The Merchant of Venice ends with Shylock’s tragedy that seems to
uphold social justice, which actually reflects the devastating situation of the
Jews stemming from economic conflicts. In this play, virtue and vice depend
on one’s economic strength, while the racial and religious conflicts originate
from the competition between usury economy and commercial economy whose
developments in the long term are implied by the contrasting endings of Shylock
and Antonio. This paper explores the roots of the exclusion and discrimination
of the Jews in this Shakespearean classic, and reveals the fates of usury economy
and commercial economy after the Great Geographic Discovery.