The Many Faces of Shylock

Throughout history, people of the Jewish faith have been persecuted for reasons none other than their religion. This ever-present Anti-Semitism was obvious in the Elizabethan period, when William Shakespeare wrote his plays. One of his works, which focuses greatly on the negative bias against Jews, is The Merchant of Venice, which opened sometime in 1596. In the story, Bassanio, a young man infatuated with a wealthy heiress named Portia, borrows money from his friend Antonio. Antonio, in turn, borrows money from a Jewish banker, Shylock. When Antonio forfeits the loan, Shylock is eager to take the pound of Antonio's flesh that was agreed as punishment. Portia, however, uses the law to prevent Shylock from doing so, and through trickery forces Shylock to give up his possessions and convert to Christianity. …