On page 49 (Act 3, Scene 1) Shylock gives his speech that seems to be sympathetic to the plight of Jews ("I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?..."). Considering the rampant anti-Semitism in the play, why do you think Shakespeare would have included this speech? How does it change what we think of Shylock?
I think there are many different possibilities for the reason that Shakespeare put this in the play. One of the reasons may be to try to blur the fact that Shylock may be evil. Another may be that Shakespeare is trying to make a joke about Shylock being a Jew. My last reason I think Shakespeare put this in the play is that he is trying to build a character. Telling the audience why Shylock is the evil one. Showing that he is fed up with all the hate that has been directed towards him. And showing he can be just as vicious as the next person.
I like that you could think of multiple reasons for the inclusion of the speech in the play. I like to hope that this speech reflects Shakespeare's beliefs about anti-Semitism, but this speech remains mysterious. How did the speech change what you thought of Shylock as a character?
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