How does Shakespeare portray Shylock in The Merchant of Venice?
… 1604 particularly channelled Christian hate against the Jews, as Rodrigo Lopez was accused of attempting to poison Queen Elizabeth I in his position as her Doctor; even though he had converted to Christianity, he was still called “that vile Jew” by the judge in his trial. Before that incident happened, Christopher Marlowe’s “The Jew of Malta” was written, in 1590, around 7 years before the first production of the Merchant of Venice. As a result, this play and its portrayal of the evil Jew, – Barabas – could have had a direct effect on how Shakespeare portrayed Shylock, although the Characters are very different – Barabas is an all out evil Jew, whereas Shylock certainly has his good points as well as his bad ones. The British way of thinking of Jews was carried over in Venice too, where the Jews were confined to a ghetto, which they had to be locked …
