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

The Dehumanization of loan shark in merchandiser of Venice       In Susan Pharrs The Common Elements of Oppression, she defines the separate as the outcast of society, the ones who stand up for what they believe in, no matter how against the grain it may be, the ones who try the hardest to earn acceptance, yet never receive it. In Shakespe atomic number 18s Merchant of Venice, Shylock, the villain is portrayed as the other simply because of his faith, because he is Jewish in a predominantly Christian society.   One way that Shylock is classified as the other was by being stripped of his name. Throughout the play, Shylock was very seldom referred to by name in the trial 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, dog Jew (II, viii, 14), and currish Jew (IV, i, 292)   Throughout the play, Shylock was often reduced to something other than Human. In man y cases, even the dim-witted 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 stony adversary, inhuman wretch (IV, i, 4-5). When the Christians applied these labels to Shylock, they effectively stripped him of his humanity, of his phantasmal 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 kind of devil, the devil himself, and the very devil incarnation. Shylocks own daughter compared Shylocks house to the pits (II, iii, 2). Salanio identif ies 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 association between Shylock and the devil by noting how Shylocks arguments remind him how The devil can cite scripture for his purpose (I, iii, 97-100).