13 Facts About Shylock

Shylock's characterisation is composed of stereotypes, for instance greediness and vengefulness, although there were no practising Jews who lived in England during Shakespearean England.

Shylock is a Jew who lends money to his Christian rival Antonio, setting the security at a pound of Antonio's flesh.

Shylock is then ordered to surrender half of his wealth and property to the state and the other half to Antonio.

Shylock is forced to agree to these terms, and he exits citing illness.

Jacob Adler and others report that the tradition of playing Shylock sympathetically began in the first half of the 19th century with Edmund Kean.

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Adler's Shylock evolved over the years he played the role, first as a stock Shakespearean villain, then as a man whose better nature was overcome by a desire for revenge, and finally as a man who operated not from revenge but from pride.

Shylock has insulted the Jew and spat on him, yet he comes with hypocritical politeness to borrow money of him.

One of the last shots of the film highlights that, as a convert, Shylock would have been cast out of the Jewish community in Venice, no longer allowed to live in the ghetto.

All of the marriages that ended The Merchant of Venice are unhappy, Antonio is an obsessive bore reminiscing about his escape from death, but Shylock, freed from religious prejudice, is richer than before and a close friend and confidante of the Doge.

Notable actors who have portrayed Shylock include Richard Burbage in the 16th century, Charles Macklin in 1741, Edmund Kean in 1814, William Charles Macready in 1840, Edwin Booth in 1861, Henry Irving in 1880, George Arliss in 1928, and John Gielgud in 1937.

Similarly, it is possible that Shakespeare meant Shylock's forced conversion to Christianity to be a "happy ending" for the character, as it 'redeems' Shylock both from his unbelief and his specific sin of wanting to kill Antonio.

Shylock's 'trial' at the end of the play is a mockery of justice, with Portia acting as a judge when she has no real right to do so.

Today the word Shylock is often used to refer to any "relentless and revengeful moneylender"; in fact, any relentless person.