In the first scene, I found that the Prince of Morocco blatantly perceived his race and dark complexion to be a disadvantage among Portia's other suitors. He always felt the need to defend himself by arrogantly emphasizing his valor and accomplishments, which I think would make Portia dislike him even more. It demonstrates the Prince of Morroco's insecurities and indirectly shows how he perceives Portia (probably being judgmental and racist as supported by Act One). Although the Prince doesn't call her a racist and neither does Portia herself, both characters subtly convey their latent assumptions of each other through dialogue an
On the other hand, Shylock is outwardly referred to as a "devil' multiple times in the play. In the second scene, Lancelot Gobbo, Shylock's servant, debates on whether or not to leave his master.
There is the typical argument between the angel and the devil hovering on one's shoulders, trying to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong.
"To be ruled by my conscience I should stay with the Jew my master, who (God bless the mark) is a kind of devil; and to run away from the Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who (saving your reverence) is the devil himself. Certainly the Jew is the very devil incarnation..." (2.2.22)His conscience, representing the metaphorical angel who tells people to choose the "good" path, tells him that he should stay with Shylock but the "devil" is telling him to run away. He then makes a logical fallacy by coming to a conclusion that Shylock must be the devil himself because no matter what option he takes, he's supposedly ruled by the devil. The only given reason for associating Shylock with the devil is because he's Jewish.
"My master's a very Jew. Give him a present! Give him a halter. I am famished in his service. You may tell every finger I have with my ribs.....To him [Bassanio], father, for I am a Jew if I serve the Jew any longer." (2.2.104)
Although Shylock claims to be famished in his service, which could indicate Shylock's brutal treatment towards Lancelot by not feeding him enough, in the end he emphasizes that if he continues to be his servant, he will become a Jew, which seems to be the worst thing a person can become according to the Christian merchants in the previous act. Lancelot perpetuates the prejudiced assumptions expressed by Antonio and Bassanio, revealing that Christians don't only hate Jewish people for their usury but mainly for their Jewish identity.
Even Shylock's daughter appears to despise Shylock and no longer wishes to be be associated with her Jewish father. Jessica acknowledges her guilt for being ashamed of being his daughter, but also justifies her hatred because he is in disagreement with his "manners". She didn't explicitly state as to what "manners" she disagreed with and she may be exaggerating her hatred because she wants to marry Lorenzo and convert to Christianity.
"Alack, what heinous sin is it in me To be ashamed to be my father's child? But though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not to his manners....I shall end this strife, Become a Christian and thy loving wife." (2.3.17)
I noticed how being a Christian is also tied in with being a "loving wife". I wonder if Jessica also shares the same perception of how being Jewish automatically makes you more hostile and somehow unloving.
A devilish image of Shylock
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/81/Shylock_film.jpg
I liked how your last point shows the latent assumptions hidden within Jessica's speech. Jessica says how she isn't the same as her father in their manner and would rather be a loving Christian wife. All the things Shylock does, like usury, taking interest, being stingy, hating Christians, is thus deemed typically of a Jew in her eyes. Christians on the other hand, are loving and the opposite of whatever Shylock is. I wonder how it came to, that even growing up as a Jew, Jessica comes to feel ashamed of her that label. I wonder if Shylock knows all about the preconceived notions people have of him.
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