Merchant Of Venice: Shylock The Antagonist?
Beginning of paper
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In The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, there appears Shylock.
He is a Jew, that much we are told in the cast list. But, as the play
unfolds Shylock is seen to be the villian. He is protrayed as being cold,
unbending, and evil. But is he? Is Shylock really the antagonist in this
pl ....
Middle of paper
.... Here we see echos of Shylock with his usury. Finally the Jews
were ordered out of England in 1254 by Edward I. They did not return to
England until the later half of the seventeenth century. (Lippman 3-4) Jews
were also viewed as devils by Elizabeathan audiences. Old stories
portrayed them as "blood-thirsty murders" that poisoned wells and killed
Christian children for their bizarre Passover ritu! als. (Stirling 2:1)
These were the stereotypes which Shakespeare's audience h ....
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Word count: 972
Page count: 4 (approximately 250 words per page)
