Shylock in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and Walter in "A Raisin in the Sun" by Hansberry both share the same lack of equality in society. “The Merchant of Venice” in 16th century Venice and “A Raisin in the Sun” in the 1950s in the Southside slums of Chicago. Each of them is oppressed by the rest of the world because of their uninhabitability and “fit” because of their race in Walter Lee's case and in Shylock's case because of his religion and beliefs. This essay will focus on comparing both of these characters using perspectives such as humanity and equality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the 16th century, more specifically in “The Merchant of Venice,” Judaism and Christianity were not simply religions, they were what racial identities were based on and also what built the character of a person. As we can see in this play, Shylock is seen as the villain, but on the contrary he should be seen most of the time as the victim. He suffers deep within himself from frustration and anger due to his previous experiences of racism and alienation from Christians (those who are considered pure citizens there, those whom God has sent to govern), while Jews are seen and taken in the same consideration of dogs “You call me an unbeliever, a merciless dog,/And you spat on my Jewish gabardine [...]'Good sir, you spat on me last Wednesday,/You despised me on such a day; another time you called me a dog”. He is an outsider who is not recognized the same rights as other (Christian) citizens of Venice, so he seeks refuge and comfort in the law, which in his mind should be fair and equal to everyone regardless of any type of religion, appearance or social stature . Antonio's and the others' hatred towards Shylock is due to his religion but also to his work as a loan shark. But after all, throughout the play both Antonio and his friends, who had mocked and spat on the Jew, go looking for him for money. Throughout the play, we can see Shylock's journey, not only physically but more importantly mentally. This journey leads him to be a character we can sympathize with and pity as Shakespeare gives him the speeches “Has no Jew eyes? Does a Jew not have hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, wounded with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and refreshed by the same winter and summer as a Christian? If you sting us, won't we bleed?” to a character where revenge and frustration seem to be the only feelings he is allowed to feel and then ultimately to a character we can identify with because he has gone from having a family, money and well-being to a miserable, lonely man without nothing left thanks to the desire for revenge. While in “A raisin in the sun” we see the hard life of the younger family, especially in Walter Lee, the main character of this play, who goes through many misfortunes throughout the play. This character is a dreamer and this is mostly why this family tends to suffer so much, because they choose to pursue their dreams at the wrong times and with the wrong people. “A Raisin in the Sun” portrays the lives of ordinary, working-class African-American people as part of a larger movement. This comedy begins with the family waiting for something big to happen, the arrival of a check that is supposed to change theirway of life, but what Walter wants with this money is not his family's well-being but his own. We can see that as the action goes on and we see this character get really mad at his family when they say the check doesn't belong to him. What his mother decides to do later in the play is buy a house for all of them (her dream is finally being chased), but what is not at all favorable is the racism that comes with it. The house this family is moving into is in a white neighborhood where people don't want to accept the fact that they have to live with them. Why? Because they are people of color and as Mr. Lindner says: “I want you to believe me when I tell you that racial prejudice simply has nothing to do with it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I have said, that for the happiness of all concerned our Negro families are happiest when they live in their own communities. But Mr. Lindner is not the only person who is racist towards this family. We also see it in George (Beneatha's "friend"), although he is actually also a black person, he believes himself superior to them because he is rich, so he mocks Beneatha's origins as if she didn't have them and also "Let's face it , darling, your inheritance is nothing more than a bunch of ragged spirituals and a few grass huts!” But the question is, how can Walter get angry at people who are racist towards him when he himself is racist towards his own people? "Why? Do you want to know why? Because we're all tied to a race of people who can't do anything but moan and pray and have babies!" Comparing the two characters, both Shylock and Walter have trouble dealing with their inner selves, as seen throughout the plays. This is due to their lack of understanding of the world itself, and by that I mean they don't understand how they should interact with situations where racism is present because they both undoubtedly feel unsafe. It is not a lie that they have reason to feel unsafe or out of society because of their race or religion, but both works show an inability to forgive or move on after the events that happened. Humanity and equality are two different themes but very similar in both. play. In different historical periods both authors tried to address the public with subtle but at the same time direct important themes such as racism and religion, which in Shakespeare's case religion was a problem really present between Christianity and Judaism, especially due to the discrimination by Christians. They believed that Jews should not be accepted into their society and that they were inferior to them. Most of the time they were evaluated (criticized), as Shylock says in one of his famous monologues “Mr. Antonio, many times and often / At Rialto you evaluated me” for their beliefs but also for their interest in lending money to others ( which was the only way they could be considered something more than "dogs"). While in Hansberry's case, the theme of racism came mainly from the colonial era but was also very present in the 1950s in America, where, as in this play, blacks had to live almost separated from the rest of society (the whites) . Their rights and living conditions were taken away as if they were almost not considered human beings, which we also see in this play in the conversation between the Young people and Mr. Lindner “I want you to believe me when I tell you that race and prejudice simply don't it has something to do with it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I have said, that for the happiness of all those who are concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities,” where the".