To What Extent Does Shakespeare Present Shylock As A Victim?
To what extent does Shakespeare present Shylock as a victim?
In the ‘Merchant of Venice’ Shakespeare makes it very difficult for us to define who is the victim and who is the villain as certain characters, such as Shylock reveal many personalities and therefore portray elements of both the victim and the villain.
We are first introduced to Shylock in Act 1 scene 3. In this scene it is quickly made apparent that Shlyock enjoys power, especially over Bassanio and likes watching him suffer. This is shown in the opening lines when Shylock repeats “Antonio shall be bound”,this suggests that Shylock gets some enjoyment and power from the potential risk that Bassanio and Antonio are faced with when doing business with him. We can also tell this
In the ‘Merchant of Venice’ Shakespeare makes it very difficult for us to define who is the victim and who is the villain as certain characters, such as Shylock reveal many personalities and therefore portray elements of both the victim and the villain.
We are first introduced to Shylock in Act 1 scene 3. In this scene it is quickly made apparent that Shlyock enjoys power, especially over Bassanio and likes watching him suffer. This is shown in the opening lines when Shylock repeats “Antonio shall be bound”,this suggests that Shylock gets some enjoyment and power from the potential risk that Bassanio and Antonio are faced with when doing business with him. We can also tell this