Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Apology For The Character And Conduct Of Shylock.
ihe injured logo ;* and impelled by the same sentiments ^ wi !! now undertake the cause of Sbyloclt , who has likewise met with much unmerited ill treatment ; being commonly looked upon in subordination , perhaps , to Iago alone , with the most unqualified aversion entertained for any character in Shakspeare ' s dramas—possibly for any at this time exhibited on the British stage . To form an impartial idea of his character and conduct , we should
divest ourselves of that prejudice we have contracted against him , on account of his being a JEW , a prejudice equally unjust and illiberal . Plow far it may be " a misfortune to be born a Jew , is a subject on which I am neither inclined to treat , nor competent to decide ; most assuredly it cannot be a fault . As , however , it is no easy matter to lay aside prepossessions , that we may judge with more candour , let us reverse the case ; and suppose that Shylock ,- a wealthy burgess of some Jewish republic , had treated Antonio , an alien , a Christian merchant , in the same manner ; had
—— ' Call'd him misbeliever , cut-throat dog , And spit upon his Christian vest 'Had < Voided his rheum npon his beard , And footed him , as you'd spurn a stranger cur Over his threshold "—
Would Antonio , had he instantaneously avenged himself for such gross insults , have incurred any severity of censure ? Yet that precept of forbearance , which few Christians , in a similar situation , would have complied with , is here exemplified by a "Jew . ' Still have I borne it with a patient string , For sufferance is the'b : idgeofall our tribe .
It must be allowed , that this forbearance is , to be considered rather as political than moral ; yet , had a similar sentiment been uttered by the follower of the Gospel in the same situation , such as
< Humbly to suffer is a Christian's part , So wills the law divine , and I obey' And had this insulting enemy replied Jike the merchant in the play , I am as like to call thee dog again , To spit on thee again , to spurn thee too—Whose bosom would not have melted with compassion for the
former character , and burnt with indignation against his insolent oppresor ? It may be asserted in return , that if a Christian were an usurer , as rapacious as Shylock , he would have merited the same tieaiment . This argument , " however , is by no means conclusive . We ought not to try Shylock by our laws , but by those of the community to which he belonged . " To determine on " the proprief . or impropriety of his behaviour in this respect , we must place ourselves in liis situation . Usury is generally considered by Christians as a disgraceful
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Apology For The Character And Conduct Of Shylock.
ihe injured logo ;* and impelled by the same sentiments ^ wi !! now undertake the cause of Sbyloclt , who has likewise met with much unmerited ill treatment ; being commonly looked upon in subordination , perhaps , to Iago alone , with the most unqualified aversion entertained for any character in Shakspeare ' s dramas—possibly for any at this time exhibited on the British stage . To form an impartial idea of his character and conduct , we should
divest ourselves of that prejudice we have contracted against him , on account of his being a JEW , a prejudice equally unjust and illiberal . Plow far it may be " a misfortune to be born a Jew , is a subject on which I am neither inclined to treat , nor competent to decide ; most assuredly it cannot be a fault . As , however , it is no easy matter to lay aside prepossessions , that we may judge with more candour , let us reverse the case ; and suppose that Shylock ,- a wealthy burgess of some Jewish republic , had treated Antonio , an alien , a Christian merchant , in the same manner ; had
—— ' Call'd him misbeliever , cut-throat dog , And spit upon his Christian vest 'Had < Voided his rheum npon his beard , And footed him , as you'd spurn a stranger cur Over his threshold "—
Would Antonio , had he instantaneously avenged himself for such gross insults , have incurred any severity of censure ? Yet that precept of forbearance , which few Christians , in a similar situation , would have complied with , is here exemplified by a "Jew . ' Still have I borne it with a patient string , For sufferance is the'b : idgeofall our tribe .
It must be allowed , that this forbearance is , to be considered rather as political than moral ; yet , had a similar sentiment been uttered by the follower of the Gospel in the same situation , such as
< Humbly to suffer is a Christian's part , So wills the law divine , and I obey' And had this insulting enemy replied Jike the merchant in the play , I am as like to call thee dog again , To spit on thee again , to spurn thee too—Whose bosom would not have melted with compassion for the
former character , and burnt with indignation against his insolent oppresor ? It may be asserted in return , that if a Christian were an usurer , as rapacious as Shylock , he would have merited the same tieaiment . This argument , " however , is by no means conclusive . We ought not to try Shylock by our laws , but by those of the community to which he belonged . " To determine on " the proprief . or impropriety of his behaviour in this respect , we must place ourselves in liis situation . Usury is generally considered by Christians as a disgraceful