Shylock: Villain or Victim?

Is Shylock a villain or a victim?

In Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice, readers can easily see Shylock as a villainous character as he wants to kill Antonio, who is another character in the play. However, when readers discover the reason that Shylock despises Antonio, it shows that Shylock seems to be enacting revenge out of anger and resentment. A deeper analysis of Shakespeare's play shows the harsh treatment that Antonio gives Shylock and begins presenting Shylock as a sympathetic character. Undoubtedly the treatment of Shylock does not atone for his actions, but it presents the audience with an interesting dilemma. Is Shylock's rage towards Antonio understandable or is Shylock a character that is more villainous than sympathetic?

In regards to villainy, Shylock seems to fit the persona quite well. He seems very similar to Scrooge, a character created by Charles Dickens, as he seems to only care about money. However, Scrooge was embittered and Shylock is wrathful and actively seeking revenge on the other characters. The villain theory regarding Shylock seems to fit in regards to his interactions with the other characters. He is asked to lend money to his enemy, Antonio, and takes advantage of the situation to begin his plan for revenge. Shylock demands a pound of Antonio's flesh if he is not able to pay back the amount due in 3 months. Readers and the other characters in the play alike are horrified in Act 3:1 when it seems Shylock will get his revenge on Antonio. However, Antonio is saved by Portia during the courtroom scene in Act 4:1. Characters can assume that if Portia did not intervene, Antonio would have been killed by Shylock. Shylock's hostile and angry demeanor towards not only Antonio but the other characters as well seem to support this theory of villainy. Shylock's interaction with his daughter, Jessica, presents an interesting twist to his character. He becomes angry at his daughter and states that he wishes she were dead. Whether Shylock spoke out of anger is uncertain, but it is clear that his character is full of rage. It is unclear why he is angry as he never sees his daughter again. However, the audience may wonder whether he is angry because she ran away and got married, stole from him or if he is angry because she converted to Christianity. Regardless, Shylock's estrangement to his daughter seems to be finalized when he discovers that she sold her mother's wedding ring and exchanged it for a monkey.

However, could Shylock also be a victim and a sympathetic character? Throughout the play, Shylock mentions the torment and harassment that he has endured by Antonio. Antonio shows his animosity towards Shylock throughout the entire play, pardon the courtroom scene when Antonio realized that he was at the mercy of the man he had tormented for years. While Shylock was victimized by Antonio and other characters like him, it does not excuse his abhorrent actions. However, the idea of Shylock as a victim and a character to be sympathized with does not occur until Act 3:1 when Shylock seems to appeal to the benevolence that other characters in the play lack when interacting with him. Conversely, Shylock finally shows why he is angry in the same scene as he explains to the audience how he has been treated by the other characters of the play. In Act 3:1, Shylock indicates that his anger towards Antonio is linked with his anger towards the years of mistreatment and the loss of his daughter. Later in Act 4:1, Shylock also appears to be victimized as half of his goods go to Antonio and the other half go to the city of Venice as consequence for attempting to kill Antonio. However, it can be argued that if Shylock did not steadfastly cling to getting revenge on Antonio, he would not have lost all that he had. 

I have included several version of Shylock's speech in Act 3:1 to demonstrate the seemingly dual nature of Shylock as both a villain and a victim. Shylock's dual nature has caused his speech in Act 3:1 to be performed in a number of ways, typically presenting Shylock as a victim or as a villain, but the first video shows him demonstrating both qualities. The second video portrays Shylock as a victim and shows a more modern performance of this play.

What do you think? Is Shylock a villain or a victim? It is easy to see that he has been presented by Shakespeare to have elements of both, but by the end of the play what do you think about Shylock? I encourage you to read the play and determine whether he falls into one category or the other or even both.