-
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
摘要
《威尼斯商人》是莎士比亚著名喜剧之一，而剧中的夏洛克更是一个经典形象，被人
们一
次次的分析。以前，尤其是
16
世纪，许多人认为夏洛克贪婪、
自私、残酷、狡猾，
而他的结局正是这部戏剧称为喜剧的一个原因。但是随着时间的发展
，人们开始重新认识
夏洛克，发现从夏洛克角度看是一个悲剧。夏洛克还有一些以前没被
人们发现的特征：聪
明、坦诚、勇敢、富有民族精神，这些特征慢慢地被人们发现。另外
，论文分析了造成夏
洛克悲剧结局的原因。
< br>关键词：
夏洛克；宗教；法律；历史；悲剧
I
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
Abstract
The Merchant of
Venice
is
one of
Shakespe
are‘s most famous comedy
in
the world. While
Shylock
is
a
classical
figure
and
analyzed
again
and
again.
Before,
especially
in16
th
century,
many people think Shylock was a greedy,
selfish, cruel and so on, and his final result is
a reason
that
this
play
is
called
comedy.
As
times
goes
by,
people
begin
to
re-
analyze
Shylock.
They
found when we analyze this play from
Shylock
‘
s angle, it is a
tragedy. Shylock also has other
characters which was not discovered
before and gradually accepted now, such as:
clever, frank,
courageous,
rich
national
spirit.
In
addition,
this
paper
talk
some
reasons
why
Shylock
had
a
tragic result.
Key
words:
Shylock, Religion, Law, History,
Tragedy
II
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
Contents
Background
< br>............................................... .......
1
1.1 The
History of the Jewish
.
.....
.....................................
1
1.2 The Jewish
Question Reflected in
The Merchant of
Venice
.
............
2
Analysis of
Shylock
’
s
Characters
...............................
3
2.1 Hateful
Shylock
.
...................
.................................
3
2.2 Different
Shylock
–
from another angle
.
...........................
..
4
Reasons
that Cause Shylock have Diversified
Character
.......
6
3.1 Religion
.
.............................
..............................
6
3.2 Law
.
.................................
..............................
8
3.3 Social and
Economic Factors
.
..........
..............................
9
3.4 Family and
other Reasons
.
.............
.............................
10
sion
.
..................................................
..........
12
Notes
...........
..................................................
........
13
Bibliography
.
..........................................
..................
14
Acknowledgements
..................................................
......
15
Ⅲ
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
My Evil Not My Fault
——
An Analysis of the Image
of Shylock
Background
1.1
The History of the Jewish
This is an
old nationality, and comes into the world with the
born of the Judaism. They start
in
Arabia, and live their life along with the float
grass at first. Later, they became the farming
nation. In 586 BC, many Jews descent
into
?
Babylonian
Exile
‘
, and were dispersed
all over the
world. In the period ruled
by Rome, Emperor
Caracalla of Rome
promulgated laws to alleviate
ethnic
contradictions in 212 AD, which made the Jews have
the civil right of Rome in law. But
with the times of Rome ending and the
Nordic invading, the Jews and the Rome citizen
became
the
?
deniz
en
‘
. Later, more and more
Teutons Christianise ,became Christians. Thus, the
boundary
between
?
denizens
‘
and
Teutons
were
disappearing
little
by
little,
they
became
a
big
family
which
all
the
members
believe
the
Christian.
But
for
the
Jews,
they
i
nsist
on
their
belief
and
refuse to accept
Christianity. Beyond all question, this kind of
behavior made them a
?
denize
n
‘
forever by
those Christian, although they escaped from
agriculture, smart Jews were still active
in various industries in city. Until
the 11
th
century, because
many countries in Europe began to
revitalizing, as the weak force, the
Jews can
‘
t compete with
them. Thus, in order to live, some of
the Jews have engaged in usury. But
this behavior made Christian have more reasons to
scorn
them, for
C
hristians‘
outlook
，
usury
is a violation of the teachings. They
considered the Jews just
got
others
‘
achievement. But
what
‘
s more miserable, the
rulers of European countries, through
levy heavy tax, confiscation of
property, and all kinds of means to cheat, robbed
the wealth of
the Jews. This
made money
become more
and
more important
because
the money is
the only
passport for them
to live in such oppressed world.
