SHYLOCK: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF THE JEW IN MERCHANT OF VENICE AND ITS CONTEMPORARY ADAPTATIONS

This article explores Shylock, the antagonist of the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare and its contemporary adaptations, including The Merchant by Arnold Wesker (1976) and Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson (2016). Despite the established hatred against the Jewish population, Shylock has succeeded in winning over readers' sympathies. Although the Elizabethan audience despised Shylock at the play's first performance, he potentially gained sympathy as a father. Compared to the play's protagonists, Shylock has been able to carve out a distinct position for himself in literature. Many of the adaptations have focused on the suffering of the Jewish character and how he came to be seen as a victim of prejudice in society. Considering that antisemitism is one of the main themes in the play and its many adaptations, it is necessary to consider how the Jewish people are represented in traditional historiography. Based on their religious beliefs, the Jewish people have been ostracized socially for centuries. They have suffered atrocities like the Holocaust and other genocide, which are among the darkest moments in history. The security of the Jewish people is still at risk in the twenty-first century. As such, comparing the original play and the adaptations reveals the ways in which Shylock has been manipulated to perpetuate negative stereotypes and how this has contributed to an anti-Semitic environment.