Shylock: Villain or Victim?

In our class discussion today, I realized that throughout the play, “The Merchant of Venice,” Shylock’s behavior in different scenes makes him look like a villain, but also a victim. In Act 1, Scene 3, Shylock can be viewed as both a victim and a villain. Shylock is speaking to Bassanio, and says, “How like a fawning publican he looks/I hate him for he is a Christian;/But more, for that in low simplicity/He lends out money gratis, and brings down/ The rate of usance here with us in Venice” (1.3.36-40). He is speaking about Antonio, and this makes him look like a villain because he’s thinking about how to get more money back than he had lent, and getting it back sooner than planned.

Later in the scene, Shylock is seen as a victim. Shylock speaks about the things Antonio has said to him in the past:“Signor 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 suff ‘rance is the badge of all our trive./You call me misbeliever, cut-throat, dog./And spit upon my Jewish gabardine” (1.3.102-105). This shows us that Antonio had verbally abused Shylock in the past, and he doesn’t deny it, but actually threatens Shylock again when he says, “I am as like to call thee so again,/To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too” (1.3125-126).

Also in this scene, Antonio admits to saying all these terrible things about Shylock mainly because Shylock resented him because he lent money without charging interest. Shylock could be seen as a villain here because he charges high interest causing others to be poor so he could be wealthy, while Antonio, who lent money without interest, could be seen as a charitable Christian. Shylock tells Antonio, “If you repay me not on such a day,/In such a place, such sum or sums as are/Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit,/Be nominated for an equal pound/Of your fair flesh to be cut off and taken/In what part of your body pleaseth me” (1.3.141-147). This makes Shylock look like a villain again because he’s willing to take Antonio’s flesh, even though this could kill him.

So far in the play, I find Shylock to be more of a villain than a victim, but I still have sympathy for him. I think his villainous acts are mainly because of the way he was treated in the past for being a Jew. I wonder if my views on him will shift throughout the play, and his villainous acts will overcome my sympathy for him.