From the Middle
Ages to early modern times, many folk tales and
songs were popular with
the Jewish
story of the assassination of Christian children.
In the era of Edward I(1265-1307) in
England,
Edward
used
to
expel
the
Jews,
but
later,
many
Jews
stayed
in
England
in
order
to
escape persecution by Spanish religious
court. These Jews formed a small area. In 1594
years,
1
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
Elizabeth‘
s
physician
—
Portuguese Jews
Lopez was accused of poisoning queen insidiously
and
he was interrogated. Although when
Lopez stood next to the gallows, he sworn he was
loyalty to
the queen and said he
worshipped Jesus Christ as the queen, but in
London, whether they were
noble
or
common
people,
people
all
tended
to
believe
that
Lopez
was
guilty.
This
was
just
because he was a Jew, for many
prejudice
were
still kept
fully and majestically in the Middle
Ages.
1.2 The Jewish
Question Reflected in
The Merchant of
Venice
The film
The
Merchant of Venice
tells us some
information at begin
―
Intolerance of the
Jews was a fact of
16
th
century life even in
Venice, the most powerful and liberal city state
in
Europe. By law the Jews were forced
to live in the old walled foundry or
?
Geto
‘
area of the city.
After sunset the gate
was locked and guarded by Christians. In the day
time any men leaving the
ghetto had to
wear a red hat to mark him as a
Jew.
‖
The fact of social
condition in England in
16
th
century was
similar to the film described scene. At that time,
Christian was in the
driver
‘
s
seat,
the Jews had their own belief, so they have not
social status and usually were persecuted.
From the economic aspect, the Jews were
prohibited to possess land, they were not allowed
to
have house property, because those
Christians and officials would confiscate their
property, so
they had to be as a petty
dealer, some of them practiced
usury
—
the lending of money
at interest.
This made them have little
cash and could survive. In law, many decrees were
bad for the Jews.
As Portia said in the
drama
：
It is
enacted in the laws of V
enice,
If it be proved against an alien
That by direct or indirect attempts
He seek the life of any citizen,
The party 'gainst the which he doth
contrive
Shall seize one half his
goods; the other half
Comes o the privy
coffer of the state;
And the
offender
‘
s life lies in the
mercy
1
Of the duke only,
'gainst all other voice
○
(Act
iv Scene i).
2
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
In
addition,
―
Jew
‖
has
another
meaning
in
English,
such
as
cheapskate,
usurer,
profiteer.
From this ,we
could see the people
‘
s
treatment to the Jews in that time.
Analysis of
Shylock
’
s Characters
As we know, Shakespeare
is a master no matter past or now, he left many
wealth for people.
Time and again, his
work have been appreciated.
Shakespeare‘
s Shylock image
is fresh forever
as other classical
figures. People read it, consider it again and
again. Following, it is my opinion
about Shylock.
2.1 Hateful
Shylock
Before,
especially
in
16
th
century,
this
drama
was
a
comedy
no
matter
from
which
side,
because three pairs of lovers have
perfect results. But Shylock as an evildoer has
been punished.
In
the
era
of
racial
discrimination,
S
hylock‘s
final
result,
without
doubt,
it‘s
a
good
thing
for
clapping and cheering. While the words
which describe Shylock are disdainful: greed,
cunning,
cruel and so on. Like Shylock
said, many Christians and people will say the same
as Antonio
said
―misb
eliever,
cut-
throat
dog‖.
Such
Shylock,
people
will
list
many
reasons
and
facts
to
illustrate how bad he was.
