the principal excluded character in Merchant, the character who makes this play, for a modern audience, something other than a comedy, is of course Shylock. And the figure of Shylock rouses deep emotions, not only because his plight seems in some ways to mirror that of Jews in Europe from Shakespeare's time to the present, but also because of the desire on the part of many readers, editors, and actors to protect Shakespeare against the accusation of anti-Semitism.
