Shylock's Big Speech

          On page 49 of the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, Shylock, the Jewish father of Jessica, gives a speech, making the point that just because he is a Jew, it does not make him any less a human than the Christians. Many people think that this is a strange speech for Shakespeare to write into his play, because up until then, Shylock was portrayed as an antagonist, and was picked on by the other characters because he was Jewish, and in the time period that this was written, that would seem completely normal. But, as I have heard so many times, Shakespeare does not write black and white characters. Shylock only seemed bad because other people spoke badly of him, but I think it is possible that Shakespeare wrote this speech, and everything else Shylock said to the other characters, and the other characters said to him to show that the other characters were not all good. It makes you wonder if the supposed protagonist and his friends are really all that good, and it makes you sympathize with the character that had seemed the antagonist up to this point. It also gives the play an unexpected twist, making it much more interesting. Especially since this is during the climax of his play, I think Shakespeare purposefully wanted to have some unexpected character development, that contrasts with what previously went on, and sheds light on hidden aspects of some of the characters.