He hates
Antonio obviously, and wants to revenge by chance,
so he signs the contract which
he will
cut a pound of Antonio‘s meat if he
couldn‘t
return money on time. This
will kill Antonio
possibly and solve
the problem about which he always worried. But he
artful
ly said ―I say, to buy
his
favor,
I
extend this friendship:
If he will take
it, so; if not, adieu; for my love,
I
pray
you
2
wrong
me not
‖
○
(Act i
Scene iii). Being greedy and stingy, he reprimands
his servant greedy and
treats his
daughter also stringy. When he knows his daughter
escaped with a Christian, and takes
him
many ducats, Shylock sh
outed in the
street ―My daughter! Oh, my ducats!‖ and
curse
s
―I
would
my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels
in her ear! Would she were hearsed at
3
my foot, and the ducats in
her coffin!‖
○
(Act iii Scene
i). Certainly, people think the worst place
was that he crows
over
Antonio‘s ship were sunk, people persuaded him,
but he said ―Gaoler,
4
look
to him: tell me of mercy; This the fool that lent
out money
gratis
‖
○
(Act iii
Scene iii). When
3
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
Bassanio wants to return him two, three
times money, he refuses and insists on carrying
out the
contract.
With
the
development
of
fighting
against
racism,
and
the
Holocaust
by
Hitler
during
the
World
War
Ⅱ
,
gradually,
the
topic
about
the
Jews
were
no
longer
a
joke.
People
found
The
Merchant
of
Venice
is
not
just a
comedy.
When we analyzing it from
Shylock, it is
a tragedy.
Moreover,
Shylock
‘
s
tragedy
is
no
longer
a
joke,
people
began
to
re-analysis.
He
is
greedy,
because he is
a business; he
is a usurer, and this results from social
conditions. He is cruel to
Antonio,
because he hates Antonio, and Antonio spits on and
curses him, and that he borrows
money
without
interest.
But
these
are
parts
of
Shylock
‘
s
characters.
We
should
analyse
from
other point of view.
2.2 Different Shylock
–
from another angle
In the film,
Shylock
‘
s first appearance
was reviled by Antonio. For the situation, if you
are
Shylock, what will you do? For the
most part, you will fight back. But in that social
condition,
many people hate the Jews,
and push out the usurer like Shylock. Like Shylock
said in the play
5
―
for sufferance
is the budge of all our
tribe
‖
○
(Act i
Scene iii). What he does is just wipe his face
with
his
sleeve,
and
watch
at
Antonio‘
s
back
with
the
hateful
feeling
in
his
eyes.
Why,
as
an
ancient Chinese saying
―
A little impatience, a
great ship
‖
, facing Antonio,
how does Shylock to
use to fight
against Antonio? He can do only with patience.
There is no much justice in society, I
think Shylock has a good
character
—
endurance, just
for this character make him process many
ducats in that time.
For the second time, Bassanio borrows
money from Shylock.
―
Three
thousand ducats; well?
‖
,
6
―
For
three
months;
well?
‖
,
―
Three
thousand
ducats,
for
three
months
and,
Antonio
bound?
‖
○
(Act i Scene iii). From these
words and Shylock hesitates, we could see clever
Shylock knows
Bassanio
lack
substance
and
has
no
ability
to
return
money,
but
when
he
knows
Antonio
bounded, he
recognizes that the chance comes. But he
doesn
‘
t directly fight
against Antonio. He
lists an example of
Jacob and says some complaining words, declared
―
And thrift is blessing, of
7
men steal is
not.
‖
○
(Act 1
Scene iii), then talk about Antonio who spits on
and cursed him, but
his national spirit
makes him tolerant.
In this time,
I think Shylock must think like that:
Now,
4
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
you want borrow money from me, what
will
I do? How can I let
you
go so easily? He makes
Antonio
signs
the
contract,
and
shows
his
friendly
words
to
Antonio.
