Prejudice In “The Merchant Of Venice”

7 Pages 1839 Words

In the play “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare many forms of prejudice are expressed through various characters in the duration of the play. There are several prejudice comments made by various characters, however, Shakespeare also includes statements that support his tolerance. This is what has aroused the controversial question of whether or not he shares the common prejudice of the Elizabethan era. After examining the play, we see that Shakespeare is somewhat prejudice, however, he has more of an enlightened opinion.

In this play the audience is exposed to various forms of prejudice such as Portia’s casual discrimination towards several ethnicities and Shylock being a character that runs into an abundance of hardships and obstacles; we are able to realize that this supports the theory that Shakespeare did in fact share a portion of the prejudice. Through Portia’s discrimination towards the prince of Morocco, the prince of Spain, Arragon; and against people of Jewish origin, the audience is able to recognize Shakespeare’s prejudice. It seems as though Shakespeare tries to build sympathy for her character beforehand, by revealing her to the audience as a kind and loving woman, who is looking for love, yet her frame of mind is very unjust. We are first witness to her prejudice when she is made aware of Morrocco’s arrival: “If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil I would rather he shrive me than wive me.” (I, iii, 129-130) Poria’s comment reveals her intolerance for dark complexions, she is admitting to her superficiality. We are able to determine that Portia is not concerned with the actual person, only with race. She does not accept differences and turns her back to even a man with a saint-like disposition, simply because of the colour of his skin. The second encounter with Portia’s prejudice is with Arragon. She did not even serve him supper. Portia is very quick to judge,...