In “The Merchant of Venice”, Shakespeare draws a sharp contrast between the “in” group and the “out” group, the former comprising the Christian majority and the latter, Shylock and his friend Tubal. While the social rejects are “spit upon” (14), the fortunate obtain whatever they wish without asking (23). The milieu of the Christians is filled with melodious music and boisterous indulgence, while Shylock shuts out such “shallow foppery” from his “sober house” (28). The popular are spendthrifts and pleasure-hunters, while the ostracized are frugal penny-pinchers wallowing in their miserliness. There are definite advantages to being a part of the sociopolitical majority. With the consequences in mind, the characters jostle both overtly and covertly to be accepted into the “in” group. Shakespeare, using the character Shylock, demonstrates that those who maintain a constancy of conduct with friend and foe alike ultimately emerge victorious.

None of the Venetian Christians take Shylock seriously. To them, he is but a convenient scapegoat for their insecurities and a comic villain for their entertainment. For example, the typical Christian hero Antonio, “the dearest friend, ... the best condition’d and unwearied spirit” (53), is a vehement anti-Semite. But Shylock’s and Antonio’s respective positions do not differ too greatly: both are elderly men; both are indubitably misplaced in their social milieus, Antonio unable to merge with the young partygoers, and Shylock’s sobriety incongruous with Christian festivity; and both seek acceptance surreptitiously through blackmail. Antonio vigorously attacks Shylock not because of entrenched, unassailable differences, but because he perceives his own abhorred reflection in Shylock. The Jew is thus an object upon which he may vent his lack of self-confidence. Later in the play, Salarino and Salanio taunt Shylock venomously for their sadistic amusement: “I for my part knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal ... Out upon it, old carrion!” (42). Because they have such a low regard for Shylock, they treat the three thousand ducat bond with negligent flippancy. Antonio seals the “merry bond”, and then dubs Shylock a “gentle Jew” who “grows kind” (16). When one of Antonio’s argosies sinks in the Goodwins Flat, Salarino and Salanio maintain their incredulity, the former exclaiming, “Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh...” (42).

       

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