Shylock

• How does Shylock reflect wealth & power in the play?

  • “Ships are but boards, sailors but men” - A1S3 -> ships (made of wood back then) could break at sea
  • Approached by B (S = money lender, B looking for loan deal of 3000 ducats)
  • Based on A’s good name -> security
  • S wants to make sure that A pays back ducats & asks the quote
  • S listing out the reasons A banking on everything fine is not valid if shipwreck -> foreshadowing news A’s ships wrecked at sea and bankrupt
  • B reassures S that A’s income from ships at sea will help to pay off loan
• “Ships are but boards, sailors but men” - A1S3 - Word-level analysis

  • Sibilance of “ships” and sailors” -> attention to phrase & creates negative atmosphere of what is to come
  • Repetition of conjuction/connective “but” -> clear that this in particular important to text; draws eye of reader while simultaneously emphasising importance of the idea -> proves S to be a clever businessman by questioning B and A’s nonchalance -> explains why he is able to make money by asking ‘clever’ questions
• How does Shylock reflect prejudice & intolerance in the play?

  • “I hate him for he is a Christian” - A1S3
  • This is where we learn why Shylock hates Antonio
  • Hates him because Antonio is horrible to him but also because he is a Christian in general
• “I hate him for he is a Christian” - A1S3 - Word-level analysis

  • Alliteration in “hate”, “him”, and “he” -> shows the passion & intensity in Shylock’s anger against Antonio
  • Sets the tone of the play (prejudice), draws eye of reader & emphasises the phrase
  • The stark declarative sentence leaves the audience in no doubt about the depth of Shylock’s hatred. The reason for this hatred is evident in the sentence construction; the conjunction "for" links the two clauses together and shows how the hatred is inextricably linked to religion.
• How does Shylock reflect wealth & love?

  • “My own flesh & blood to rebel” -> A3S1
  • Shylock realises that Jessica hates him & has run away from him -> realises she has stolen his jewels & money & cannot believe it
• “My own flesh & blood to rebel” - A3S1 - Word-level analysis

  • Exclamatory sentence -> shows Shylock’s shock, can’t believe Jessica could betray him that way
  • “Flesh & blood” - metaphor -> draws attention of reader by engaging their imagination in the interpretation of the metaphor -> more manageable images in the readers mind, prompting engagement -> S alienated & isolated -> blood important to S as well, defining link between him and Jessica
  • Made to believe that blood binds Jessica to her father -> tries to betray their blood ties -> connection will continue, dictates her Jewish identity
• 2. How does Shylock reflect prejudice & intolerance?

  • “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?” A3S1 -> Why he hates A -> sympathy for S
  • Monologue -> provides audience w/ detail about a character + plot point -> explains & progress text’s storyline -> stating reasons ppl don’t like him which is simply down to the fact that he is a Jewish man -> expressing people dehumanise him -> makes us question why people would mistreat him based on their heritage/colour of skin
  • Reveals the stupidity of Antonio (+ others) treatment of Shylock based on his Jewish heritage
  • Society feels sympathy for his mistreatment
• “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?” A3S1 - Word level analysis

  • Simple sentence “I am a Jew” -> creates urgency -> realise how irrational society is just because he is Jew
  • Rhetorical “Hath not a Jew eyes?” -> subtly influences the reader & persuades argument -> prompts deeper thought in reader -> asking people why Jews aren’t humans like everyone (sub-human)
  • Repetition of the proper noun “Jew” -> motif -> repeating it, clear important to text -> draws eye of reader while simultaneously emphasising importance of the idea -> focus anti-Semitism from A + others -> Jew & can’t control it
• 2. How does Shylock reflect justice & mercy?

  • At the end, he realises that he isn’t going to get the pound of Antonio’s flesh -> therefore he ends settling for his 3000 ducats back
  • “Shall I not have barely my principal?” A4S1
• “Shall I not have barely my principal?” A4S1 - Word-level analysis

  • Assonance in “shall”, “have”, “barely” & “principal” -> rhythm in text & allows readers to interpret a sentence the way the author intended by making clear which vowel sound should be stressed
  • Shylock is asking for what is his -> being denied it -> he never gets that principal -> basically asking if he could at least receive back the money he loaned -> however never even gets it back, ends up losing more than that -> therefore, arguably, his money was stolen from him -> shows us that Shylock is very victimised in society
• What is principal?

  The original money that anybody that you’re loaning money from, that’s the original sum that they give you