Religion and Shakespeare’s Intentions in The Merchant of Venice

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice portrays anti-Semitism prominently throughout the plays entirety yet does not take any firm stance on the matter. Instead Shakespeare simply demonstrates a realistic scenario representative of the time with characters on either side of the debate, that is, with the “other” Jew in Shylock and the anti-Semitism Christians in Antonio and his crew. Shakespeare was clearly contemplating the complexities of religion himself and his play simply reflects the true tensions of anti-Semitism of the time and would have sparked a conversation about whether or not it was okay. This is exemplified in many instances and most notably in one of the biggest critiques of the play, which is that Shakespeare never points towards one side or the other as right or better, both sides equally mess up in numerous ways and treat the other wrong and the audience is left struggling to feel sympathetic towards anyone at all in the play by its end and wondering if Shakespeare actually did anything important; and I believe he did.

If Shakespeare were trying to say anti-Semitism was wrong, he would not have made Shylock a somewhat hard figure to sympathize with and if he were trying to perpetuate anti-Semitism, he would not have made Antonio and co treat Shylock so terribly that the audience struggles to sympathize with them as well. Even Portia, who I first saw as an awesome, smart, standout woman across all of Shakespeare’s plays, has major flaws as she manipulates the justice system against Shylock in order to serve Antonio as well as engaging in the problems of racial tension of this time, as seen in the lines, “A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go. / Let all of his complexion choose me so” (Shakespeare 2.7.78-79). Essentially all the characters are majorly flawed in one way or another, but despite this, the way that Shylock is treated in this play is still simply infuriating. Ostracized for his religion and eventually forced to convert to Christianity after, admittedly rather intensely seeking revenge, Shylock may be majorly flawed but that does not excuse how he is mistreated simply because of his religion. Because Shylock so strongly dislikes Antonio, which is really Antonio’s fault as he treats Shylock terribly because of his religion, he says to Antonio that if he does not pay off the loan for Bassanio by the deadline he must give him, “...an equal pound / of [his] fair flesh, to be cut off and taken / In what part of your body pleaseth [him]” (Shakespeare 1.3.141-143). This is, uh, really rather intense, but despite this it does serve to illuminate a couple of important things. One is how intensely Shylock feels the need for revenge because of how terribly Antonio treats him, however it most importantly illuminates that because Shylock does not have the money and must borrow it, he is being a smart businessman and believes requesting a pound of flesh as a threat will ensure Antonio does indeed deliver. Shylock really did not know what would come to pass and thus never really had an original intention of attempting to kill Antonio as much as he does dislike him, it was never about that, instead it was simply about justice and getting what he was rightfully owed.

Antonio would have been doomed to actually have to give Shylock a pound of his flesh if not for Portia, who basically manipulates the entire trial in Antonio’s favor and leaves Shylock with nothing, or rather even less than nothing as he is even stripped of his religion and thus his dignity as well. Overall, though, it is quite sad and frustrating that basically every character has a happy ending except for Shylock. Shylock was majorly flawed, but no more so than every other character in the play, which is important because it majorly contributes to the evidence that Shakespeare sought simply to start a conversation with this play as the audience is left disliking Antonio and his friends and, despite his flaws and generally disliking him, feeling like Shylock was cheated, mistreated, and deserved justice. Shylock deserved some form of happy resolution after everything he went through because as he says,

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimen-

sions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the

same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means,

warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If

you prick us, do we not bleed? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If

we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a

Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew,

what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The

villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I

will better the instruction. (Shakespeare 3.1.44-54).

This passage is probably the most powerful one in the entire play. Shylock is stating here that despite the difference in religion or any other difference for that matter, he is a human too. This passage can really apply to so many different circumstances because at the end of the day no matter what differences there are everyone is, as Shylock says, truly the same in that everyone is human. Shylock is definitely not right to ask for a pound of flesh, and he gets overly greedy and temperamental at times, but he was not expecting Antonio not to be able to follow through and at the heart of it he just wanted justice for being mistreated as Antonio messed up too, especially in forcing Shylock to convert to Christianity and cheating him out of their deal after Shylock willingly made an agreement with a man he disliked in the first place.

Similarly to Marlowe’s portrayal of Barabas in The Jew of Malta, Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock is noticeably severe, but also just like Barabas, Shylock does not deserve to be treated so horribly. Both men are made out to be overly extreme at times and commit very questionable acts yet everything bad they do really is caused, directly or indirectly, by the poor treatment of them by others. Barabas and Shylock are treated as “others” and in doing so they are pushed to do things they would never have done otherwise, for example, how Shylock actually attempts to follow through with getting a pound of Antonio’s flesh. All Shylock really meant to do when he first originally asked Antonio to agree to giving him a pound of flesh as penance if he could not pay was to make him afraid because he wanted to ensure that he did good business. This becomes quite clear when Shylock states,

Pray you, tell me this:

If he should break his day, what should I gain

By the exaction of the forfeiture?

A pound of man's flesh taken from a man

Is not so estimable, profitable neither,

As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say

To buy his favour, I extend this friendship.

If he will take it, so; if not, adieu.

And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not. (Shakespeare 1.3.154-162)

Shylock makes it very clear here that a pound of a person's flesh is not profitable in the least, that his goal is not in the least to actually take a pound of Antonio’s flesh, instead he is simply trying to ensure Antonio holds up his end of the deal. Throughout the entirety of the play Shylock is really just seeking fair treatment and justice and it is quite disheartening that every other character gets their happy ending except him, instead he is literally stripped of everything, is not paid anything by Antonio, and is even forced to convert to a Christian.

The awful treatment and unfair end Shylock endures causes many to believe Shakespeare meant to endorse anti-Semitism but I believe what it really comes down to is that Shakespeare himself was conflicted and thinking about it and thus his play too reflects the realness of the time and the realness of what was going on in his own mind and the mind of those around him. By addressing and confronting the real problems created by both religious parties during this time, Shakespeare creates a play that would have caused the audience to internalize and introspect on the issue of anti-Semitism and Christian hypocrisy and hopefully pushed them, along with himself, to take a look in the mirror and realize that there were problems that needed fixing on both sides. The play paints both religions in a harsh light and ends with no sense of justice for Shylock and an overall dislike towards both him and the other characters as well but in doing so it creates a complex narrative that nearly every reader interprets differently and ignites a conversation about Shakespeare's true intentions with this play along with igniting the audience to look at the world around them and wonder if the problems onstage were reflective of those in their real lives.