Friday, August 12, 2011

Do you think that Shakespeare is biased in terms of the portrayal of the main characters in The Merchant of Venice?

I do not think that Shakespeare is biased in terms of his portrayal of Shylock who is as a greedy miser who is selfish. He is portrayed as a evil person with his pursuit of his "pound of flesh". However, Shakespeare evoke sympathy within the readers for Shylock who is being discriminated due to his race. Shylock looked down upon, verbally abused by Antonio in the trial.He is constantly being treated as an outcast. This explains his hatred towards Christianity. Shylock directs it to Antonio for it is Antonio who he has a personal grudge with. 


Apart from that, Antonio who is the "good guy" in The Merchant of Venice is depicted to be someone who is loyal to Bassanio, as he does not mind losing a pound of his own flesh to help Bassanio gain Portia's hand in marriage. While Antonio seemed to be a gentleman most of the story, however, that image of him, is destroyed when he verbally abused Shylock in court.

Therefore, I find that Shakespeare is not biased as he shows both sides of the main characters in The Merchant of Venice.

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