<P> One of the reasons for this interpretation is that Shylock's painful status in Venetian society is emphasised . To some critics, Shylock's celebrated "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech redeems him and even makes him into something of a tragic figure; in the speech, Shylock argues that he is no different from the Christian characters . Detractors note that Shylock ends the speech with a tone of revenge: "if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" Those who see the speech as sympathetic point out that Shylock says he learned the desire for revenge from the Christian characters: "If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge . The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction ." </P> <P> Even if Shakespeare did not intend the play to be read this way, the fact that it retains its power on stage for audiences who may perceive its central conflicts in radically different terms is an illustration of the subtlety of Shakespeare's characterisations . In the trial Shylock represents what Elizabethan Christians believed to be the Jewish desire for "justice", contrasted with their obviously superior Christian value of mercy . The Christians in the courtroom urge Shylock to love his enemies, although they themselves have failed in the past . Jewish critic Harold Bloom suggests that, although the play gives merit to both cases, the portraits are not even - handed: "Shylock's shrewd indictment of Christian hypocrisy delights us, but...Shakespeare's intimations do not alleviate the savagery of his portrait of the Jew ..." </P> <P> Antonio's unexplained depression--"In sooth I know not why I am so sad"--and utter devotion to Bassanio has led some critics to theorise that he is suffering from unrequited love for Bassanio and is depressed because Bassanio is coming to an age where he will marry a woman . In his plays and poetry Shakespeare often depicted strong male bonds of varying homosociality, which has led some critics to infer that Bassanio returns Antonio's affections despite his obligation to marry: </P> <P> ANTONIO: Commend me to your honourable wife: Tell her the process of Antonio's end, Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death; And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love . BASSANIO: But life itself, my wife, and all the world Are not with me esteemed above thy life; I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all Here to this devil, to deliver you . (IV, i) </P>

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