When it comes to Merchant of Venice, one of the four comedies written by William Shakespeare. The most impressive image might be Shylock, a mean Jew with miser feature. However, after checking relevant historical documents, I have some different view on the best known mean Shylock and the famous “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech.
If you know something about the existence of anti-semitism at that background, you may understand the reason why Shylock was that mean and answer the question that why Jews used to practice usury. At the beginning of the film, there's a brief introduction: Intolerance of the Jews was a fact of 16th Century life even in Venice, the most powerful and liberal city state in Europe. The Jews were forbidden to own property. So they practiced usury, the lending of money at interest. The Jews had no other ways of making a living besides practicing usury. That special background explain Shylock's miser feature.
The anti-semitism can be traced back to Christian's slander upon Judaism. In medieval Europe, the Jews were accused of killing God. They were banished, persecuted and even massacred. So it is not strange that Shylock was deprived of his property and compelled to convert to Christianity became a happy ending and symbolized righteous.
For Antonio and Bassanio, this play is for sure a comedy. But for Shylock, especially from the contemporary point of view, he was a feature with tragic color. He believed the justice of The Law of Venice, but the law did not protect him . At the beginning of the movie, Shylock was spitted by Antonio, the so-called kindest person in the world, just for the reason that he wanted to say a world to Antonio. Antonio was so arrogant even when he needed to borrow money from Shylock. Besides that, his daughter eloped with a Christian, which pushed him to despair. So couldn't he hate these sanctimonious men? According to their agreement, he asked for only a pound of fresh of Antonio, even refused twice the money they offered. So was Shylock really care about fortune? The answer is no. As the dialogue in the movie : You have among you many a purchased slave,which like your asses and your dogs and mules you use in abject and in slavish parts because you bought them. Shall I say to you “Let them be free!” “Marry them to your heirs!” Why sweat they under burdens? Let their Their palates seasoned with your food! You will answer “The slaves are ours.” So do I answer you. The pound of flesh that I demand of him is dearly bought. ' Tis mine! Tis mine beds .' Only in this part, I haven't seen a miser completely. Instead I saw a fighter against racial discrimination and religious persecution. Together with the “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech, the point of view seemed to be better proved .” Why sweat they under burdens? Let their beds be made as soft as yours! Their palates seasoned with your food! You will answer “The slaves are ours.” So do I answer you. The pound of flesh that I demand of him is dearly bought. ' Tis mine! Tis mine.' Only in this part, I haven't seen a miser completely. Instead I saw a fighter against racial discrimination and religious persecution. Together with the “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech, the point of view seemed to be better proved.” Why sweat they under burdens? Let their beds be made as soft as yours! Their palates seasoned with your food! You will answer “The slaves are ours.” So do I answer you. The pound of flesh that I demand of him is dearly bought. ' Tis mine! Tis mine.' Only in this part, I haven't seen a miser completely. Instead I saw a fighter against racial discrimination and religious persecution. Together with the “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech, the point of view seemed to be better proved.Together with the “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech, the point of view seemed to be better proved.Together with the “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech, the point of view seemed to be better proved.
Al Pacino, who played the part of Shylock, is one of my favorite actors. When he said the lines: 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 wrong us, shall we not revenge? I was deeply moved. In this movie, Shylock is a round character, so is everyone else. There's no totally good person or totally bad person. For Shylock, the era made his mean character. But once again I wanna to express my admirer for his courage to fight against discrimination.
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