Free Essays - The Dehumanization of Shylock in Merchant of Venice :: Free Merchant of Venice Essays

The dehumanisation of shylock in Merchant of Venice       In Susan Pharrs The Common Elements of Oppression, she defines the new(prenominal) as the outcast of society, the ones who stand up for what they believe in, no depend how against the grain it may be, the ones who try the hardest to earn acceptance, yet never receive it. In Shakespeares Merchant of Venice, shylock, the villain is portrayed as the former(a) simply because of his faith, because he is Judaic in a predominantly Christian society.   One way that Shylock is classified as the other was by being stripped of his name. passim the play, Shylock was very seldom referred to by name in the examination scene, the Duke identifies him by name twice, and Portia does so once. During the rest of the play, Shylock is usually referred to as the Jew, pursue Jew (II, viii, 14), and currish Jew (IV, i, 292)   Throughout the play, Shylock was often reduced to something other than Human. In ma ny cases, even the simple title of Jew was stripped away, and Shylock was not a man, but an animal. For example, Gratiano curses Shylock with O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog (IV, i, 128) whose currish spirit governd a wolf (IV, i, 133-134) and whose desires are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous (IV, i, 137-138). Or when Shylock is neither a man nor an animal, he becomes a obdurate adversary, inhuman wretch (IV, i, 4-5). When the Christians applied these labels to Shylock, they effectively stripped him of his humanity, of his religious personal identity he was reduced to something other than human.   The Christians also labeled Shylock as explicitly equated with the Devil, which in a primarily Christian society remaining Shylock as the other. For example, in (II, ii, 24-28), Launcelot Gobbo identifies Shylock as a manikin of devil, the devil himself, and the very devil incarnation. Shylocks own daughter compared Shylocks reside to hell (II, iii, 2). Salani o identifies Shylock as the devil...in the likeness of a Jew (III, i, 19-21) and Bassanio echoes this sentiment by identifying Shylock as a cruel devil (IV, i, 217). Antonio further cements the link between Shylock and the devil by noting how Shylocks arguments remind him how The devil open fire cite scripture for his purpose (I, iii, 97-100).