I Am A Jew

Many of the characters in Shakespeare’s plays offer a chance for the actor to play around and try different approaches but none so much as Shylock. The way in which this character is handled can affect not only the mood and tone of a production but also the out come. If the actor playing Shylock creates too much sympathy for his character the story goes awry and the heroes: Bassanio, Portia and Antonio almost become the villains. Some productions have eliminated the fifth act of the merchant of Venice entirely to solve this problem and make the story primarily Shylock’s. In this case one could argue that the Merchant in the title is actually Shylock and not Antonio. Unfortunately, this does not stay true to Shakespeare’s original vision for his play. It is important that the audience feel some sympathy for the character in order to connect to him; however he must remain the villain. Since The Merchant of Venice show first opened to the present day, this has been the problem for the men undertaking the role of the mighty Shylock. How can one strike the delicate balance between being a sympathetic man and a feared creature?

Given the way Shakespeare’s contemporaries felt about the Jews it is easy to understand the manner in which Shylock was portrayed when the play first opened. Although not much is known about these early productions, scholars suggest that the first Shylock portrayed on stage was nothing more than a caricature of a Jewish monster. These versions of Shylock were probably played by Richard Burbage and Will Kempe, two actors of the 16th Century who were part of Shakespeare’s company of actors. Their portrayals, it is said, included red-beards and false hooked noses. At the time this is how Jews were most often represented on stage. (Stirling)

In 1741, Charles Macklin was the first to portray Shylock as a significant dramatic character instead of a bumbling villain. Macklin still made his Shylock significantly evil but his creation of the Jew was certainly less of the common caricature. “In short, Macklin's Shylock was a Jew who was still evil, but not an evil fantastical monster. The evil Jew could be the man next door.” (Stirling)

In 1814, Edmund Kean presented a Shylock that emphasized his humanity and stood in contrast to previous conceptions of the Jew as a monster. Kean wore more contemporary garb for Shylock, in order to help him connect to the audience, but maintained a high energy Shylock who railed and shouted through his part. Kean was the first to portray Shylock as a persecuted martyr who, through the forces of circumstance, finally becomes an avenger. (Stirling)

In 1861, Edwin Booth presented a Shylock that was not particularly innovative. Booth's played Shylock as a man who is so disappointed in his fortune, and so obsessed with his revenge, that he pauses and seems to choke when he tries to articulate these things. “He is, in Booth's portrayal, a kind of emotional cripple.”(Stirling) As was traditional in the 19th century, Booth, being the producer, omitted the last act to emphasize Shylock’s story.

Henry Irving was arguably the first person to create Shylock as a truly sympathetic character. His production of Merchant opened at the Star Theater in New York on November 6th, 1883. Although he really saw Shylock as a monster, he knew that an actor could only succeed in the role by winning some sympathy for him. Irving’s Shylock was not only a vengeful representative of his persecuted race but also as an affectionate father. Irving, being the director as well, added a scene in which he returns home after Jessica elopes. He knocks on the door and stands perfectly still as he waits for the daughter that he will never see again. According to his contemporaries, his performance in Act III, scene I conveyed his rage with a “terrible restraint” (Wheeler, 258) He did not rush about shouting and waving his arms as many Shylocks of the time did. Instead he conveyed the passion of Shylock’s anger using only his voice and attitudes. It is also in this scene in which Irving took a line meant to make Shylock look like even more of a villain and instead made him look more human. After telling Tubal that he desires to see his daughter dead at his feet, he paused and “interpolating a (No, no,) hid his face in his hands”. (Irving, 520) He accomplished the final court scene with a dignified restraint and exited with a long heavy sigh. His portrayal of Shylock received such critical acclaim that near the end of the run he got rid of Act V entirely, making the story truly Shylock’s. (Irving, 632)

Richard Mansfield directed and starred in the production around the same time as Irving. He made extensive cuts and rearranged scenes in order to definitively make Shylock the main character. With Shylock’s final line “I am not well,” Mansfield held his knife to his own throat, implying that Shylock was to commit suicide after he left the courtroom. To the disgust of his contemporary critics, James Owen O’Connor in 1888 took this idea even further and actually portrayed the Jews suicide at the end of the courtroom scene. (Wheeler, 259)

After that, men such as William Poel in 1898 tried to restore what is considered the traditional Elizabethan Jew. Poel wore the traditional Jewish garb and simply shouted all of his lines angrily. Although this not a triumphant interpretation of the character, many critics hailed the production claiming that it had a truer emphasis to the original Shakespeare. (Wheeler, 267)

Many actors in the romantic Victorian era followed Poel’s example and stuck to what was then the most common portrayal of Shylock. This portrayal makes the character simply a “grubby, vindictive Jew.”(Wheeler, 262)