In The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, it is important to note that the title is not The Tragedy of the Merchant of Venice, but simply The Merchant of Venice . Although many people find it to be a rich tapestry of controversial topics, one has to wonder how many of these important topics were intentional and how many are projected onto the play by modern audiences. Shakespeare, above all, was a hacker. He was the Stephen King of his era, churning out plays at a breakneck pace. We must therefore be skeptical when we deepen the analysis of what really exists and what a contemporary reader evokes. Certainly, many people were moved to tears by “Hath not a Jew Eyes?” of Shylock. speech. Nonetheless, the play attempts to be whimsical and light-hearted, with the main conflict being, at best, a romantic comedy. The entire last act is a capricious bore about lost rings and Portia and Nerissa playing a stupid prank on their husbands, wildly juxtaposed out of place if one tries to view the preceding courtroom scene as a dead serious proceeding rather than as a farcical comedy. Shylock need not be either a comic villain or a tragic outcast; it is a means to an end. The audience's interpretation of it depends largely on how it is performed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay For a 16th-century audience, Shylock is probably quite funny. Dressed in the traditional clothing of Judas Iscariot and exhibiting stereotypically exaggerated, ethnically Jewish features, he was a clown that audiences laughed at before saying a word. We imagine him speaking with a funny/annoying accent and really playing on the comic aspect of his character. Indeed, since the public was probably mostly anti-Semitic, they were not going to identify with a Jew and were either going to hate him or make fun of him anyway. Many of his lines are also humorous, at least in a perverse (and decidedly non-politically correct) way. For example, Shylock predicts bad omens because he dreams of bags of money. For a people traditionally described as money-loving, coming from Shylock, this is a fun little stunt. In the same vein, when Jessica runs away, he also laments his ducats and his daughter. There is no doubt that the expression was humorous when relayed by the play's pranksters, Solario and Solanio. Although equivalent to Al Jolson's comedic style, one cannot deny the presence of these jokes simply because they make today's more "sensitive" audiences uncomfortable. Nevertheless, it can be pointed out that Shylock is a tragic outcast who is forced to accept his position. . Surely, all the other Christian characters treat him like a subhuman, kicking him, spitting on him, and insulting him. If we are constantly harangued by individuals, would we not end up (whatever our religious faith) becoming bitter towards them? Add to this the business competition that exists between Antonio and Shylock and the part of Shylock's business that Antonio steals so as not to charge interest, it is not surprising that he wishes to harm him. Karl Marx said: “It is not the consciousness of human beings which determines their being, but on the contrary their social being which determines their consciousness. » It can be said that Shylock adopted the stereotypes imposed on him by his peers. If our age constructs an archetype for us, we will strive to realize that character. A comparable example is the fact that the homosexual community, although filled with the same diversity as any human community,.