Summary:
"Whether Shylock is is the only unattractive character in the play, whether he was totally unattractive, and whether there were other unattractive characters is argued from two perspectives.
No, I disagree with the above statement to a large extent.
The above statement suggests two assumptions. Firstly, that Shylock is an unattractive character in the play. I agree with this assumption, but only to a certain extent. Secondly, the statement assumes that all the other characters in The Merchant of Venice are not unattractive, but kind and good. I disagree with this statement to a large extent.
This essay will put forward reasons why I agree and disagree with respective assumptions, as well as why I disagree with the question overall. It will also consider arguments supporting or opposing earlier assumptions.
It is true that Shylock is an unattractive character, the villain of the play, because he sought to kill Antonio in order to avenge himself. Therefore, I agree with this assumption.
Firstly, Shylock was taunting Antonio, and luring Antonio into a trap as he said, "O would be friends with you and have your love,/ Forget the shames that you have stained me with,/ Supply your present wants, and take no doit/ Of usance for my moneys, and you'll not hear me./ This is kind I offer." (1.3) He also continued to explain, "A pound of man's flesh taken from a man/ Is not so estimable, profitable neither,/ As flesh of muttons, beefs or goats." (1.3.160-2) Antonio, having been convinced by Shylock, agreed to the bond.
He was bloodthirsty as well. When he heard that Antonio's ships had sunk, Shylock said, "I am very glad of it. I'll plague him; I'll torture him. I am glad of it." (3.1.108-9) The quote shows his viciousness and his thirst to kill. During Act 4 Scene 1, Bassanio asked Shylock, "Why dost thou whet thy knife/ so earnestly"" Shylock was confident of victory, and he was going to enjoy cutting of Antonio's flesh.
Next, he was bent on seeking revenge. Even when faced with money and the great merchants of Venice, he refused to budge. "Twenty merchants,/ The Duke himself, and the magnificoes/ Of greatest port have all persuaded with him,/ But none can drive him from the envious plea/ Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond." (Solanio/3.2.280) "If every ducat in six thousand ducats/ Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,/ I would not draw them. I would have my bond." (Shylock/1.3.110-8)
Furthermore, he himself swore on his religion that he would have his bond. "And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn/ To have the due and forfeit of my bond." (Shylock/4.1.36-7) However, when Portia tried to plead with his religion by saying, "We do pray for mercy,/ And that same prayer doth teach us all to render/ The deeds of mercy." (4.1.99-101), he would not budge. In this way, the adamant Jew was going against his own religion, because in the seeking of revenge, he was breaking a Jewish law, and further supports that he is an unattractive character.
Shylock treated his daughter unfairly as well. He denied her the privilege of even looking out of her window, and watching a festive procession. "Hear you me, Jessica;/ Lock up my doors...Clamber not you up to the casements then,/ Nor thrust your head into the public street..." (2.5.28-32) This could almost be considered as child abuse. Shylock should not guard Jessica so strictly, and cause her to run away. It is evident that he did not understand his daughter, "My own flesh and blood to rebel!" (3.1)
However it can also be argued that Shylock's character was not totally unattractive. He was not only a bloodthirsty and comic villain, but he was also a victim who deserved sympathy.
Shylock was consistently insulted by the rest of the Christian community, especially Antonio, and this explained his thirst for revenge. He was treated unfairly by the Christians, and even abandoned by his own daughter. "You call me 'misbeliever', 'cut-throat dog',/ And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine;" (Shylock to Antonio/1.3.107-8)
Despite all the harsh treatment, the hypocritical Christians, namely Antonio and Bassanio, were confident of approaching Shylock to borrow money. "You say to me, 'Shylock, we would have your moneys.' You that did void your rheum upon my bread/ And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur/ Over your threshold." (Shylock/1.3.) Apparently, Shylock is bitter that he would be lending money to those who had hurt him before. Hence, his thirst for revenge is somewhat justified.
Shylock, being victimized, expressed his feeling of injustice, "Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? ... If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? If you wrong us, shall we not revenge"" Shylock voiced his bottled-up unhappiness and bitterness about persecution of Jews.
Jessica heartlessly abandoned him, and ran away with jewels and money, leaving Shylock in rage and loneliness. "My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!" (Solanio/2.8.15) Shylock does not believe that his own daughter would run away from him, as can be seen in: "My own flesh and blood to rebel!" (3.1) Although Shylock trusted Jessica, as can be seen from the fact that he would put his house in the care of Jessica, "Jessica my girl/ Look to my house." (2.5) Although Shylock restricted Jessica, and ordered her not even to look at a festive procession outside her house, this could be out of over-protectiveness for his daughter.
