Shylock
Sign in to saveShylock ( ; spelled Shylocke in the First Folio) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice ( 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and forced conversion to Christianity form the climax of the story.
Key facts
- Character.name
- Shylock
- Character.series
- The Merchant of Venice
- Character.image
- Ernst von Possart as Shylock.jpg
- Character.caption
- Shylock portrayed by the actor Ernst von Possart,
- Character.creator
- William Shakespeare
- Character.family
- Jessica (daughter)
- Character.based_on
- Barabas, from The Jew of Malta
- Character.first_major
- The Merchant of Venice
- Character.religion
- Judaism
- Character.spouse
- Leah (deceased)
- Character.occupation
- Moneylender
- Character.nationality
- Venetian
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Ernst von Possart as Shylock.jpg
Show 1 more fact
- Commons category
- Shylock
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Article
17 sectionsContents
- Name
- In the play
- Historical background
- Portrayal
- Shylock on stage and screen
- Other representations
- Notable portrayals
- Shylock and antisemitism
- Antisemitic reading
- Sympathetic reading
- Influence on antisemitism
- Shylock as an allusion
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Shylock ( ; spelled Shylocke in the First Folio) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice ( 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and forced conversion to Christianity form the climax of the story.
Shylock's characterisation is composed of stereotypes, for instance greediness and vengefulness, although there were no legally practising Jews who lived in England during Shakespeare's time. Jews were expelled from the country in 1290 by Edward I in the Edict of Expulsion; this was not reversed until the mid-17th century (the Cromwell Era).