Merchant of Venice post 1

The most interesting character to me was Shylock for reasons entirely connected to his religion. He fits the stereotypical mold of Judaism perfectly for the 16th century, but he is also made into an interesting character. From the outset, Shylock is already made to seem more virtuous than Antonio, and his anger towards the nobleman is completely justified. Shylock is at odds with a man that seeks to ruin one of his few avenues for profit, tarnish his reputation in the community, and then has the audacity to ask him for money, only to not return it and manipulate the court into punishing Shylock. He is a character that has seen hardship and prejudice come from a man that considers himself righteous. The reason I find this interesting is that this text came from 16th century England, where people were prejudiced against for being Catholic. If they would hold hatred against Christians like themselves, members of other religions were treated like dirt. Shakespeare writing a relatable Jewish character in his time is extremely strange, especially when considering that he did not shy away from insulting them in his writings. For example, In one of Benedick’s monologues in Much Ado About Nothing, he insults them, indicating that Shakespeare did not shy away from prejudice. It may seem small, but to insult the Jewish in one work and make interesting characters out of them in others is somewhat odd.