Explain why Shylock hates Antonio in The Merchant of Venice. And was Shylock a victim in his own community?

"Was Shylock a *victim in his own community?"

Hi, sorry my answer is three years late. I am currently studying MoV and so i was doing some research and came across this. I am in year 10 in the UK. - apologies if that seems random, i just thought it was relavent.

Yes. You could say Shylock was a victim in his own community, however, was it really his community? and was he only treated badly because of him being Jewish or because of his down right bitter attitude.
As you will already know, Jews were treated with no respect in those times however in MoV, Shylock was not a part of the italian community by choice, but because he was forced to relocate the 'ghetto' and to live in it with the other Jews. Therefore, it was not technically his community however i do pitty him because he was not accepted when in times such as today, he should have been. Back then, things were different. It is sad.

Also, you must question yourself. Was Shylock really only treated badly because of his Jewishness or because of his bitterness. He wasn't exactly innocent, right?
He was not a nice man and he was very bitter. Perhaps this was more the reason to why he was treated so badly. 'Treat others how you want to be treated'.
He may have used being a Jew as an excuse to gain pitty which worked, did it now?
I do not completely believe this theory however i am sure it was half of the problem.

Racism was terrible then and it was a huge problem world wide, especially towards Jews, so I believe that Shylock was a victim, but not as much as he makes out. He was also a very cruel man in return!

Hope this helps, even if i was a few years late...

:)