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 ixteenth 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. 07-130)
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! ind 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.
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 very 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.