Shylock: A Man Or A Jew?

The Merchant of Venice was written in a time when people were extremely narrow minded. People do not see what they do not want to see even if it staring them straight in the face. It is no wonder that Jews like Shylock were considered to be less humane than Christians. Jews were different, and anything that was different was wrong because it meant change. Shakespeare, however, did not share the same narrow mind as most people of his time. He had an open mind, and that is why this speech is placed so perfectly, an example of not only the future but of how to convince the people of something they do not even know they are being convinced of.

I believe this play to be a tragicomedy and, as such, it permits the usage of Shylock's speech.  If this play had been a comedy, the speech would not have fit in because it would be too, well, tragic. It would not have made people laugh and so the people would be confused by it and possibly angered at the mere idea of sympathizing with a Jew. If this play had been a tragedy, this speech would have been too much. It would have been too tragic and the people would not like it. Since the play was a tragicomedy, Shakespeare's speech right. I have reason to believe that Shakespeare built his entire play around this speech. He portrayed Shylock not as an evil Jew but as a man just like you and I whose spiritual beliefs caused him to plummet downwards.