How
could
you
say
Shylock isn
‘
t
clever?
In
the
whole
drama,
Shylock
was
the
most
frank
man.
He
never
mask
his
greed.
In
the
market, he can loudly say he hates
Antonio,
―
More than a
lodg
‘
d hate and a certain
loathing I
bear Antonio, that I follow
thus a losing suit against
him
‖
,
―I
am not bound to please
thee with
8
my
answer
‖
○
(Act iv
Scene i). Like what he said, he just did himself,
didn
‘
t want to please
others.
When Bassanio wanted to return
him money two, three times, he refused, and
insisted on cutting
a pound of
Antonio
‘
s meat. I think it
is only the respect to the contract, but also the
expression of
national spirit that the
oppressed fight against the Christians. At the
same time, he had encourage
to face the
failure and the misfortune, he could defy power,
insist on settling the problem by law.
Although he failed, he
didn
‘
t ask for something,
for Portia
‘
s intercede, he
said
―
Nay, take my life
9
and all; Pardon not
that
‖
○
( Act iv
Scene i). Faced with the final result of loss
freedom of belief,
he said nothing and
agreed to sign.
In addition, Shylock was
the most pitiful man. He loves his daughter, but
she leaves him, and
takes
away
lots
of
money.
His
only <
/p>
souvenir
—
turquoise
,
this
is
the
present
sent
by
his
sweet
wife
when they had not married, but his daughter uses
it to trade a wild monkey. Shylock was
originally very confident to win the
lawsuit, but lost finally, and lost all the money
and forced to
change his religion.
5
兰州交通大学双学位毕业设计（论文）
Reasons that Cause Shylock
Has Diversified Character
From above analysis we can
see Shylock has various characters. When we see
from Christian,
Shylock is a cruel,
cunning Jew and a greedy, stringy usurer. His
result is
Antonio‘
s
tolerance.
But
when
we
see
from
the
angle
of
the
Jews
and
against
racial
discrimination,
I
want
to
say
Shylock was clever, frank, rich
national spirit, of course, he had a
businessman
‘
s
characteristics.
Shylock was complex,
and the reason are various.
3.1
Religion
3.1.1 The Jews and Christians
Judaism and Christianity comes from the
same religion, they were both born in Holy City of
Jerusalem
in
Palestine,
but
Christianity
came
from
Judaism,
and
originally
it
is
a
branch
of
Judaism faction. In the early
millennium BC, Judaism was born in the process of
―
the Prophet
Movement
‖
in
Palestinian,
which
is
based
on
polytheism
in
primitive
society
and
developed
gradually. Jews worship
the
Lord and recognized
it as
―
the only true
God
‖
. They declared the
Jews is the Lord
―
selected
subjects
‖
. Before or after
hundred of years in AD, they proclaimed the
Jews will be rescued by
―
the
Savior
‖
.
After the
2
nd
century AD, the
Christianity whose members were mostly the
laboring masses
and
always
under
suppress
has
been
changed
in
nature,
because
many
rich
men
joined
it
and
gradually took the
leadership of the Christianity. They began to walk
a moderate line, and paid
attention to
love
―
love your
enemy
‖
,
―
suffer injury but no
threatening words
‖
, etc. So
the religion
was no longer a threat for
the rulers. Instead, it became a tool which used
by the rulers. Later, the
location of
Christianity become the state religion by the Rome
Emperor. Later, all the rulers liked
it. Thus, Christianity developed
rapidly in Europe, and even all over the world.
The
process
which
Christianity
from
illegal
to
legal
is
the
refection
which
the
increasing
incisive
contradiction
between
Christianity
and
―
mother
religion
‖
.
In
order
to
be
powerful,
in
order
to
have
more
force
and
Christians,
they
vilified
the
Jews
in
public.
They
put
aside
the
Jewish
Bible
called
the Old Testament,
and called another part which Christian added as
the New
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