How is the theme of revenge explored in this extract?

How is it explored in the play as a whole?

In this extract, the theme of revenge is revealed within the character of Shylock by his
christian counterparts. In order to derive this emotion from his listeners, Shylock tries to
prove to them that he too is human regardless of his faith, and that he suffers from the
humiliation the Christians have caused him. Shylock lists all the ways in which Antonio had
wronged him,. 'He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses,
mocked at my gains, scorned my nation' Through the use of listing, Shylock reminds the
Christians of the history of suffering Jews had to endure due to the indoctrination in religious
beliefs. This allows the audience to understand Shylock's abhorrence of Antonio, and to
convince them that Shylock was simply an innocent victim of this torment. The lexical set of
emotion stirs up pathos in the audience and gives them an insight of the sufferance Shylock
receives in the community, allowing them to feel sympathetic towards Shylock. The audience
can understand why Shylock has a pursuit of revenge against the Christians and in particular
a deep personal grudge against Antonio, therefore the readers sympathise with the Jew in
his reasons to be revengeful. The dynamic verb 'mocked ' further emphasizes how the
Christians belittle the Jews to be poked fun of and despite the hardships Shylock had gone
through, the Christians take pleasure in mocking his losses and refuses any feeling of
sympathy towards Shylock.

Furthermore, the theme of revenge is further exploited in Shylock's speech of vengeance.

The audience have an insight of the discrimination against Jews under the persecution of
Christians as well as how the community is continuously degrades Jews without end. In the
quote 'Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, passions?' the asyndetic listing of
human features allows Shylock provides the connotation that not much difference exists
b e t w e e n Ch r i st i a n s an d J e ws , a n d b o th a r e e q u a l a s hu m a n b e i n g s . H e d o e s th i s
comparison order to further add to the justification that he is in his every right for revenge
just as a person of Christian faith. .By using asyndeton to avoid conjunctions in each of his
rhetorical questions, Shylock was able to make his questions more forceful and dramatic..
However, Shylock's intentions of delivering the speech isn't to allow the Venetians to
acknowledge their enemy's humanity but rather to elevate his status above his tormentors.
H o w e v e r Sh a k e s p e a r e m a n i p u l a t e s t h e a u d i e n c e ' s gu i l t a n d t h e to n e c h a n g e s f r o m
lamentful to inhumane, as Shylock pledg es to stoop to their level and carry the same
instructions, thus swaying the audience's sympathy and presenting Shylock in a less
empathetic light. Though the modern day Christians is able to understand his motivation, his
perpetuation of such villainy cannot be excused.

The theme of revenge is further explored through his loss of his daughter and his ducats.
The community is aware of his loss of his ducats and his own daughter, yet they use this to
poke fun at him and take pleasure into mocking him for such misfortune: 'All the boys in
Venice follow him, crying stones, his daughter and his ducats'. The verb phrase 'crying'
illustrates the lack of sympathy the community has for Shylock. This allows Shakespeare to
introduce the theme of revenge: Jessica's betrayal has created an impression on Shylock as a
fool, however his christian counterparts has an absence of sympathy and teases Shylock
for his losses, thus feeding Shylock's desire to retaliate. Shakespeare to reinforce the theme