antonio says “I only ask two more things
...
”
Shakespeare is showing how much of an issue Shylock’s religion is to the Christians
...
This was purposeful, as it shows how easy it was for the
Christians – the people in power – to harm Jews
...

Shylock was judged and blamed for his religion, a hurt that ultimately led him to an attempted
murder
...
All of their lives revolved around their religions: where they

Gayain Thomas
live, what they learn, who they socialise with, their careers, etc
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