Hath Not a Jew Mercy?

…

…sympathies of the audience were definitely in full swing in this play, going back and forth between a little bit of pity to a lot of hatred. Probably the most underlying quality of Shylock that the audience hated most was his religion. Shylock was the embodiment of all that was bad about Jews, how they killed Christ and the like. But still, there had to have been some pity at some level from the audience.