In running away, Jessica leaves Shylock alone and friendless, without love. Even though Tubal was a fellow Jew, he was not really Shylock's friend, for he did not seek to comfort Shylock, when Shylock said, " - and no satisfaction, no revenge, nor no ill luck stirring but what lights o'my shoulders, no sighs but o'my breathing, no tears but o'my shedding." (3.1.88-90) Tubal simply said, "Yes, other men have ill luck too." Tubal was also insensitive to Shylock, by telling Shylock about the turquoise ring that Jessica had sold for a monkey. "Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal. It/ was my turquoise. I had it of Leah when I was a/ bachelor. I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys." This shows that Shylock was capable of feeling love and hurt, that he was also a victim, deserving our sympathy, instead of an unattractive character.
Therefore, although Shylock did have a side to him that was worth sympathy, he was also a very unattractive character.
The second assumption is that Shylock is the only unattractive character, meaning that the other characters, like Antonio, Bassanio and Portia, are kind and good. However, many of Shakespeare's characters in The Merchant of Venice are double-sided. Therefore, I disagree to this assumption.
Firstly, Antonio is not as kind he is made out to be because he does many injustices to Shylock, like spitting upon him, insulting him at the Rialto and so on. In fact, when Shylock confronts him about these deeds in Act 1 Scene 3, he said, "I am as like to thee so again,/ To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too. (1.3.125-6) He also had the audacity to approach Shylock for money after all the things he had done to Shylock. "Well then, it now appears you need my help./ Go to, then. You come to me, and you say,/ 'Shylock, we would have moneys'" Shylock was obviously bitter.
Bassanio was not exactly the Elizabethan ideal that he was made out to be either--handsome, dashing, kind, rich... He was also an unattractive character because he bad-mouthed his friends, and was not very loyal. He said of Gratiano, "Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing." (1.1.114) In Act 1 Scene 3, when Antonio was about to seal to a very perilous bond with Shylock, Bassanio only tried to dissuade Antonio half-heartedly, with only 3 lines, one of which was "I like not fair terms and a villain's mind." Perhaps he was not very loyal to his friends. It is also possible that his relationship with Antonio is based on money, as can be seen by the fact that Bassanio continually approaches Antonio for money, "To you, Antonio, I owe the most in money and in love." (1.1)
He was also after Portia, mainly because of her riches, so that he could clear his debts. The first thing he said about Portia to Antonio was: "In Belmont is a lady richly left..." This showed that he was mercenary. He continuously borrowed money from Antonio, possibly taking advantage of Antonio's devotion to him. Bassanio was not trustworthy, because he gave away Portia's ring that he had sworn to keep with him always.
Portia, although rich and beautiful, was not an attractive character because she refused to let Shylock off even after he said, "Give me my principal and let me go in Act 4 Scene 1. "Soft!/ The Jew shall have all justice. Soft, no haste,/ He shall have nothing but the penalty." And "Tarry, Jew!/ The law hath yet another hold on you." Portia tried to seek Shylock's life. She was ruthless, and vicious, leading Shylock on initially, by saying "Why this bond is forfeit,/ And by this the Jew may claim/ A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off/ Nearest the merchant's heart." For almost a dozen times, Portia led Shylock to believe that he had won the court case, before turning the tables on him, and making his defeat worse.
However, I will not deny that Shylock is one of the most, or even the most, unattractive character in the play. The other characters were also kind, in their own way.
Antonio, in Act 4 Scene 1, returned the half of Shylock's fortune that would almost have been his. He only said, "So please my lord the Duke and all the court/ To quit the fine for one half of his goods... Two things provided more: that for this favour/ He presently become a Christian;" Antonio was also a devoted friend to Bassanio, by lending him money. "My purse, my person, my extremest means, lie all unlocked to your occasions."
Bassanio also showed his philosophical, deep nature in Act Three Scene 2, when he said, "So may the outward shows be least themselves;/ The world is still deceived with ornament... There is no vice so simple but assumes/ Some mark of virtue on his outward parts." (Lines 73-82). He was also honest to Portia, saying that he should have told her that he was "worse than nothing", for he had used Antonio's credit to get to Belmont to woo her.
Portia was kind too, because she was generous to Antonio, when she heard that he was in trouble, "Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond./ Double six thousand, and then treble that." (3.2.300-303) When she heard that Antonio was in trouble, she immediately rushed to Venice to save him, even to the extent of disguising as a man. She also did try to appeal to Shylock's merciful side, with her speech of mercy. "the quality of mercy is not strained./ It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,/ upon the place beneath. It is twice blest,/ It blesseth him who gives and him who takes..."
I would like to conclude that although Shylock is an unattractive character, many of the other characters also possess bad qualities, despite their false appearances and facades. Therefore, I disagree to a large extent that Shylock is the only unattractive character.
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