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able of rising to an emergency. Shylock, an avaricious money-lender with powerful image, is a Jew of pride and deep religious instincts. He has suffered much in the hands of the Christians. His revolving bond is counterbalanced by Antonio’s arrogant treatment of him. So his loud protest against racial discrimination cannot be altogether ignored by the audience.
C. The Conflict in the Story
“The conflict of the play unfolds as the contradictions between the trade capital and the usury capital in the early stage of capitalism. Getting rich by trade is considered as a kind of decent conduct at that time. Antonio is a representative of this merchant capital. Usury as Shylock’s is an old-time exploitation passing down from feudal society. Merchant capitalist is heavily reliant on loan, but usury is a grave threat to it. So the bourgeoisie abhor the usury’s exploitation, and resist usury with many kinds of measures.”(《外国文学教学参考资料》选编组，1980：591) This is also why Antonio shows nothing but contempt for Shylock. Shylock hates Antonio because “He [Antonio] lends out money gratis and brings down/The rate of usance here with us in Venice”（莎士比亚（著），朱生豪（译），2005：24）, and obstructs him to make more money.
In addition, another factor of their contradiction is race and religion. Antonio is a Christian. Shylock is a Jew. “In medieval Europe, a large number of Jews were engaged in money trade. According to the Christian Church, Jews were Christians’ deadly enemies. From medieval Europe, there are many folklore and ballads about Jews to murder Christian children. On the basis of economy and religion, Jews were the object of discrimination and persecution at that time.”(穆睿清、姚汝勤，1984：193) “Anti-Semitism was a general phenomenon in 16-century England. Jews become a symbol of hate.”(安尼特•T•鲁宾斯坦，1998：49) “British people in the Elizabethan period were great animosity to Jews. The name Shylock’s pronunciation is similar to Hebrew ‘Shalach’. Shalach means cormorant, a kind of raptatorial bird, which was the symbol of usurer in the Elizabethan period. From Middle Ages, usuriousness is regarded as a kind of immoral behavior in Christian society.”(Gu Zhengkun & Liu Hao, 2005:119, with my translation) In the historical conditions of the day, humanistic author Shakespeare admires the bourgeois newer as Antonio, because they are favorable for developing industry and commerce. To such a Jewish usurer as Shylock, Shakespeare criticizes his cruel and exploitive behavior on one hand and gives him great sympathy for his racial discrimination on the other.
D. My Thesis Statement
However, nowadays the name Shylock stands for the predatory and cold-blooded people, and the Jewish usurer who gets happy from others’ suffering. People ignore that he is bullied in Christian society. He does not get people’s understanding. Distorted money concept and hatred mentality make him become different species of society. But the strong unrestrained and indignant cry he emits is never forgotten. Therefore, even when we criticize an evildoer, we should also consider the justice and mercy given by the society and people around him.
Ⅱ. Shylock
A. A Pitiful Jew
a. Racial Discrimination
“Since the birth of Christ, the relationship among Jews and Christians and the state has radically shifted from one end of the spectrum to the other. Since its inception, Christianity had been the religion coping with intolerance from the Jews and the state, yet as time