The Merchant of Venice Pt. II

Shylock and Jessica

 The Merchant of Venice Acts 2 & 3

Jessica's treatment of her father is a reflection of her surroundings. Shylock can be considered the plays villain, but I view him as the victim of a hostile environment. He has been spit on, ridiculed, and dishonored many times by the Christians of Venice. They wanted him to convert, but never did anything constructive to truly reach out to him, and in fact, acted contrary to Christian values. Shylock knows that they do not act as proper Christians, and his biggest flaw is being a reflection of their poor behavior. Jessica wants to be well-liked and accepted, which is why she chooses to marry a Christian man and to escape from her father. She in fact, seems so cruel to me, as she runs away with not only Shylock's money, but the ring that was given to him. Since this ring was important to him, one can assume that Jessica knew of its importance, but still nonetheless, decided to take it from her father. I also noticed that Jessica doesn't really get acknowledged when she's around Portia and the others. Although she doesn't get mistreated either, there is the idea that she is getting ignored because she is, still a Jew. The opinion that she has about Portia pushes the reader to think that this is the world that Jessica wants to be a part of, which makes Jessica seem shallow and without much loyalty to her kin.