What kind of man is Shylock in the Merchant of Venice?

题目

What kind of man is Shylock in the Merchant of Venice?

答案

莎翁的经典 很难回答啊
It is difficult to know whether the sympathetic reading of Shylock is entirely due to changing sensibilities among readers,or whether Shakespeare,a writer who clearly delighted in creating complex,multi-faceted characters,deliberately intended this reading.
One reason for this interpretation is that Shylock's painful status in Venetian society is emphasised.To some critics,Shylock's celebrated "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech redeems him and even makes him into something of a tragic figure.In the speech,Shylock argues that he is no different from the Christian characters.Detractors note that Shylock ends the speech with a tone of revenge:"if you wrong us,shall we not revenge?" However,those who see the speech as sympathetic point out that Shylock says he learned the desire for revenge from the Christian characters:"If a Christian wrong a Jew,what should his sufferance be by Christian example?Why,revenge.The villainy you teach me,I will execute,and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction."
Even if Shakespeare did not intend the play to be read this way,the fact that it retains its power on stage for audiences who may perceive its central conflicts in radically different terms is an illustration of the subtlety of Shakespeare's characterizations.