Persecution and Violence in Shakespeare’s Shylock Penina Beede College

When a person suffers injustice for too long, it can often lead to blind rage. For the titular character of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, this rage leads Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who is accosted throughout the play for his “other”ness, to pursue justice by any means against those who treat him so poorly. At the top of Act three, Shylock is berated for pursuing his case against Antonio, a tradesman who has borrowed money from Shylock but is unable to repay the debt. Per the contract, Antonio is required to remove “a pound of flesh” in return for the unpaid debt. In his anger, Shylock rants against the unfairness of a system that persecutes him, and refuses to recognize his claims or desires for justice. The exaction of this contract is symbolic for Shylock in his anger-fueled pursuit of justice by any means possible. Shylock is portrayed as petty and seeking nothing but revenge, under a contract whose stipulations are nonsensical. However, upon close reading of his monologue at the beginning of act three, one can begin to understand that it is a matter of a more deeply rooted principal for Shylock. Shylock’s manner comes from a place of rage and frustration stemming from the persecution against him as a Jew, and the...