“Shylock
My Deeds upon my head! I crave the law, 204
The penalty and forfeit of my bond. 205”
—Act IV.1, pg 79, 204-5
At Shylock’s pinnacle of quasi-control, in The Merchant of Venice, he has himself the opportunity to show Antonio, the court, and the Christian order mercy and salvation; but he instead comes to appear merciless and devilish with his craving for revenge. His hunger for more than just an outcome of money, which does not hold the same value it once did, is apparent in every word he gets out with an inclination for vengeance.
Thus far, Shylock has lost every valuable possession in his life, including his daughter, Jessica, and the wealth she took with her to her new husband, Lorenzo, and Lorenzo’s Christianity. Her leaving Shylock and Judaism has broken his heart, since she, following Jewish tradition, was to be the heiress to all that he had made for himself in both possession and name. Now without her, he is left to have no concern for money or tradition, as all that he has left now is the bitter aftertaste of pride, and his hatred for societal tradition and order which has to this point wronged him at every possibility.
Shylock is now broken: the only aspect of life he has left, and the only power he holds in this world is “[his] bond,” which is a possessive way to showing Antonio, and all others present, that he is in power over Antonio, a Christian. Antonio, who has wronged Shylock in the past, is not being shown mercy as Shylock “craves the law” for Antonio. Also, in Shylock’s being so possessive in his statements, he is showing Portia and the Duke, who are to be the judges of the outcome of this legal bout, that he is the one directing this show and demands to be given the lead role which he deserves as this whole conflict is due to “[Shylock’s] bond.”
One of the largest mistakes Shylock makes, aside from being a mere-Jew in a room of Christians, is that he begins his possessive short rant with, “My Deeds upon my head!” with deeds being uppercased, which makes me wonder, what “Deeds” are there? He’s certainly speaking of something larger than just Portia’s asking him to show mercy to Antonio. He is turning this, explicitly, into a case of spiteful frustration. I see this discussion of his “Deeds” to be that Shylock is turning the scenario to be about his Judaism along with his upper-hand, allowing him to make this the time that the Jew had the upper-hand, and not just Shylock’s small victory over Antonio.
Shylock’s search for ‘justice’ with Antonio has a large flaw. It is that he does not appear to be in the least bit interested in bringing ‘Shylock’s’ conflict to justice. Shylock rather is searching for what he “craves,” which does not appear to be “the law” like he says, but rather it has become a craving for what he sees “the law” to be. He searches for “penalty” and “forfeit” for Antonio’s wrongdoing, which shouldn’t be confused with “the law” that comes to backfire on him later.
Not only is Shylock “crav[ing] the law” to be merciless toward Antonio, but he is doing this on behalf of his Jewish inferiority, and for his ‘national,’ rather than his personal pride. Though the situation appears to be between these two men, and their binding bond, there is a much larger layer of conflict which undermines Shylock’s inflated moxie. There is a constant resentment from all Jews as they are always getting the not so desirable end of the stick every time, and now, in Shylock’s perspective, a Jew has the “opportunity” to set new precedent.
With Shylock’s language, intentions, and position in mind, a major theme of the play, which is very visible in this passage, can be seen without difficulty. When the difference of power between the Christians and Jews, in this time and setting, seems to be flipped in this short passage, but in both lines around it, the difference in power is well and alive. Though the difference is alive in this passage as well, it seems forgotten by Shylock, and he comes across as being on top, if even for only sixteen words.
I wrote this a few weeks ago for my Shakespeare class, but I like the value to it. So, I’m putting it on here. Why not, right?
Michael
