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| The actor who plays Shylock in the BBC adaptation (and apparently the radio voice). |
So when I first started reading Merchant of Venice it was pretty black and white who was who. Shylock's the villain, and Antonio and Bassanio the good guys. Then as I got a little farther into it, my perception flipped. I actually felt bad for Shylock. His daughter ran away with a Christian and took all his money, Antonio humiliates him in public, and his servant runs away to work for Bassanio. Antonio starts to look like the guys who gets whatever he wants, and no one likes that. But then there was a court scene, and Shylock is demanding a pound of Antonio's flesh to repay a debt and refuses to have mercy, which kinda heads back towards the villain status, and Antonio is so sad, just wanting to see his best friend before he has to die. So then I thought, ah-ha!, Shylock is the bad guy, and this court scene proves it. But by the end of that same scene Bassanio's wife, disguised as a lawyer, has tricked Shylock out of demanding Antonio's death and Shylock pretty much loses everything. They take away all that he owns and give back half on the conditions that he turn from Jew to Christian and, when he dies, give everything to his daughter who has run away with a gentile. I feel so bad for him. I mean sure, he wanted to kill the protagonist, but "Nay, take my life and all" is the line of a pretty beaten down man.
So the moral of the story is I don't know who I'm supposed to be happy or sad for in this comedy of sorts. Sure, I know Shakespeare intended for his crowd to hate the Jew and be glad he got such a harsh punishment, but I just don't know that he deserved it. And the movie didn't help, he was such a cute little, old Jewish guy with his Jewish hat and thick Hebrew accent. And all the other guys seemed kind of pompous to me.. Perhaps the BBC production wanted to be more open about who's side to be on. Anyway.... If you're still reading this long rant, thank you. I guess the point is that I really loved this play, but loving something doesn't mean I completely understand it. So maybe next week my thoughts will be a little more coherent. Until then, Hakuna Mutata:)
acorkin | October 18, 2011 at 9:32 AM
EXACTLY my thoughts on the matter! I'm not sure at all Shakespeare wasn't (double negative sorry) trying to make a statement on how ridiculous stereotypes and prejudices are. He veiled it so that people who wanted to hate jews could, but people who had enough sympathy could see maybe some error in that thinking... I think he was perchance writing for a next generation, with more ability to see through prejudice...?