How does Shakespeare purposefully construct Shylock in the opening Act of the
Play? (18 minutes timed writing)
Shakespeare uses the opening act of his play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ to
purposefully construct Shylock as an avaricious Jewish stereotype, drawing on the
power of storytelling to elucidate the individual impact of collective
marginalisation on the literary ‘other’. Shakespeare introduces Shylock in media
res as a shrewd and greedy businessman using the stage direction as ‘The Jew’ to
symbolically mark his difference from the Christian characters, using the
homogenising term ‘Jew’ to dehumanise Shylock and thus the Jewish collective.
This mark of difference is furthered through the animosity of the dialogue where
Shylock states “ I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you” where
the negative tricolonic statements emphasise Shylock’s unwillingness to engage in
activities that are friendly or cordial. Shakespeare draws upon stereotypes to
establish Shylock as manipulative and vindictive, the vice archetype, as he uses an
aside in which Shylock states “I hate him for he is Christian” and then furthers this
emotive language through the metaphor “I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear
him.” Here, the conjuring of the collective experience of marginalisation is
elucidated as Shakespeare alludes to the long lasting conflict that exists between
the two groups. Interestingly however, through a revisionist lens, Shakespeare’s
attempt to humanise Shylock is seen through Antonio’s hypocritical and vengeful
behaviour towards Shylock as Shylock laments that he has been called
“misbeliever, cut throat dog” and Antonio has “spet upon my Jewish garbedine”.
The cumulative dehumanising imagery and negative experiences that Shylock
expresses creates pathos for the responder who note his attempts to “be friends
with you and have your love”. Despite this, Anotio, representative of the
Elizabethan audiences xenophobic views, rejects these attempts at reconciliation
and asserts that he will be “ as like to… spit on thee again.. Spurn thee too”. It is
here that Shakespeaere’s purposeful construction of Shylock as paradoxically a
villain and a victim is realised as the responder sees the enduring impact of
marginalisation on the subaltern’s identity. Ultimately, Shakespeare constructs
Shylock as representative of the collective marginalised experience of the ‘other’
and posits that an individual’s identity can be systematically eroded by constant
dehumanisation.
