英美文学论文

An Analysis of Shylock from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice Abstract:Shakespeare, the colossus in English literature, writes thirty-seven world-famous plays as well as one hundred and fifty-four universally appreciated sonnets during English Renaissance period. As we all know, The Merchant of Venice is one of the most outstanding comedies of Shakespeare. The story happened in Venice in 16th century. Shylock is a typical character in this play. He has long been regarded as a mean, cruel and inhuman usurer.Key words: Jews; Tragedy; Religion; ChristianMerchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. Shylock, the character in the play, has always been translated into a greedy, mean, cruel usurer. However, as time goes by, people become aware of the tragedy in the play.1.Introduction1.1 Introduction of ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was born in England. The world’s greatest poet and playwright who creates many lifelike characters, such as Hamlet, Romeo, Juliet, King Lear and Shylock. He is a famous actor, dramatist and poet during the English Renaissance. He is often referred to England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. Among Shakespeare’s plays, his comedies have enjoyed the great reputation both at home andabroad. Basically, comedies are shown in someone’s life.1.2 Historical BackgroundMerchant of Venice happened in Europe in 16th century. The situation of the society at that time was that Christian unified the whole country in the political, and the Roman church pitched that the Jews were an ethnic group which suffered disgustful. Jews were seen as the champion of all evils and became the prime target that could shift all contradictions in Europe.As economic, Jews were limited and expelled in employment and operation, and the property was often deprived innocently. Jews, prohibited to occupy the land in law in Europe, besides, Christian also forbade the Jews to work on Sunday, but according to the kosher Jews needn’t to operate on the Sabbath day. And they lived every day with the threat of deportation, the fluid or volatile world situation was familiar to them, thus they had lost a lot of opportunities to work.After manufacturing system established to European cities, they still felt restricted on manufacturing business. In the Late Middle Ages, the business capital had increased. Though meanwhile Jews had suffered much of limitation in trade, financial and so on. Europe’s rulers also limited the employment prescribed by income tax, and a variety of means such as fines and confiscation of property without cause to achieve the purpose of robbing the Jews.As cultural, Jews didn’t have freedom in religious belief, and all kinds of framed derived from religious discrimination and persecution from time to time. When Christians tried to change the religion of the Jews, if they couldn’t success, they would make religious persecution. 1.3 Introduction of The Merchant of VeniceIt describes that a poor gentlemen named Bassanio asks his rich friend Antonio for a loan of three thousand gold in order to go and court Portia. But Antonio’s wealth is all invested in commodities and vessels of foreign trade has no cash, so he asks Shylock, a Jewish usurer. Shylock has been ill-treated by Antonio and other Venetian gentlemen because he is a Jew, so he now agrees to the loan on condition that Antonio signs a bond agreeing to the forfeit, the loss of pound of flesh if the money is not returned on the appointed day. Bassanio wins Portia, but Antonio fails to repay Shylock. Antonio is threatened him a pound of his flesh, which naturally means the loss of his life. All efforts to persuade Shylock to forget the bond by accepting many times the money loaned are in vain. The play ends with Shylock’s failure.2.Shylock’s TragedyMerchant of Venice is a tragic comedy, disturbing tone is the focus of the party and Shylock’s financial. In most people’s minds, Shylock is a miserly and unfeeling usurer and what he thought all his life was to get money, the more the better. He thought nothing of friendship, love andbenevolence. For example, he did not allow his daughter to go out of the house and to be together with the person who was not a Jew. Actually Shylock did not allow his daughter to get touch with Christians.Shylock daughter Jessica, it is easy to romanticized—elopement, romantic journey to find true lover, an incredible villa, and abundant of fortune—fortune stolen from her dear old father Shylock. But we can’t ignore her shameful robbery from her father: a diamond worth 2,000 gold (“a diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort!”), and “other precious, precious jewels”. But Jessica seems not to care about the value of money. He told his daughter.“Hear you me. Jessica:Look up my doors: and when you hear the drum.And the vile squealing of the wiy—neckt fife.Clamber not you up to the casements then.Nor thrust you head into the public street.To gaze on Christian fools with varnish faces:But stop my house’s ear. I mean my casements:Let not the sound of shallow foppery enterMy sober house”(“The Merchant of V enice”, Act Ⅱ. Scene Ⅴ)However, when we know that the survival environment he lived, we could understand something about his performance. His daughter ranaway, with a Christian known at the party, and took away a large number of golds, which was very unbearable to him, although his method of education was obviously wrong what we can’t deny was that he loved his daughter very much.The Merchant of Venice is also a play about money. This isn’t surprising because the two settings (Venice is the banking center of early modern Europe) and the trade of the main characters (Antonio, and the eponymous merchant, Shylock, both are moneylenders). But the focus on finance is not limited to these professionals: all the characters are cared about money, whether through a poor or rich, and also affects their vocabulary, their attitudes, and their actions. Lines like:“The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder;Snail—slow in profit, and he sleeps by dayMore than the wild—cat: drones hive not with me;Therefore I part with him, and part with himTo one that would have him help to wasteHis borrow’d purse. Well, Jessica, go in;Perhaps I will return immediately:Do as I bid you; shut doors after you:Fast bind, fast bind;A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.”Console provides Shylock’s fiscal comfort himself the departure ofLauncelot by thinking he will save food bills. Shylock makes money by lending it at high interest rates and it seems never going to spend it. Therefore, when Launcelot is going to leave, he has no sad for it, or more exactly, whit sparks of pleasure.Although Shylock is wealthy, because he has no high birth, he could not change his businessmen and the status of the Jews. From the point of the whole piece, Shylock is hateful, at the same time he is lonely. In Venice, Shylock is a wealthy businessman, but suffered the world coldly, even his kindness Antonio can’t tolerate his existence, has repeatedly denounced him, let he insulted. But in today’s opinion, the kindness Antonio is not kind. As a typical representative of Christians, he has a fierce racial discrimination towards Shylock, which plays a very crucial part in his character built.He could change his attitude at once according to the change of his rival’s face. When Antonio asked Shylock the enemy’s money. Shylock only repeated “that three thousand ducats for three month” and really wanted to lend his money to his opponents who hated him very much. We thought he was a fool, in fact, he was very sly. He did in that way on purpose because he wanted to deceive his opponent. When Shylock accused Antonio scold him about his money and his usuries many times in the Rialto, Antonio, being very angry, did not want to borrow the money. Shylock changed his attitude at once and said.“Why, look you, how you storm!I would be friends with you, and have your love.Forget the shames that you have stain’d me with.Supply your present wants, and take no doitOf usance for my moneys.And you’ll not hear me: this is I offer.”His trick really worked. Antonio thought the Jew had really become kind and said. “Hie thee, gentle Jew. The Hebrew will turn Christian, he grows kind.”3.ConclusionThe Merchant of Venice is a contradictory play of Shakespeare. It certainly is one of the most provocative, of course, if not provocation, modern, history education’s terrible results anti-Jewish prejudice in the twentieth century. Processing analysis into the tragedy of Shylock and then puts forward some of the troubles and conflicts in the society at that time, such as religion, ethnic, economic, justice and suppression of the human nature. Shylock is a victim of the religious and racial discrimination. His meanness, cruelty and inhumanity partly because of the religious and political persecution. Therefore, it is time that today’s audiences should regard him more comprehensively and fairly.。