Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, plays an extremely vital role within 'The Merchant of Venice.' Despite initially presuming Antonio, the merchant, to be the main character in this play, hence the title, 'The Merchant of Venice', the reader is immediately made aware of Shylock's importance. His character entails the major themes of prejudice, anti-Semitism, deception and greed within the play. His language throughout the play is both powerful and captivating, and his aggressive, evasive, demanding character more than compensates for his supposed 'inferiority' as a Jew, and second-class citizen.

It is obvious that Shylock is a stereotypical caricature of a cruel, money-obsessed, medieval Jew, an image which was generated by the anti-Semitic, superficial natures of Christians in Shakespeare's time. In the BBC Production, Shylock's appearance is very similar to a typical Jew. He has the characteristic features, dark skin, bushy brows, wild, curly hair, and over-sized, hooked nose...