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When I read Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, I
really loved Shylock's character and, in a certain way, I justified his actions
of cruelty. I believe that maybe the same has
happened to other people too, and that this is why it has been so difficult for
critics to define him.
Even though I know it is hard to pity him, I think
Shylock's hatred was a result of years of harassment, constructed by people
around him. People like Antonio who discriminated him for being a Jew and not a
Christian. The city thought of him as an outsider and even his daughter left
him alone without a strong justification, as she said that her father did not
mistreat her and asked for forgiveness through a letter, as it is shown at the
end of the play.
