The Analysis of Shylock1_Analysis
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The Analysis of Shylock’s Tragedy---from the Perspective of
Existentialism
The Merchant of Venice is an appealing and famous play written by Shakespeare in 1596, which is the masterpiece of the second period of his work.In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio, setting the bond at a pound of Antonio's flesh.When a bankrupt Antonio defaults on the loan, Shylock demands the pound of flesh, as revenge for Antonio having previously insulted and spat on him.Meanwhile, his daughter, Jeica, elopes with Antonio's friend Lorenzo and becomes a Christian, further fueling Shylock's rage.Since that the merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies in the world.While Shylock is a claical figure and analyzed again and again.The eay will analyze Shylock’s tragedy from the perspective of existentialism.First of all, we now need to consider what the existentialism is.Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniquene and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and strees freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.In addition, Existentialism inherits Nietzsche on the thought that person is a becoming;not a being, and they also regard art as a panacea which can save moderns from the diimilation.To be brief, at that time, people in the modern western word are isolated and alienated.In addition, the world is indifferent and absurd.The analysis can be divided into two aspects.On one hand, in order to live, many Jews begin to engage in usury.“Take my life too!My money and goods are as dear to me as life itself.They are my only comfort.When you take those away from me, you also take my life.” In this line, it shows Shylock accumulates as much wealth as he can, no matter how cruel it is.But this behavior made Christian have more reasons to scorn them.There is no doubt that Shylock is an oppreed person.Because of the illegal law system, he was treated as another kind of people.On the other hand, the aim for Shylock to do so is that he is seeking for identity and he is eager to gain the respect.However, he has a misunderstanding about the liberty.In his mind, liberty is the freedom of deed.And he insists on the pound of flesh and violates other’s freedom.What’s worse, he hates his daughter when she steals his money.Shylock just pay attention to how
much money he has rather then the emotion with his daughter.He doesn’t aume responsibility as a father and he is lonely without a true friend.As a Jew, Shylock was born on the sacred contract with extraordinary dedication.Jewish is famous for their emphasis on contract in the world.They have also been the first sub-contract signed with God, “the Old Testament” and are proud of it.Besides, in the long history of doing busine in this religion gradually penetrates into their daily life, the formation of a strong contract consciousne.Shylock demands his pound of flesh according to the contract, according to the contract and stick work, in order to legal justice, which is one of the typical Jewish moralities.As a conclusion, when we think of Shylock, we have to say it is a tragedy.The alienated man with an indifferent world is bound to result in Shylock being a tragic figure.He fights against the oppreed forces;however, he finally loses the lawsuit.Even worse, he gives in Christianity, becomes a Christ and is deprived him of his freedom of religious belief.In a fact, Shylock loses everything in the end.But in another aspect, he also deserves our sympathy, and he is just in racial oppreion.And standing in the other side, Shylock is not resentful, to some extent, he is just the product of the society, which makes him a selfish, indifferent and greed person.
