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Monsieur Lheureux and Shylock are merchants that possess three common negative character traits: greed, jealousy, and uncharitable. Being both from the same occupation, their lives revolve around money. They purposely target citizens for their motives. Monsieur Lheureux in Gustave Flaubert’s, Madame Bovary and Shylock in William Shakespeare’s, The Merchant of Venice deliberately drive the protagonists to their financial ruin.
In Venice, Shylock has a reputation for charging too much interest on loans. He only has one thing on his mind, making money off of other people’s problems. Shylock’s tragic character is shown through his monologues. He describes his feelings towards his enemy Antonio, a rival merchant.
“I hate him for he is a Christian,
But more for that in low simplicity
He lends out money gratis and brings down
The rate of usance here with us in Venice.
If I can catch him once upon the hip,
I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him (1.3.34-39).”
Shylock and Antonio serve as foil characters. Antonio has better morals than Shylock as he is honest and does not lend money with interest. As a result of Antonio’s better business and deals, fewer people borrow from Shylock which impedes his business. Shylock seeks vengeance and he uses Bassanio’s urgent need for money to attempt to entrap Antonio. Shylock agrees to loan Bassanio three thousand ducats for three months and requires Antonio to sign a notarized agreement. Having Antonio guarantee Bassanio’s return payment wraps him up in the deal. If Bassanio does not pay the loan back in time, Shylock will cut off a literal pound of Antonio’s flesh. It was his plan beforehand and he was never referring to the expression.
“Pray you, tell me this:
If he should break his day, what should I gain
By the exaction of the forfeiture?
A pound of man’s flesh taken from a man
Is not so estimable, profitable neither,
As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say,
To buy his favor, I extend this friendship.
If he will take it, so. If not, adieu;
And, for my love I pray you wrong me not. (1.3.174-182)
When Antonio’s ships become lost at sea, he has no money to pay Shylock back with. Shylock receives an offer of six thousand ducats from Portia which is twice the original loan. He declines Portia’s money and only wants to receive Antonio’s pound of flesh. Shylock lacks the capability of having mercy on a soul. He wishes from Antonio’s bloodshed in front of the court.
The stereotype of the moneylender was extremely negative to be sensitive to the racist overtones in the historical and cultural context of The Merchant of Venice. Shylock is a Jewish man. Usury was forbidden to Christians by the church of the Middle Ages, and as a consequence, money lending was controlled by the Jews; as a rule, it was usually the only occupation which the law allowed to them. As a result, a great deal of medieval literature produced the conventional figure of the Jewish moneylender.
Lheureux is a merchant and moneylender who leads Emma into debt, financial ruin, and eventually suicide by playing on her weakness for luxury and extravagance. When we first meet him, we learn that he has already driven another unfortunate citizen (the tavern keeper), out of business and out of town. He will not feel guilty about doing the same to Emma. He is a large part responsible for Emma’s death. He even has the nerve to show up to her funeral and act like he is sad, while he is still benefiting off of Charles Bovary for more cash.
Lheureux shows us depths of depravity to which people can sink in the pursuit of money.
He makes money by encouraging people like Emma to spend more than they can afford and then lending them money at very steep rates. Lheureux is a bit of a devil figure who tempts people with luxuries they cannot afford and knows just when to appear with his requests for money and promises of more loans.
As a means of paying her mounting debts, Lheureux convinces Emma, who has power of attorney over Charles’s property, to sell him some of Charles’s father’s estate at a loss. He also talks her into borrowing more and more money. When Charles’s mother arrives to look over the accounts, Emma has Lheureux forge a bill for a smaller amount of money than she has.
For example, A debt collector surprises Emma with a visit, and the sheriff serves a legal notice against her. She borrows more money from Lheureux and begins a desperate campaign to raise money to pay her debts, even pawning many objects from Charles’s house in Yonville. All the while, she continues to spend decadently during her time with Leon, forcing him to entertain her opulently and providing him the money to do so.
Monsieur Lheureux plays an insidious role in Emma’s life and death. He manipulates her lack of judgment about money into a growing pile of debt with him, to the point at which Emma cannot figure out where all her money has gone. Emma has a visit from Lheureux, who offers to bring her any goods she might need. He offers her various pretty things and explains that she would not have to pay right then. He even offers her a loan. She coldly declines, but he chatters pleasantly about Charles’ patients and quietly leaves, promising to return.
Emma Bovary realizes that there is no way out of her financial debt. Not only is she driven to financial ruin but also her demise. She commits suicide by taking arsenic and leaves her daughter on her own. Her money struggles do not just directly affect Emma herself but also those around her. Berthe will have to suffer her life in extreme poverty due to her mother’s financial excesses and her parent’s deaths.
Shylock and Lheureux’s function in these literary works are to be the obstacles, the man who stands in the way of the “love stories” and move the plot along. Someone must impede and create a conflict; here, it is Shylock and Lheureux. In these works there are many and various ways they associate themselves with the multiple sets of lovers. Shylock involves himself in the lives of Portia and Bassanio, Gratiano and Nerissa, and Jessica and Lorenzo. While Lheureux involves himself in the world of Emma Bovary and her love affairs. Emma is seen throughout the novel with her husband Charles Bovary, along with her lovers: Leon and Rodolphe
Shylock and Lheureux are drawn in bold strokes. They are meant to be seen as antagonistic villains. Their malicious connections to their victims’ life help them achieve or fail their goals. Moneylenders need three qualities to be successful: merciless, greedy, and immoral. These characters contribute to financial ruin in their way. Lheureux was successful and eventually lead Emma to her ultimate downfall while Shylock leads himself into his on self-destruction.
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