Shylock

Shylock
Shylock
The Merchant of Venice character
	Shylock portrayed by the actor Ernst von Possart, c. 1904
First appearance	The Merchant of Venice; c. 1596–98;
Created by	William Shakespeare
Based on	Barabas, from The Jew of Malta
Portrayed by	Richard Burbage; Edmund Kean; Edwin Booth; Junius Brutus Booth; Henry Irving; Al Pacino; Phillips Smalley; Matheson Lang; Werner Krauss; Serukalathur Sama; Michel Simon; Owen Weingott; Orson Welles; Warren Mitchell; David Serero; F. Murray Abraham; Charles Macklin; William Charles Macready; John Gielgud; Henry Irving; George Arliss;
In-universe information
Occupation	Moneylender
Family	Jessica (daughter)
Spouse	Leah (deceased)
Religion	Judaism
Nationality	Venetian

Shylock (/ˈʃaɪlɒk/ SHY-lok; spelled Shylocke in the First Folio) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice (c. 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and forced conversion to Christianity form the climax of the story.

Shylock's characterisation is composed of stereotypes, for instance greediness and vengefulness, although there were no legally practising Jews who lived in England during Shakespeare's time. Jews were expelled from the country in 1290 by Edward I in the Edict of Expulsion; this was not reversed until the mid-17th century (the Cromwell Era).