Literature in any society is the reflection of actual things happening in that society.

Merchant of Venice was an exclusive threture play writtren by William Shakespeare in which he displays a role of a merchant who was forced to agree to take laon for business purpose and in return merchant was agreed to give away 1 pound of flesg from his body.

The story revolves around following characters.

Shylock: A Jewis, the Moneylender who involves in money lending business based on cruel interest based system.

Antonio: The merchant, who requires money to forward the same to his friend Bassanio, who wants the same for his business purpose.

Bassanio: The friend of Antonio, who request money from his friend Antonio.

Deal:  The lended amount must be return in agreed period of time and if Antonio would not be able to return the same, Shylock was entitled to cut 1 pound of flesh from his body.

The scene:

Antonio finds himself unable to repay the loan because his ships are lost at sea, and when Bassanio and Portia get wind of this, they travel separately back to Venice to rescue Antonio.

Shylock refuses to accept Bassanio's offer to repay the loan, and the matter comes before a court.

The case is brought to Portia while she is disguised as a lawyer, and she argues that the contract includes only a pound of flesh, so "no drop of Christian blood" may be spilled, or Shylock's property and life are forfeit for threatening the life of a citizen.

In Shakespeare's edgy and suspenseful play, "The Merchant of Venice", the character of Shylock may evoke complex feelings within the reader. Shylock, the Jewis,  is clearly a villain in the sense that he takes repeatedly takes advantage of people in vulnerable economic situations and makes a handsome living in this way. He is not an inherently likeable character throughout  "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare; he avoids friendships, he is cranky, and he is steadfast in his beliefs to the point of being rigid. Shylock is also a man who is unreasonable and self-thinking, demanding, as one of the important quotes in "The Merchant of Venice" goes, "a weight of carrion flesh" from a man he suspects will not be able to repay him.

Shylock is a man who is hardly likeable in all aspects throughout  "The Merchant of Venice". Already a marginalized member of Venetian society because he is a Jew and occupies the stereotypical profession of the money-grubbing guarantor, Shylock ensures that his peers and the audience will not like him because of his unreasonableness and unwillingness to let go of his tendencies to be greedy, even in a situation that seems to warrant mercy and pity

Questions:

Isn't that cruel system of INTEREST BASED BANKING IS IN PRACTICE in today's world also"¦?

Put your hand on your heart and ask same question to your heart. Your internal fair man will answer the same.

Would it be in society's favor to support cruel interest based banking system...?