The way that Shylock is crafted by Shakespeare is very complicated, probably the most complicated among the characters according to my opinion. We see him as the antagonist mostly, wanting to use justice in his favour to get revenge on someone. On the other hand we also get to see the world through Shakespeare's empathy of the Jewish society, of how alien it must have been to working in a Christian community. It also showed how he was abused and prejudiced against in the Christian community. Although we see that he is very bad to the Christian community himself, giving them stereotypes and having such a bad opinion of them, we must admit that the way the Christians treat him could have a part for that. On the other hand, we cannot blame the Christian community for their actions, Shylock's actions of money loaning and his thinking is completely different from the Christians, thus gaining the bullying.
In the end though, Shakespeare brought out sympathy for Shylock in the last few scenes. It showed his bitterness at the Christian community. How much he was bullied, and how much he had wanted revenge. He also showed his bitterness for losing his daughter, but more than that, his money and honour.
Overall, I disliked Shylock's character but at the same time, felt sympathy for his loss and his bitterness. He shows how much he has feelings and how he had been hurt by the Christians. He also highlights the anti-Semitism that was found in those times.
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