The Merchant of Venice Composition ‘Shylock was justified in taking revenge on Antonio. ‘ Do you really agree? In ‘The Vendor of Venice’ by William Shakespeare, Shylock the Jew is usually portrayed since the antagonist of the history. Cunning, hostile and cruel are phrases you may use for describe this malicious personality, but really does he seriously deserve this reputation? After the reference to Shylock, the old saying ‘Never assess a book by its cover’ comes to mind.
Though Shylock is seen as a vicious and spiteful character, if perhaps one takes the time to significantly analyze the storyline, you will find that Shylock’s behavior is certainly not without explanation.
Under the conditions that acquired befallen him, it is relatively typical that Shylock would wish to seek revenge towards Antonio, seeing as Antonio had not cured Shylock amiably in the past, calling him ‘cut throat dog’ and even heading as far as to spitting in the Jewish attire. But Shylock did take those whole ‘revenge’ factor a tad too far, and the most, if only a few people would agree that his desire for revenge must not be justified.
Yet , there are always two sides to each story, and i also believe that in such a case, not many persons take Shylock’s side in the story into enough consideration. I believe that if one takes you a chance to analyze the situation thoroughly devoid of showing favour for either sides, you can realize that Shylock has not produced any unfair demands towards Antonio. Searching further in the matter, it really is seen that Shylock and Antonio had been both business men, and they had fixed a contract, obviously outlining the bond, as well including the chilling results of the broken bond.
As Antonio was a well-known business guy, he knew exactly what happens to him if this individual did not return the money by due date, but he was thus certain that his ships can be back ahead of the given period that this individual did not think much regarding the risk and danger he was putting him self into by simply agreeing towards the bond. As Antonio realized the consequences he’d face from the moment he authorized the connection, he is legally and correctly bound to this. So from this level of perspective, you can see that this situation is in Shylock’s prefer, as he is usually not one who has cracked the bond.
From this viewpoint of view, it is clear that it is Antonio and his guy friends who have refuse to uphold the deals in the bond. In this case, it is only fair that Shylock will need to enforce the bond, no matter how cruel, while the vengeance was legally his. During the trial, it was revealed that Shylock was going through a difficult time, not simply with Antonio, but in addition to of his only daughter Jessica, who had eloped with Lorenzo, a Christian.
The moment she still left, she also required a large amount of his riches with her, causing Shylock losing both his daughter and a significant portion of his prosperity. After this traumatizing event, Shylock’s loathing to Christians would have risen substantially, since this individual strongly thought that he previously been wronged, and that his daughter’s undutiful behavior was caused by her Christian spouse. This attitude and state of mind may possess very likely offered towards his unmoving thirst for revenge against Antonio and his many other Christians.
From your court picture, it can be viewed that Shylock was incredibly determined to uphold legislation of Venice, and refused to damage the connect even when provided double, also triple with the original amount of money owed. This kind of shows that although he offers ulterior purposes to denying the extra repayment, he usually takes contracts critically and is without a doubt ‘a guy of his word’. He also completely agrees with all of Portia’s assertions and understanding, despite the fact that she’s also a Christian, and seemed to particularly get pleasure from her claims regarding the satisfaction of his bond with Antonio.
All in all, I personally think that Shylock’s persona in The Service provider of Venice has not been provided full justice, especially regarding the bond between himself and Antonio. As well as I have mentioned before, his malicious habit can be followed back to several events in his life, and he is certainly not seeking revenge without sound evidence, in fact it is Antonio that hides from his responsibilities regarding the damaged bond. Shylock is a very great example which the saying ‘Never judge an e book by it is cover’ can be proven to be totally accurate.
