Many modern readers and audiences have read the play as a plea for tolerance , with Shylock as a sympathetic character . Shylock 's ' trial ' at the end of the play is a mockery of justice , with Portia acting as a judge when she has no real right to do so . Shakespeare does not question Shylock 's intentions , but that the very people who berated Shylock for being dishonest have resorted to trickery in order to win . Shakespeare gives Shylock one of his most eloquent speeches : Alexander Granach , who played Shylock in Germany in the 1920s , writes , H ow does it happen that Shylock 's defense becomes an accusation ? ... The answer must be a perfectly simple one . God and Shakespeare did not create beings of paper , they gave them flesh and blood ! Even if the poet did not know Shylock and did not like him , the justice of his genius took the part of his black obstacle Shylock , the obstacle to the plans of the young lovers and , out of its prodigal and endless wealth , gave Shylock human greatness and spiritual strength and a great loneliness — things that turn Antonio 's gay , singing , sponging , money-borrowing , girl-stealing , marriage-contriving circle into petty idlers and sneak thieves . Antisemites have used the play to support their views throughout its history . The 1619 edition has a subtitle of " With the Extreme Cruelty of Shylock the Jew ... " The Nazis used Shylock for their propaganda . Shortly after Kristallnacht in 1938 , the German radio had broadcast a production of '' The Merchant of Venice '' to reinforce stereotypes . Productions of the play followed in Lübeck ( 1938 ) , Berlin ( 1940 ) , and elsewhere within Nazi-occupied territory
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Shylock