In William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice it is important to note that the title is not The Tragedy of the Merchant of Venice, but rather simply The Merchant of Venice. While many people find it to be a rich tapestry of controversial topics, one has to wonder how many of these major issues were intentional and how many are projected onto the show by a modern audience. Shakespeare, above all, was a hacker. He was the Stephen King of his day, churning out plays at a breakneck pace. We must be skeptical, therefore, when we delve too deeply into the analysis of what really exists and what is evoked by a contemporary reader. Certainly, many people have been moved to tears by Shylock's line "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech. Nonetheless, the comedy attempts to be whimsical and lighthearted, the main conflict being a romantic comedy, at best. The entire last act is a whimsical tedium about lost rings and Portia and Nerissa playing a stupid prank on their husbands, wildly juxtaposed out of place if you try to see the previous courtroom scene as a deadly serious proceeding rather than as a slapstick comedy. Shylock need be neither a comic villain nor a tragic outcast; it is a means to an end. The audience's interpretation of him depends above all on how he is interpreted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay For a sixteenth century audience, Shylock is probably quite funny. Dressed in the traditional clothing of Judas Iscariot and with exaggerated and stereotypical ethnically Jewish features, he was a clown that audiences laughed at before he said a word. You can imagine that he speaks with a funny/annoying accent and it really brings out the comedic aspect of his character. In fact, since the audience was most likely predominantly anti-Semitic, they would not identify with a Jew and would hate or laugh at him regardless. Many of his jokes are also humorous, at least in a perverse (and decidedly not politically correct) way. For example, Shylock's predictions are a bad omen because he dreams of bags of money. For a people traditionally labeled as lovers of money, this is a funny little twist coming from Shylock. Likewise, when Jessica runs away, she similarly complains about her ducats and her daughter. There is no doubt whether it was intended humorously, when it was conveyed through the pranksters of the play, Solario and Solanio. Although equivalent to Al Jolson's comedic style, one cannot deny the presence of the jokes just because they make a more "sensitive" current audience uncomfortable. However, it can be pointed out that Shylock is a tragic outcast forced into his position. . Sure, all the other Christian characters treat him like a subhuman, kicking him, spitting on him, and swearing at him. If you were constantly harangued by individuals, wouldn't you eventually become embittered (regardless of religious faith) towards them? When combined with the business competition that exists between Antonio and Shylock and the amount of Shylock's business that Antonio steals so as not to charge interest, it is no surprise that he wishes to harm him. Karl Marx said: "It is not the consciousness of human beings that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness." It can be argued that Shylock has adopted the stereotypes imposed on him by his peers. If one's era builds an archetype, one will strive to realize one's own person. A comparable example is the fact that the homosexual community, although full,.